The 2024 Caring for the Kenai Winner’s success has been recognized on the highest level, earning one of the most prestigious youth environmental awards in the country.
A team from Girl Scout Troop 210, made up of Caitlyn Eskelin (KCHS), Emma Hindman (River City Academy), Kadie Newkirk (Connections), and Lyberty Stockman (SoHi), claimed 1st Place honors in this year’s CFK for their “Bucket Trees” project and was nominated for the PEYA award by Merrill Sikorski and Girl Scout Troop 210 leader Leah Eskelin.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, celebrated the 2024 President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Awards Ceremony, an annual recognition of outstanding youth who are dedicated to environmental stewardship.
After witnessing the impact of the 2019 Swan Lake wildfires, which burned over 170,000 acres of land, the students decided to take action to help protect and educate their community. The team from Troop 210 developed the “Bucket Trees for Campfire Safety” project in the Kenai Peninsula. They researched innovative ways to reduce the risk of human-made wildfires, as nearly 85 percent of fires in the United States are caused by humans. For campgrounds, they advocated for new safety standards to stifle campfires, which include dowsing fires with water, stirring, and ensuring that coals are cold.
Since 2022, the group has also installed 18 “bucket trees” on campgrounds in the Kenai Peninsula. These stands have several empty loaner buckets for visitors and campers to use. The buckets, labeled with fire safety instructions, are distributed by host agencies that continue to advocate for their use, thereby promoting sustainable fire safety practices and mitigating the risk of human-caused wildfires.
The project was praised by Alaska State Park Rangers, firefighters, and the broader community alike, all of whom commended the students for their service and environmental stewardship. In the future, the students hope to expand their efforts to a statewide initiative to protect all of Alaska’s natural landscapes.
Since 1971, the President of the United States has joined with EPA to recognize young people for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology. The PEYA program recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship projects developed by K-12 youth.
This program honors and brings to light a wide variety of projects developed by these young students, school classes and clubs, youth camps, and youth organizations to promote environmental awareness and action in their schools and communities. The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement.
