One of the greatest things about coming to Trout Lake Camps is getting away from it all – literally unplugging – and spending time in nature. God's creation can have a restorative effect on our souls. But that only happens as long as we are effective stewards of all that's been entrusted to us.

Trout Lake has been a meeting place with God since 1947, and we want that to continue long into the future.

We're taking care of this meeting place by working environmental responsibility into our daily practices. More than just a 'green fad,' this is about making responsible, efficient choices that will pay dividends now and into the future.

Here are just some of the envorinmental projects at Trout: shoreline restoration, honey bees, composting and recycling, landscaping and herbicides, rain barrels, and solar power. 

Last summer we hosted thousands of honey bees in addition to campers. We partnered with a long-time Trout friend Jack Eitzen from Honey House Farms and offered space to place 15 hives – each hive is home to 50,000 to 80,000 bees. 

That's a lot of bees and they do a lot of good. They pollinate crops all year round, including cherries, apples and almonds. This summer at Trout bees produced approximately 700 pounds of honey and 20 pounds of wax. In all, the Trout Lake bees likely pollinated 1.4 billion flowers.

The hives are located on a remote corner of our property – about a mile and a half from campers. We didn't see any increase in bee stings, so campers and bees coexisted peacefully at Trout. We also protect the hives with a solar-powered electric fence that keeps animals away from the bees.

In addition to the vital role bees play in our ecosystem, we also get to keep half the honey, which we're able to sell in the camp store and give away to volunteers and donors.