DOINews: USFWS Joins Steve Harvey to Teach Urban Youth about Fishing, Natural Resources

Kevin Vaughn helps a young man on his casting skills. Photo by Leslie Gray, USFWS.

Last Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Arlington Ecological Services Field Office, working with staff from the Service's Dallas/Fort Worth Office of Law Enforcement, Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, Southwest Regional Office, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, participated in the Steve Harvey Mentoring Program for Young Men. The event, held at Harvey's property in north Dallas, Texas, provides more than 100 inner-city teenage boys the chance to experience the outdoors and learn values and skills they will need as adults.

Harvey is a comedian, host of a radio show, host of a television show, author, and more. He also loves fishing and is dedicated to helping the next generation.

Before Friday's event, Inks Dam Fish Hatchery staff stocked more than 400 channel catfish in a pond used for a fishing event. The stocked fish averaged 1.1 pounds and 14 inches in length. Service staff spent the morning with the young men showing them how to cast and fish. For many of the young men, it was the first time they had fished, and it was great to see the joy and amazement on their faces when they reeled in their first catch. Service staff also fried some of the catfish for the young men to taste — many came back for seconds. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the young men and talk with them about possible careers in a natural resources field.

The Service is honored to be a part of the mentoring event for the third year. Spending time with the young men is a very rewarding experience. Connecting youth with nature benefits them on a personal level and can help them to understand the importance of preserving America's wild heritage. The Service is hopeful that its participation helped these young men gain and an understanding of its work and an appreciation of our natural resources.

• Steve Harvey Mentoring Program
• Let's Go Outside
• America's Great Outdoors
• Southwest Region Regional Director Dr. Benjamin Tuggle spoke to Steve Harvey last year. Read the interview

By: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
June 20, 2014

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