By Kate Johnson, 14; Sarah Johnson, 14, and Zoe Rudisill, 14, with contributions from Hilary Bush, 12, and Eric Schafer-Nelson, 11.

Michigan has 36,000 miles of rivers and streams, almost four million acres of state forest, and somebody has to take care of it all.

Ali Thebert, 15, of Marquette is committed to doing her part. Ali tries to be environmentally active every day.

"I compost. I ride my bike around. I recycle everything," she said. "I think kids should be concerned about the environment because this is our world. We are going to be in charge of it."

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources agrees. The DNR has several conservation efforts aimed at kids including a magazine promoting good conservation. The agency also makes educational presentations in schools and other youth-serving organizations. Ann Wilson, communications representative at the Marquette office of the DNR, often works with young people. She said a quarter of her time is spent on education.

"Through educating young people, kids will grow up (knowing) what's the right thing to do from a science standpoint. They'll base their decisions on good, sound science. They're the future of the environment. If we don't teach them now, where are we going to be when they grow up?"

Much of Ali's environmental education came from her family.

"We recycle and reuse absolutely everything. I don't do that much grocery shopping but my mom tries not to buy goods that are over packaged with plastic because plastic is processed with petroleum which is a fossil fuel that is not coming back," she said.

Her mother, Louise Anderson, has been especially influential.

"She always did (environmental-friendly) stuff ... 'We do not throw away our banana peels, we compost them,' Ali said mimicking her mom. "When I was little, I thought she was insane, but now I agree with her."

Ali is not alone in her efforts to help the environment. Cub Scout Pack 321, of Ishpeming, includes young people committed to the envionment. They are a part of the Adopt-a-Forest program, which is a DNR-sponsored program where individuals or groups take care of state land by cleaning up illegally dumped trash. The DNR has found that if people know that someone is keeping the area clean, they will be less likely to dump their trash there.

"We have a forest clean-up. We go back and we find couches and trash that other people put out in the forest," said Eli Wolf, 10, of Ishpeming.

"We also planted trees," said Walker Derby, 11, of Ishpeming.

"We cleaned all the trash on the side of the road and we had 10 bags of big pieces of metal and big pieces of trash. We took all of it to recycling bins," said Travis Allen, 11, of Ishpeming.

"I think that the Upper Peninsula has a really surprising number of people that care about what is happening in their world and that is really important," said Ali. "I think that there are a lot of kids that care too, but there could definitely be more."

The Scouts think there are not enough environmentally-conscious young people.

"Most of the people are just too lazy and just don't want to do it," Eli said.

"I don't think there's a lot of people that really go outside and do some stuff to help the environment because I see a lot of kids and all they talk about is playing Nintendo and stuff and playing inside," said Kyle Kestila, 11, of Ishpeming.

Ali thinks there are many environmental issues, but her biggest concern is global warming.

"History has shown that global warming is something that is really affecting us," she said. "If you look back 15 years ago, temperatures were different. More people are getting skin cancer. One hundred years ago they didn't need sun screen."

There are many things kids can do to help the environment.

"Instead of littering and chucking trash on the ground, they can put it in their pocket and put it in the garbage," said Kyle.

"They can make it an everyday thing to pick up trash," added Matt Sunberg, 12, of Ishpeming.

"Try not to drive cars so much and be so dependent on machines that are not good for the environment," Ali advises. "Car pool, and try not to use plastic so much.

"I heard a famous author (Shirley Chisholm) say that (taking care of the environment) was like paying your rent to the world. I kind of agree with that," she said. "You have to put something good back into everything you do, and make a positive impact. Because, otherwise, it was like life was not worth it; we wasted our time. I always try to keep that in mind."