By Kalyn Nash
May has been a busy month for our Restoration Program Director, Chris Prange. The GBCA has been getting out into local public schools to share insight into the world of conservation, land management, and the partnerships involved in applying these concepts. With some help from our Backcountry Ranger/ Stewardship Coordinator, Joelle, he has been visiting students of all ages to discuss a wide range of topics! GBCA school visits also seek to get students outside to practice various skills involved in everything from backcountry travel to restoration, providing a spectrum for students to see how they can apply these skills in their personal lives as well as possible future careers in conservation.
Noxious to Native
Chris visited Target Range school in Missoula, MT to help 7th grade students start to develop a plan for their native plant garden. Currently, this garden is more of a “noxious weed garden” and needs some restoration! Students got out into the garden to learn more about what it means to be a noxious weed and how to identify the primary noxious weeds in their garden. The students worked with dichotomous keys to identify common tansy, spotted knapweed, leafy spurge, Canada thistle, and tumble mustard. In June, GBCA will be working with students to count the weed populations for pretreatment monitoring purposes. The class will then hand-pull their weeds,Chris will follow up with chemical treatment going into summer vacation, and the class will perform post treatment monitoring using the methods they learned when they return to school in August as 8th graders. The goal is to introduce the students to one process used in restoration (in this case weed management) and allow them to collect and analyze data from start to finish using the scientific process.
Wilderness Workshop
Chris visited students at Alberton High School to discuss wilderness and how the various public land designations differ during their Environmental Science class. Students were able to learn what it takes for public lands to be recommended for wilderness protection. This subject is all the more relevant now, with the ongoing process of Lolo National Forest Plan revision happening in their own backyard.
When talking about conservation and land management, it is important to GET OUTSIDE and have hands-on experience. Chris and Joelle, GBCA stewardship coordinator, organized a Field Day for the class where the students were able to learn backcountry camping skills. Joelle shared her extensive knowledge about the gear she utilizes in her job and how to choose proper backcountry campsites. Along with how to set up tents, students learned how to best set up camp when staying overnight in bear country. Bear hangs are an essential part of staying safe while camping where bears may be present. Joelle shared her tips and tricks on placing a bear hang and what key aspects should be met to create safe food storage. Once Joelle made it look easy, the students gave it their best shot. It was fun to watch them try to throw their ropes over the tree limbs and see what strategies they utilized.
GBCA hopes to expand our educational offerings to all of our gateway communities in the coming years. If you are interested in partnering reach out to Chris, at chris@greatburn.org.