Iowa Outdoor Expo for Kids and Families

The Iowa Outdoor Expo for Kids and Families, a free educational event, strengthens connections to wildlife and wild lands by providing learning and participation opportunities that communicate the importance of wildlife and habitat management, teach outdoor skills, encourage outdoor ethical behavior and stewardship, and perpetuate Iowa’s hunting, fishing, and wildlife heritage.

The Des Moines Chapter sponsors the event, now in its second year, with support from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and many other partners and sponsors. Last year’s Expo attracted 4,000 participants — an amazing feat for a first-time event. But Expo chairman Joe Gavin has even bigger goals. He hopes to attract 15,000 participants to this year’s event, and organizers have boosted the number of activity booths to accommodate a larger crowd.

The Expo is organized into separate “villages” to provide a wide variety of outdoor experiences. These include a Hunting Village (archery, BB gun ranges, trap shooting, and game/predator calling), Fishing Village (fishing techniques, fish identification, and fish cleaning), Boating Village (canoe skills and safety instruction, water rescue, and life-jacket fittings), Dogs Village (demonstrations and clinics), and Wildlife Conservation Village (environmental ethics, animal demonstrations, archeology and artifacts, and soil and water conservation).

Whether you live in Iowa or know someone who does, visit the Des Moines Chapter Web site for more information on this year’s Expo (September 25-26, 2010).