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authors and illustrators of children's books and leaders in science, business, education, and natural resources to discuss ways to incorporate current conservation issues and science into new children's books. The Backyard Conservation Program grant to the National Association of Conservation Districts helped develop a video for suburban and urban homeowners, demonstrating how proven country- side conservation practices can be adapted to suburban and urban back- yards. The Coalition to Restore Urban Waters set up a model off-campus center that gives university civil engineering, landscape architecture, and environmental science students skills to develop community-based environmental restoration pro- jects. A grant to the High Country Institute for Journalism in Montana was designed to improve reporting on conserva- tion issues nationwide by pro- viding supplemental conserva- tion learning for mid-career jour- nalists. Supporting an effort from within the Vietnamese communi- ty, the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association will use NFWF grant funds to educate mem- bers on the environmental conse- quences of using threatened and endangered species in traditional med- icines and help them discover alterna- tives. The Foundation's grant to the Friends of the Chicago River enabled inner-city youth to learn and then teach conservation principles and practices through a hands-on program, I Conservation Education Initiative employing participants as river tour leaders and restorationists. Other grants focused on more traditional, kindergarten through twelfth-grade education by encouraging teachers to take advantage of existing conservation resources and to promote hands-on learning about conservation issues. For example, a grant to St. Olaf College trained sixty K-12 teachers from thirty Minnesota schools on regional ecology, native species enhancement, and conservation practices. The project also supported the creation of thirty schoolyard habitat projects. The Four Corners School of Outdoor Education trained 100 teachers in five predominantly Native American elementary schools to integrate conservation education and allowed them to incorporate field trips to public lands into their lesson plans. The River Exploration grant to Pittsburgh Voyager provided students and teachers in grades 5-12 with an innovative, river-based aquatic and research program combining a multidisciplinary classroom curriculum with an experiential _< learning program on board a research ves- \,. sel. A grant to the Parks and People Foundation supported a six-week environmental day camp and a year- round after-school environmental program in six recreation centers in Baltimore. The 200 partici- pants, ages eight to thirteen, learned about animal habitat, stream quality, and urban forestry. I Federal land management I agencies also received a signifi- ! cant share of Conservation Education Initiative funding. A total of nine grants to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management offices across the country enabled agency resource professionals to share their expertise with students in a series I of exciting, hands-on learning activities. Children learning hands.on conservation through In 1998, NFWF' s conservation education gardening in Philadelphia program will continue to seek out new audiences and provide the tools to inspire better individual and community decision-making about the environment. We anticipate more outreach to traditional as well as non- traditional education audiences, including local government decision-makers, rural audiences, and many other groups. I Il I National Hsh and vJildlife Foundation 17