With a back drop of blue skies, rippling, crystal clear water and lots of great fishing, Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery Deputy Project Leader Sheila Kirk and Environmental Education/Outreach Specialist Amanda Patrick traveled to Cherokee, North Carolina to participate in the 7th Annual Talking Trees Children’s Trout Derby.

 Among the large crowd of children on hand, eager to fish, Wolf Creek NFH staffed one of several booths dedicated to educating those in attendance on various ways to learn more about and better care for the environment.

Because of their location and eagerness to share the new Biologist-in-Training (BiT) program, Wolf Creek NFH focused their booth on stream surveying and macro invertebrate identification.

Hundreds of children greatly enjoyed stopping by the hatchery’s booth, never expecting to find such an array of aquatic “critters,” ranging from mayflies to stoneflies to water pennies.

Hands on in every way, both staff members greatly enjoyed spending a day out-of-doors, helping to wade the beautiful stream and working with the various children on hand to flip over rocks and further hone their skills of young, fledging biologists.