GFP Offers Fun and Educational Programs at the S.D. State Fair

PIERRE, S.D. - Game, Fish and Parks officials will be offering free hands-on, educational programming for visitors each day at this year’s South Dakota State Fair. These programs will be in addition to the traditional exhibits, aquariums and staff who answer questions at the Game, Fish and Parks booth.

The schedule of programs includes:

Thursday, Aug. 30: Jody Moats, naturalist from Adam’s Homestead and Nature Preserve, will teach visitors about the reptiles of South Dakota and give people a chance to meet some of reptiles. Presentations will be at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 31: Chad Tussing, educational services coordinator, will have a hands-on activity on deer population for school groups that stop at the booth. The activity will illustrate how deer populations change over time and how that impacts their habitat resources and vice versa.

Saturday, Sept. 1: The Outdoor Campus will be hosting a geocaching event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Experienced and new geocachers are invited to find the hidden treasures on the fairgrounds as well as those hidden in and around Huron. Twelve GSP units will be available for check-out.

Sunday, Sept. 2: A fishing clinic will be held at the Outdoor Expo booth. Visitors can get tips on fishing and learn the best places to fish in South Dakota.

Monday, Sept. 3: Katie Bogue, naturalist from Fort Sisseton State Park, will have activities representing Fort Sisseton’s living history programs. She will be sharing information about how soldiers and civilians lived at the Fort from the 1860s through the 1890s.

South Dakota’s inaugural Outdoor Expo will be held at the State Fairgrounds on May 17-18, 2008, and those who attend this year’s State Fair will be offered a sampling of what they can see at that event at a booth near the GFP area. In addition to the fishing event on Sunday, there will be offerings from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Turkey Hunters on Thursday, Archery in the Schools on Friday, Pheasants Forever on Saturday and Outdoor Women of South Dakota on Monday.

In addition to the programs, visitors will be able to ask Game, Fish and Parks staff questions, view fish of South Dakota and pick up copies of Game, Fish and Parks publications.

The Wildlife Division will have copies of its 2007 Hunting Handbook, 2007 S.D. Hunting Atlas, 2007 Fishing Handbook, Public Fishing and Hunting Areas booklets, some applications and back issues of the Conservation Digest, the department’s popular bimonthly magazine.

The Parks and Recreation Division will also have many free publications available, such as the 2007 Park Times, the Tatanka and many other outdoor recreation publications, from birding to history to horse trails brochures.

The South Dakota State Fair runs Thursday, Aug. 30 through Monday, Sept. 3, in Huron. The Game, Fish and Parks booth is located on Third Street inside the fairgrounds, just north of the DakotaLand Museum. For more information on the fair and other activities, visit www.sdstatefair.com. For more information on the Game, Fish and Parks Department, visit www.sdgfp.com.

-GFP-