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Powell urges children to get back to nature

Children need to spend more time outdoors and develop a better appreciation for nature, says a Lacombe man elected president of the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s board.

Children need to spend more time outdoors and develop a better appreciation for nature, says a Lacombe man elected president of the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s board.

Engineering consultant Dave Powell, winner of numerous conservation awards, was sworn in on June 18.

The position is normally held for two consecutive one-year terms, with the board given the option of finding a new president at the end of the first year.

Powell, 61, says his mission during the next two years will be to improve opportunities for getting children out from behind their TV and computer screens and into an environment where they can get close to nature.

Between 65 and 70 per cent of the Canadian Wildlife Federations programs are geared toward children, such as the Wild program in the schools and the Robert Bateman Get to Know You program.

It’s still not enough, says Powell.

“Kids spend more time in front of the TV set and their computer than they do sleeping. Somehow, we’ve got to get that turned around a little bit,” he says.

“I’m hoping to refocus more resources and to raise more resources for those kids’ programs. I really want to see those things broadened and I want to, some how, find more resources to put toward those programs.”

Powell is a founding member of the Alberta Conservation Association and of Hunting for Tomorrow as well as an official scorer for Boone and Crockett, which keeps records of big game hunting trophies.

A past president of the Alberta Fish and Game Association, he was named to the Order of the Big Horn in 2002, was 2010 recipient of the Alberta Hunter Education Instruction Association’s Alva Baier Award and has also received the Fish and Game Association’s Fulton Award.

He has served for the past eight years on the board of the Canadian Wilderness Association.

Powell defines hunting as a culture, stating that hunters are the first line of defence for wildlife in Alberta and across the country.

“We’re the first ones to see what’s going on out there, the first ones to see what problems are out there, the first ones to step in and say: If the resource has to be protected, we have to quit hunting.”

Powell was superintendent of public works for the Town of Lacombe before retiring from that position and starting his consulting business, focused on roads and other municipal infrastructure.

bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com