When Megan Kleibacker helps rubber-booted kids pick through the Bear Creek riffles in search of all that wiggles, she can’t help but smile at their instant fascination with the non-terrestrial world.

Stonefly nymphs. Mayflies. Crayfish. Whatever sticks to the underwater rocks enthralls these grade-schoolers who, during a field trip to nature, finally get to see and touch what they’ve studied in books.

"Bugs are a big hit, but they probably liked the crayfish best," says Kleibacker, a natural resources education specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service in Central Point. "They’re bigger than most of the bugs, so the kids will pinch them. They make a bigger impact when they come out of the gravel."

The fact that these are little Latino hands pinching bugs makes it even better.

Last year’s inaugural Kids and Bugs program that focused on Latino kids was such a success that Kleibacker and others are back at it again Saturday with a free event at Bear Creek Park, where the language of bugs, salmon, fly-fishing and water quality will be bilingual.

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The second annual "Kids & Bugs: Chicos Latinos" will bring the outdoor world to a community segment leaders here say has been woefully under- represented in hands-on outdoor events.

National surveys show that Hispanics are woefully under-represented in traditional outdoor pursuits, and they have been conspicuously absent from weekend family events like this one that touts appreciation and participation of the outdoors.

"We are aware of the thousands of kids here who are part of the Latino population, and we want to educate them as well," Kleibacker says.

"I think we have a lot of great classroom activities available," she says. "But when it comes to meaningful out-of-classroom things, we’re not seeing huge participation from that population."

In Saturday’s event, kids will visit booths that will expose them to fish dissection and sampling for aquatic insects at the confluence of Lazy Creek and Bear Creek.

There will be a live salmon tank as well as a salmon story-telling tent.

Fly-casting and fly-tying demonstrations and lessons from Rogue Flyfishers Association volunteers will be offered on a grassy area of the park near the amphitheater.

Volunteer John Ward of Ashland says the fly-casting opportunities appear to transcend cultures.

"Those kids have never handled a fly rod before and everyone brings a fly home," says Ward, outreach coordinator for the Bear Creek Watershed Council. "These kids just glow. You can see it."

For years, Kleibacker could see that annual Kids and Bugs programs had the look of a non-healthy stream — a lack of diversity.

"There were primarily Caucasian kids who would come," Kleibacker says.

To boost multi-cultural participation, organizers decided to target the Hispanic community, Kleibacker says. They printed fliers and, more importantly, parent permission slips in English and Spanish so language would not be a barrier to bug day, she says.

That pleases Medford Latino activist Milo Selgado, who says one of the reasons Latino kids haven’t participated in many community events like bug days is they don’t feel invited.

Offering bilingual services helps span that rift, he says.

"When you see a business with a sign that says "Se Habla Espanol," they have an advantage over other businesses because they are saying, ‘you are welcome,’" Selgado says.

"In this workshop, it’s an invitation to come without being self-conscious and help expose them to things like fish," Selgado says. "Who knows? Maybe they’ll end up buying fishing licenses and boats. It’s part of commerce, too."

So far, no one’s gotten rich targeting Hispanic anglers.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2001 outdoor recreation survey shows that Hispanics represent just 5 percent of the country’s 34.1 million anglers; and just 7 percent of Hispanics fish. Also, only 4 percent of Hispanics reported that they traveled to watch wildlife.

"In general, we don’t go fishing as often as you guys do," Selgado says of Caucasians.

To change that, Ward says organizers of outdoor- and nature-related activities need to earn the trust of nontraditional outdoor cultures if young Latinos are to learn fishing as a third language.

"They’re nibbling," Ward says. "We have to set the hook and reel them in."

Angling metaphors aside, Kids and Bugs taught in English or Spanish is still the same — kids like bugs.

Kleibacker certainly knows that bugs don’t know the ethnic origin of the excited, inquisitive fingers that pinch them.

And Kleibacker will also have the same problem with the young bug-snatchers that she has every year regardless of their demographics.

"The most challenging part of the day is to get the kids out of the water and off to the next station," she says.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com.