Written by Scouts Corbett and Kendall
Troop 159 of Herndon, Virginia earned the prestigious Hornaday Unit Award by supporting a combined Hornaday Badge/Eagle project called START, led by a Scout in our Troop. We helped pull an invasive plant known as the Japanese stiltgrass from Frying Pan Farm Park, a local park in Herndon, near the place where our Troop meets.
After 10 sessions of removal events that spanned 14 months, we replanted native species to help restore the park land. We also helped educate the public about the invasive stiltgrass, as well as the proper ways to remove and dispose of it.
Hornaday Awards are prestigious conservation awards named in honor of William T. Hornaday, a taxidermist at the Smithsonian who is credited with saving the American bison from extinction. The Hornaday Unit award requires 60% of the registered youth scouts of a unit to participate in a single, sustainable conservation project that addresses and remedies a well-defined environmental problem. Our participation was in support of John Foong’s project at Frying Pan Farm Park. The project was a combination of teaching the public about non-native, invasive plants and how to remove them from our community, as well as actively working to remove the plant, Japanese stiltgrass, from an area in the Park. This project was conducted in partnership with Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area (FCPA IMA) program.
For more information about Hornaday awards, https://www.ncacbsa.org/advancement/awards-and-recognition/hornaday/
