Gabriel Cline, a 16 year old homeschooled eagle scout from Orangevale, recently completed installing five micro filament recycling bins at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery with the help of other Boy Scouts and friends. The Boy Scout patrol call themselves “The Flaming Jalapinos.”

Gabriel has always had a keen interest in the environment. He took on the project to fulfill the requirements of a little known Boy Scout environmental award called the Hornaday Award. The Hornaday award program was created to recognize those that have made a significant contribution to conservation. It began in 1914 by Dr. William T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoological Park and founder of the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

Recently Gabriel and his Mom were walking along the American River and they saw a little duckling that was entangled with fishing wire and they sadly had to watch it drown, as it was too far from them standing on the shore and it simply could not safely be reached.

Gabriel wanted to protect other wildlife from getting entangled by fishing lines they cannot easily see, so he chose to work towards having the bins installed as a Boy Scout project. Gabriel and his mom hope people will be more aware that they are available and will use them.

Rae Cline, Gabriel’s mom said “My son is the youngest Eagle Scout in the history of the troop that he is in (Troop 107) and we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary.