17-year-old Amelia Votava is proud to call herself an Eagle Scout. But after adding that impressive title to her scouting roster, she quickly set her sights on the next achievement…somewhat lesser-known by the general public.
“So I got Eagle when I was pretty young at 14, and I thought, what else could I do with my scouting career,” said Votava. “So I thought the Distinguished Conservation Service Award was perfect.”
The Distinguished Conservation Service Award was introduced in 2020. It requires earning seven badges, completing two conservation projects, and passing a board of review…all with the goal of promoting conservation and a greater appreciation of nature.
Boosting pollinators at Danada Farms
Votava’s first project was a yearlong effort to boost the pollinator habitat at Danada Farms by planting poke milkweed plants. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite bloom as she had hoped after completion.
“So what we decided to do is we took a 30 by 30-foot area one day, we cleared all of the invasives from that area, and the second day we came back, we planted about 50 poke milkweed. We discovered that is a very stubborn plant, so we watered it, we left it all winter and they did not come back in the spring,” said Votava.
But thanks to some generous donations, at the start of the summer, her family and other scouts helped finish what she’d started
“While I was working at a scout summer camp, I had a team who remotely planted all of those. So we had six poke milkweed that the nursery donated to us that were still alive and thriving, and we planted those, which in that area doubled the amount of milkweed in the first place. And then we got a donation of a ton of milkweed seeds that we’re going to sprinkle around the area, which should hopefully bring out more poke milkweed,” said Votava.
Working to help slow erosion at a Fermilab lake
Her second project was a six-month effort to preserve a lake at Fermilab that had a growing erosion of about two feet, threatening the native species next to it.
“We were chopping down invasives, like buckthorn was the main one we were doing, and we used a hemp rope to tie them into these bundles that were about six feet long and about a foot to two feet wide. And we put those along the shoreline and staked them in using natural stakes,” said Votava. “We planted a ton of buttonbush and elderberries, as well as a ton of small wildflowers along the shoreline as well, just to have that root system of erosion control.”
Final steps to get Distinguished Service Conservation Service Award
With her projects and merit badges complete, she now waits for her board of review scheduled in October as the final step toward earning the Distinguished Conservation Service Award. Votava hopes that by earning it, she’ll start a spark in other young women.
“I’ve been inspired by so many independent and influential women that I really hope that I could bring that to some young girls out there as well,” said Votava.
As she starts thinking about college next year, Votava will shift her focus from conservation to neuroscience, which she plans to make her major. But she hopes to still have a hand in it as a hobby, and keep involved in scouting through the Order of the Arrow Committee and venturing crews.
“There’s so many options for scouting and you can do so many cool things that I think it’s such a beneficial program to everyone involved,” said Votava.
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