HS freshman completing rarest award in Scouting
By Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News
This article originally appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of Lone Star Outdoor News. Copyright 2021 Lone Star Outdoor News . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Baxter Perry-Miller, a freshman at St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas, is completing his third Boy Scout Distinguished Conservation Service Award, which is in the area of Fish and Wildlife Management. And his current project concerns bobwhite quail.
Since June, Perry-Miller has been assisting scientists at the Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area with bobwhite quail conservation.
Last June, Perry-Miller started his project by helping LLELA staff and volunteers release pen-raised quail on the 2,600-acre property.
“I talked with Dr. Ken Steigman who was running the release,” Perry-Miller said. “I asked him how they are monitoring it and he said they didn’t have a system. I thought, ‘Why don’t we run dogs out here?’”
After another release of 112 birds in September, Perry-Miller began his eco-friendly monitoring program with hunting dogs as part of the monitoring process.
“I have really enjoyed this project because we take our dog, King, a 3-year-old German shorthaired pointer, and our whole family can walk the sections to record the tracking of birds,” Perry-Miller said.
Baxter Perry- Miller helped release and monitor quail near Lake Lewisville, and expects to achieve Scout- ing’s highest honor, the Distinguished Conservation Service Award, by June. Photos from Matt Perry-Miller.
Members of Park Cities Quail Coalition helped, including Executive Director Jay Stine, along with his dogs.
“We haven’t found very many birds,” Perry-Miller said. “We found a few coveys early on and we found droppings, a nest and a few spots where birds coveyed up. And we found a few carcasses from predation.”
And Perry-Miller also has been studying the habitat in the area.
“I used a Robel pole to measure the density of the ground vegetation,” he said. “It will help give researchers a better gauge on their habitat for quail.”
Dr. Andy Gregory, another professor at the University of North Texas, has since taken over from Steigman, who retired.
“Professor Gregory taught me how to monitor the quail with the Robel pole,” Perry- Miller said. “It helps measure the density of ground cover. He thinks we’re at the cusp of being able to do something there with quail.”
The area hasn’t held quail in many years but has had a successful reintroduction of wild turkeys.
Perry-Miller began his quest for the Distinguished Conservation Award as a seventh grader more than two years ago.
“An advisor told me about it,” he said. “I always had a passion for conservation because of my dad’s (Matt Perry-Miller) involvement in Park Cities Quail. I researched it and started a month or two later.”
Perry-Miller’s first project involved starting a trash and recycling process for the trails at the Trinity River Audubon Center south of Dallas. His second was a city-wide battery- recycling project.
“Halfway through that one, COVID hit,” he said. “I had to change all the drop-off locations to be contact free. I even put one on our front porch to make it easier for people to donate.”
More than 418 pounds of batteries (mostly AA and AAA) were collected and taken to the
Dallas County Hazardous Materials Disposal. Perry-Miller’s fourth and final project is tak- ing place at the Bonton Farms in South Dallas,
where he is developing an apiary (beehives). “They employ people from South Dallas to work at the farm and help the community to help revitalize the area,” Perry-Miller said. “I’m going to amend the soil, add nutrients and minerals, create one acre area with native wildflowers and pour concrete pads for beehives.”
He has to finish the fourth project by June to be able to receive the Silver Medal, the highest BSA award in conservation and the rarest award in scouting.
“He will be one of only 115 or so to have done so out of 32 million BSA scouts in the past 100 years they have had the award,” Matt Perry-Miller, his father, said. “Each project is like a supercharged Eagle project because of the extra requirements. About 2,200 have reached one award, and 1,200 have reached the Bronze level, which is three projects.”
After these projects are completed, what’s next for the youngster?
“I’ll have to figure out something else to do,” Perry-Miller said.
Besides hunting quail, dove and deer and fishing and surfing on the East Coast, the young man has another unique hobby.
“I build surfboards,” Perry-Miller said. “I go to Nantucket each year for a month, and wanted to build my own two years ago, so I looked up how and did it. I’ve built several now.”
