Almost time to sign up for DEC Summer Camps, sponsors for campers sought

Thursday, January 4, 2024 - 19:18

— Photo from dec.ny.gov

DEC Summer Camps offer hands-on environmental activities like using nets to investigate aquatic wildlife.

Online registration for the 2024 Summer Camps program sponsored by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation will open Sunday, March 24, at 1 p.m.

Guardians can register youth for a week of camp, manage their account, and complete required forms and waivers through a link from the DEC Summer Camps web page. Parents and guardians are encouraged to register early since many weeks fill up quickly and are advised to monitor the web page for upcoming announcements on 2024 camp forms.

One week of residential camp for 2024 is $350 per child — ages 11 to 17 — and includes meals, trips, and a camp T-shirt.

Sporting clubs, civic groups, and environmental organizations are encouraged to sponsor one or more children for a week at camp. Information about becoming a sponsor and managing sponsor accounts is available at Sponsoring Youth to Camp on DEC’s website.

The program, in its 77th year, operates four residential camps: Camp Colby in Saranac Lake (Franklin County); Camp DeBruce in Livingston Manor (Sullivan County); Camp Rushford in Caneadea (Allegany County); and Camp Pack Forest in Warrensburg (Warren County). Opening of specific camps is dependent on staff availability.

The complete schedule of camp weeks and ages is available on the Summer Camps website Camp Weeks and Availability.

At camp, kids will have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of outdoor adventures and are encouraged to try new things. Activities may include fishing, birding, fly-tying, archery, canoeing, hiking, camping, orienteering, and hunter safety education.

DEC campers engage in fun, hands-on activities and outdoor exploration focused on local field, forest, and freshwater aquatic ecological principles. Campers might collect insects in a field, use nets in a stream, investigate soil composition, measure tree sizes, or practice taking field notes and writing in journals. Trips to nearby state lands might include kettle bogs, state parks, fish hatcheries, or nature museums.

All four camps offer at least six one-week sessions, running from Sunday to Friday, beginning June 30, 2024; Camp Colby, Rushford, and Pack Forest will operate for seven weeks.

For more information, visit the DEC’s website at www.dec.ny.gov; email ; visit “NYS DEC Summer Camps” on Facebook; or write to DEC Camps, 3rd Floor, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-4501.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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