Junior Kyle Straube recently completed his Eagle Scout Project. Straube’s project was focused on the environment, specifically New Jersey Conservation Foundation properties, which are open space areas, preserved and protected because they are important ecosystems for wildlife. Straube decided to restore these properties because “they were near his house and easy to access.”
For Straube, the path to completing this project started six years ago, in the fifth grade. That was the year Straube became a boy scout for Franklin Township Troop 108. He said, “Boy Scouts is fun because you can go and hang out with people, while doing interesting things on the weekend.”
It was the good times that he experienced during Boy Scouts that made Straube want to complete his Eagle Scout award. “Once you get started, you just have to keep going, because you want to complete the next step,” he remarked.
Straube finished his project this past January, after working on it for two months. He and a team of volunteers from his troop and family built 43 birdhouses on the Franklin Township properties, as well as three raptor perches. The properties were lacking a significant bird population, so Straube wanted to build houses to attract birds.
The two properties that he restored were called Huey and Turnquist. The properties are protected by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, and are part of a project to preserve the Wickecheoke Creek Watershed.
They took the project a step further by removing Russian olive plants from a trail on one of the properties. The Russian olive plant is an invasive species that if left untreated, can spread and take over the forest. Removing the plant would help to preserve the trails on the site.
Many of Straube’s troop members came to help him with the project. “It was great having a lot of people to help with my project, because it made the experience even better,” he said.
Straube also donated $400 to the Open Cupboard Food Pantry in Clinton. This money came from the leftover funds that he raised for his project. “I wanted to donate the money to somewhere else instead of just keeping it,” Straube said.
To raise money for his project, Straube came up with an interesting idea. He asked people to donate the money to build a birdhouse to his troop, and he would engrave their names or the names of friends onto the birdhouse. These birdhouses would then be placed on the preserve for the beginning of nesting season. By doing this, Straube was able to sell twenty birdhouses, which helped to defray the cost of his project.
Overall, Straube and his team worked for over 350 hours. When asked about how the experience helped him, he said, “It has really developed my character, and now I have a great thing to put on my college resume.” He even went on to say that he wants to continue participating in Boy Scouts, even though he has technically completed the last step. For Straube, it is not just a matter of being a member, but about participating in all the meetings and trips that the troop sponsors.
On January 4, at the Clinton United Methodist Church, Straube was recognized for his efforts by Congressman Leonard Lance, Assemblyman Erik Peterson and Patrick C. De Chirico (Eagle Scout Liaison for the Marine Corps League). The event is called the Eagle Scout Court of Honor, and it carries great significance, because it acknowledges all the hard work that the scout had to do to receive the honor.
Thanks to Straube, the conservation properties are a more pleasant place for wildlife to visit, and a sustainable environment for years to come.