Logan County proclaims June 30 as Outdoor Education Day

Logan County commissioners joined Colorado State University Extension personnel and local youth at the Logan County Courthouse Gazebo in Sterling on Tuesday to sign a proclamation naming June 30 as Outdoor Education Day in the county. The public setting turned the action into more than a routine county gesture, placing youth learning and outdoor programming in one of Sterling’s most visible civic spaces.

The proclamation matched the work Logan County Extension already says it does: help adults and youth strengthen families, farms and communities through educational opportunities, programs and research-based information. CSU Extension serves every county in Colorado, and in Logan County that mission runs through Brian Kailey, the county director whose program areas include 4-H Youth Development and Native Plant Master.

Kailey’s Extension office is listed at 508 South 10th Avenue, Suite 1, in Sterling. His role reflects how outdoor education is already woven into local youth development, from 4-H activities to native-plant learning that connects kids with the land around them. A 2025 Colorado Outdoors profile said Kailey had spent 14 years with CSU Extension building outdoor experiences for young people and families, a background that fits the county’s decision to spotlight outdoor education publicly.

Logan County 4-H is part of Colorado’s 4-H youth development community, which Extension says includes more than 10,000 volunteers and more than 100,000 youth. Local 4-H participation has also grown, with a Logan County Chamber of Commerce newsletter saying membership increased from 200 to 320 members. That kind of enrollment gives the proclamation added weight, because it speaks to an active program base rather than an abstract ideal.

The county’s own website keeps 4-H and FFA close to the center of its youth calendar. Logan County’s 4-H and FFA page lists 4-H enrollment due Jan. 23, 2026, and 4-H and FFA entries due July 10, 2026, underscoring how closely youth development, agriculture and community life overlap here. In that context, Outdoor Education Day fit squarely into an existing local network of school-age learning, fair participation and hands-on experience outside the classroom.