MAXIMIZING YOUR CREW POSITION: SWAMP STEWARD

When on a Swamp Base trek, within your crew, there are several roles that need to be filled. We call these crew positions. There are six different crew positions (Trek Advisor, Crew Leader, Chaplain’s Aide, Swamp Steward, e-Scribe, and Trek Participant)  and making sure the right person is chosen to fill the role is important. Maximizing the effort and attention you give to your crew responsibilities can in turn, maximize the benefits and rewards you gain from your experience. 

This short blog series will feature the different crew positions and outline how you can make the most of your role in the crew. Let’s talk more about being a Swamp Steward.

The Swamp Steward helps the crew understand and follow the principles of the Scouting America Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace. In addition to encouraging the crew to tread lightly in the wilderness, the Steward is also responsible to make sure that all equipment and gear is properly treated, and that all trash from meals is collected. Swamp Stewards are encouraged to ensure that overnight locations are left clean for following crews.

Here are a few Preaux Tips to help you maximize your potential impact as a Swamp Steward:

1. Know and follow Scouting America’s Outdoor Code: As an American, I will do my best to:

   1. Be clean in my outdoor manners: I will treat the outdoors as a heritage. I will take care of it for myself and others. I will keep my trash and garbage out of lakes, streams, fields, woods, and roadways.

   2. Be careful with fire: I will prevent wildfire. I will build my fires only when and where they are permitted and appropriate. When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out. I will leave a clean fire ring or remove all evidence of my fire.

   3. Be considerate in the outdoors: I will treat the land and other land users with respect. I will follow the principles of outdoor ethics for all outdoor activities.

   4. Be conservation-minded: I will learn about and practice good conservation of soil, waters, forests, minerals, grasslands, wildlife and energy. I will urge others to do the same.
      

2. Know and follow the Leave No Trace Principles: Check out this link to the Leave No Trace website to explore and learn more about each principle. https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/. 

   1. Swamp Base Preaux staff also love this catchy song to help remember the principals. Find it at: https://youtu.be/QsRbmk4yspI?si=rbBAV8dGUo6Tcj9R We play it at staff week every year!
      

3. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you: Using and caring for your equipment properly can help make your trek a success. Operating your paddle properly and not using it as a pry bar or baseball bat will prevent paddle breakage. No one wants to be up a creek without a paddle! Ensuring that canoes are tied up or stored correctly prevents missing morning boats and major trek delays. Your canoe should be your best friend during your trek. Know where your life jacket is at all times. It is a vital piece of equipment that you will need at all times while on the water. Respecting your surroundings both natural and man-made is an important part of being a Swamp Steward.
   

4. Leave it better than you found it: Minimize your impact and be sure that your crew collects and properly disposes of all meal trash. You certainly don’t want to add any litter to the environment. That also means taking care of overnight locations. Clean up all kitchen supplies and program areas. No one likes arriving at a messy campsite. Be courteous to the crew behind you and make sure everything is prepared for them when they arrive. Hopefully, you will reap the benefits of an attentive crew before you leaving everything clean for your arrival. Leaving things better than you found them also applies to the environment. Your crew packs trash bags to collect your meal trash for each day. Rarely does a crew produce enough trash to fill an entire bag in a day, so you can make it a point to remove trash from others left in the environment too. Make it a point to fill your bag everyday and remove more trash than you produce. Bonus, it helps with service hours if you are hoping to earn your 50 miler award while on trek.
   

5. Share your knowledge with others: Encouraging others to be good stewards of the swamp is extremely important! Keep your actions conservation minded, but also help remind your crew mates of how they can be better stewards as well. If you crew would like to add a Swamp Steward’s minute to their nightly Roses and Thorns meeting, it can be a great way to teach a new stewardship concept to help keep everyone conservation minded while on trek.

Those who have filled the role of Swamp Base Swamp Steward, what other advice would you give to those considering the role?