Test your skills and teamwork, face down your fears, have fun with friends and family, and learn history, all at the same time during a family-style "survivor" competition, July 27-29, at Mississinewa Reservoir.  A portion of the event features geocaching, which is an entertaining adventure game for GPS (Global Positioning System) users. A GPS unit is a battery-operated device that can determine one's approximate location.
 
Those interested in participating should register now in teams of three to five people each for this event, which is a unique blend of history and modern technology, hosted by Upper Wabash Interpretive Services.  During the event, GPS users can use location coordinates to find the hidden containers ("caches"). Event participants will search for caches across Mississinewa Reservoir property and learn about the area’s rich history as they go.

Finally, there will be a survivor style competition using the knowledge and materials found with the caches. Participants will make a hunting tool, give first aid in the midst of a battle, and struggle to obtain water as one would have done before wells and water pumps.

Teams can choose to compete at both finding the caches and surviving the skills challenges or just enter one part of the weekend’s events. Participants will meet in the Miami State Recreation Area at Mississinewa at the modern program shelter.

Participants should bring camping equipment and make their own camping reservations. Geocachers may also visit geocaching.com and use waypoint GC143TM to get more information, or look up the Mississinewa Geocaching Challenge with ZIP code 46970.

To register for or get more information on the Mississinewa Survivor Challenge, call (260) 468-2127. There is a $3 program fee per person for this event, plus the usual daily weekend gate fee for entering the property, $5 per in-state vehicle and $7 per out-of-state vehicle. 

Don't limit your summer celebrating to Independence Day and Labor Day. Head to Harmonie State Park's luau, July 26-29, for some mid-season revelry.  This event features lei making, learning names in Hawaiian, tropical dancing by Marion and Francis Schultz, live music by the band Bridges, games and a luau pork dinner.

After opening activities July 26, live music and tropical dancing will be presented the evenings of July 27 and 28, at the pool. Bridges performs July 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m. The dinner will be served July 28, 5 –7 p.m. The luau ends after Sunday's 10 a.m. Hawaiian stories, which will be told at the Nature Center.

All audiences are welcome. Children under age 16 are to be accompanied by an adult.  Campsites can be reserved by calling 1-866-6campIN (1-866-622-6746) or at http://www.camp.in.gov/ . Day guests are welcome. The Friday-through-Sunday daily gate fee is $5 for Indiana vehicles, $7 for out-of-state vehicles. All activities are free or donation-accepted, except for the pork dinner, which is $3.50 per child (6 and younger), $6 per adult, and can be purchased any time at park office, front gate or swimming pool. Only 250 dinner tickets will be sold.

A new DNR grant program called "Putting Trees to Work" now allows cities, towns, and 501 (C3) non-profits to apply for funds to purchase and plant trees in areas where they can benefit an area most. 

The grants, which will be administered by the DNR Division of Forestry, Community and Urban Forestry (CUF) program were made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Northeastern Area when the organization awarded $242,000 in urban forestry grant dollars to the CUF program.  At least $100,000 of that award will be distributed to Indiana cities and towns.

“Trees can help make our urban environments healthier by being strategically located to absorb carbon dioxide, collect particulate matter from the air, and clean our water,” said Pam Louks, state CUF coordinator.  Many people know about trees' oxygen-giving capabilities, but scientists now have found that the most important benefits the large green plants offer are their positive contributions to air and water quality.

Communities can apply for funds ranging from $2,000 to $15,000.  The deadline for application is September 30.  All grants must be equally matched and will be evaluated and awarded on a competitive basis.  For more information on other projects the funds will pay for, and to get a grant application, contact the CUF office, (317) 915-9390 or inurbanforestry@dnr.IN.gov.

Enjoy the outdoors in an active and exciting way with your children or grandchildren at the Bubble Bash program at the Salomonie Interpretive Center, July 25-26.  The program, which is designed for youth, ages 2 to 5, will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. each day. The program is offered twice to accommodate more children.

In this 1 ½-hour program, children and their parent or caregiver will enjoy activities focused around fun in the outdoors. Children and their caregivers are invited to bring easy picnic foods to share during the program. No matter the weather, the program is planned to be held both indoors and out, beginning at the Salamonie Interpretive Center. Participants should plan to arrive early to look around the exhibit area and enjoy the gift shop.

There is a $2 fee per child for the program. The property entrance fee is waived for program attendees.

