TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hanus Earns Eagle March 16, 2015 Cincinnati.com Zachary Hayes Hanus, Troop 674 Montgomery, earned his Eagle Scout rank March 3, joining his older brother, Andrew, who earned his Eagle rank September 2012. The Eagle Scout rank is scouting’s highest honor with only 5 percent of Boy Scouts attaining reaching this milestone. This rank entails years of commitment to Scouting, demonstrated leadership within the troop, service to others within the community, and a minimum of 21 merit badges involving emergency/lifesaving skills, money and time management, personal health and fitness, citizenship at all levels of government and scouting skills. In addition, a Scout must plan, develop, and lead a service project - the Eagle Project - that demonstrates leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of a community, school or religious institution. Hanus’s Eagle project involved reforesting an open clearing within Hamilton County’s Sharon Woods Park (Sharonville) with 100 trees of 12 different varieties. The trees were planted and fenced to protect them from wildlife and the perimeter of the grove area was cleared of invasive brush and vines that would choke out the new trees. Previously, this un-planted area was not conducive to either field or forest birds. However, once the new trees are grown, forest birds will again be eager to inhabit the area. This reforestation will also provide more tree species diversity than if the area was allowed to reseed by itself. In addition, this project will contribute to Hamilton County Park’s goal of planting 60,000 trees by 2016. The effort Hanus led was completed in November and involved 48 volunteers and nearly 200 volunteer hours. Hanus, 15, is a sophomore at Sycamore High School and a resident of Montgomery. Hanus is a carrier for Northeast Suburban Life. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sentinel947 1205 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 That's pretty cool. Sharonville is the town to the south of mine. Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Tree-planting is very cool. You can go back over the years and see them grow. maybe we could all do it on Arbor Day. Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh 3452 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Unless one does it like the Girl Scouts. They got a big PR media coverage on their tree planting efforts. After the fact the Mrs. and I went over and looked at the results. The first words out of the Mrs. mouth was, "They aren't going to make it." (She's a forester). They dug a hole for each tree, put a tree in it and when all was said and done, the tops of the trees just nearly cleared ground level. It was a shame and the first time the county mowed the law, they mowed off all the trees that were there because no one ever went back and watered them. County did the same for one of my boy's Eagle project. It was refurbishing a park that had been neglected. He cleaned it up and got it looking nice. The County never mowed it since and within one year it looked like no one ever did anything except it had a few less dead trees. I never have my boys try for any long term legacy projects, they tend to end up a disappointment in the long run. Stosh Link to post Share on other sites
wdfa89 72 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 and it's cool the focus is on the project (which sounds pretty great) not that he is the youngest person ever or did it before 13 Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 And people die, Stosh. Still, I think of my Scouting as a long term legacy project. Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh 3452 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 And some die horribly, too. I don't know what your point is trying to make, other than I have had a number of scouts do some really nice things for their project only to be disappointed down the road. It's unfortunate that some get some great stories in the news while others who do nice projects only get a pat on the back only to find out no one really cares in the long run. The Mrs. wanted to go back and replant all the Girl Scout trees to give them a chance to grow, but the government entity that owned the land said no. Disappointment all the way around, the gift that keeps on giving. If the boys are looking for legacy projects, they might wish to consider the reality of the situation as part of the project. SM's who pressure the boys to do legacy type projects are often quite abusive with the requirements of the project. We don't have to be building pyramids to show leadership. Stosh Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4350 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Reforesting a field is a tenuous proposition in a good decade. Success requires annual survey and replacement of failed saplings. That's where the Hornaday award comes in, with 5 Eagle-equivalent projects instead of one. It helps a scout get a long-term vision of conservation. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Most of the time, secondary succession will do everything needed and all we need to do is nothing. Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 19, 2015 Author Share Posted March 19, 2015 Around here, natural reclamation of old fields and pastures produces thickets of maples and White Ash and little else. The borer will change that shortly to all maple. Results in lots of material for pioneering poles as there are few lower branches. Over generations, other species start appearing - oaks, yellow popular, hornbeam, feral apple, hemlock if the terrain is right. Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Hemlocks? The woolly adelgid may have something to say about that. Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Not a problem in this area. Ash Borer getting closer and closer. 0___0 Link to post Share on other sites
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