Women’s Wilderness Weekend

The NRCS Trailblazer Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council in Red Cloud, Nebraska, will again be sponsoring the Women’s Wilderness Weekend Program, that recently received national recognition from the National Wild Turkey Federation. The event was selected from 300 other events as the outstanding outdoor event for women in the United States and Canada.

"This is tremendous exposure for this program," Merle Illian, Trailblazer RC&D Coordinator said. "What makes the program so successful are the numerous agencies, organizations, council members, and local individuals that all step up to help host the event."

This year marks the tenth year for this annual event. The Women’s Wilderness Weekend will take place August 11-13, 2006, at the South Central 4-H Camp in Alma, Nebraska, and will welcome the first 125 women who register. The program offers women experience in conservation, nature instruction, hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, archery, horseback riding, and sailing within a supportive environment while participating in these traditionally male-oriented, outdoor activities .

"Another primary purpose of initiating the program was to attract tourism to the area," Illian said. “We thought that by hosting a women’s event in south central Nebraska and showing them what the area has to offer, that they would return with their husbands, family, and friends.”

A survey conducted last year indicated that 38 percent of the women who attended the Women’s Wilderness Weekend have returned. Women from as far away as Florida, California, Illinois, and Montana have attended. Age of participants has ranged from 18 to 84.
Your contact is Merle Illian, NRCS Trailblazer RC&D Coordinator, at 402-746-3560.