Children will enjoy a picnic, play with bubbles and more. Parents are asked to register in advance for this event and stay with their children throughout the program.  The Salamonie Interpretive Center and gift shop is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. This barrier-free building features exhibits, floor-to- ceiling windows in the wildlife viewing area, and staff to answer your questions. The center is located in Lost Bridge West Recreation Area on Highway 105 in western Huntington County.

Visit the Upper Wabash Reservoirs Interpretive Services (UWIS) Web site at www.dnr.IN.gov/uwis for more information about programs. Register by calling the UWIS, (260) 468-2127, or visiting the Salamonie Interpretive Center, 3691 S. New Holland Rd., Andrews, 46702.

In accordance with Gov. Mitch Daniels’ INShape Indiana and the state’s trails initiative the DNR has recommended that the federal government divide $1,263,810 in available federal grant money for Indiana among eight outdoor recreation projects.

 “We’re following the governor's directive to offer healthful trail access within a 15-minute drive of each state resident,” said Rob Carter, DNR director. “We hope the people of Indiana will take advantage of the trail opportunities and new facilities made possible with these grants.”

The grants come from the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP). Each year a portion of federal taxes from gasoline purchased by off-highway vehicle (OHV) users is apportioned to the RTP through the Federal Highway Administration. Indiana’s distribution, the figure listed above, is based on OHV usage and fuel sales in the state. The state's DNR director recommends to the Federal Highway Administration which projects should be funded and at what level, through RTP. The funding levels listed below will not become official until they are federally approved. 

The federal tax dollars are divided among the states, which use the money for acquiring and developing multi-use trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and OHVs. Program rules dictate that 30 percent of the funds be spent on motorized trails; 30 percent on trails for non-motorized sports; and 40 percent on diverse-use trails or education. To be eligible for this federal funding, states must have a trails advisory board (TAB) composed of different trails-interest groups.

Projects the DNR recommended to receive money, along with their proposed share of the grant money, scope and media contact are listed below. The Panhandle Pathway is part of the state’s backbone/priority visionary trail system identified in the Trails, Greenways and Bikeways Plan. Greenfield Trails and Turkey Creek Corridor connect to that system.

Since 1994, the DNR has administered 67 RTP grants totaling $9,190,441 for Indiana projects. For more information about the RTP program and how to apply, visit www.in.gov/dnr/outdoor/grants/rtp.html. Applications are due May 1 of each year.

If you would like to view a list of Outdoor Recreation Trail grant projects visit http://www.in.gov/dnr/press/pr-070307TrailsGrants.pdf.

Those seeking funding for future years should call the Division of Outdoor Recreation, (317) 232-4070, for information.

Here's some good news for Indiana’s lakes and rivers in the midst of a so-far dry summer.
Project grants totaling more than $1 million to protect and restore Hoosier lakes and rivers have been awarded throughout the state by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The funds are from the Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) program in DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife

"These grants mark the 20th year of the lake enhancement program in DNR," said director Robert E. Carter Jr.  "Funds for this program are provided by the boaters themselves and support projects designed to protect and enhance the very resources they value for their recreational pursuits. 

"The overall economic impact of the water resources at the local and state level is magnified through increased access for both our own citizens and for visitors from out of state to boat, fish, swim and otherwise use our lakes and streams."

The projects approved this week were proposed by local sponsors to improve aquatic habitat for fish and wildlife, and enhance recreational opportunities.  The grants provide crucial financial assistance to local groups to help them with natural resources issues that are expensive to address, and need long-term planning and diligence.  The biological and engineering grant projects include diagnostic, design and engineering feasibility studies, as well as construction projects.  Several grants were for ongoing projects to address nutrient and sediment problems in watershed land treatment projects.

A portion of the grants were dedicated to address the immediate and critical threat of hydrilla infestation on Lake Manitou.  The 2007 state budget provided $250,000 in specifically appropriated funds this year for the hydrilla problem, but that covers only half of the estimated cost of control.  The additional funds from the LARE program will provide a portion of the remaining costs to address the aggressive nuisance invasive plant, while minimizing the negative fiscal impacts on other ongoing projects statewide.

Lake Manitou's is the first and only known case of hydrilla infestation both in the state of Indiana and the entire Midwest.  Lake management professionals recognize the urgent need to eradicate the persistent and overwhelming pest, before it threatens all Indiana lakes.

All of these newly announced grants complement the $1.37 million in grant awards that Carter announced in March that addressed nuisance aquatic vegetation and dredging of sediment from lakes.

Funding for these targeted projects comes from the LARE fee paid by boat owners during their annual registration through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.