INTERP * NET
NATUREWATCH NEWS
CATALYST
VOLUNTEER NEWS
Welcome to the first combined issue of these related Forest Service education and stewardship newsletters. In the past, each program has prepared its own newsletter. Beginning with this issue, newsletters will be combined to reduce duplication, provide broader subject matter coverage, and reach a wider audience. Give us some feedback on what you think of the new format.
But first, we need your help! This newsletter desperately needs a name. If you have any ideas please send them to Pam Godsey at W01B. The person who submits the winning name will receive a prize. Guidelines are: something short, something simple, and something that conveys the broad range of conservation education and natural resource stewardship.
Black Hills Natl. Forest
NATIONAL AND REGIONAL INTERP WINNERS were announced at the NAI conference held in Billings in late October. Robert Leonard, Forest Archeologist on Utah's Fishlake National Forest, was selected to receive the prestigious Gifford Pinchot Award for Excellence in Interpretation. Bob's leadership extends beyond interpretive services, to include partnerships with county economic development agencies, and using Passport in Time (PIT) projects to conserve and interpret the Fishlake's Bullion Canyon historic site.
In addition, awards were presented to each of the regional
nominees for the Pinchot Award:
Frogard Ryan, Rocky Mountain Region, Pike and San Isabel National Forests, Pikes Peak Ranger District
K. Dana Howlett, Southwestern Region, Cibola National Forest, Sandia Ranger District
Robert Leonard, Intermountain Region, Fishlake National Forest
John Louth, Pacific Southwest Region, Inyo National Forest
Jane Rohling, Pacific Northwest Region, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Eagle Cap Ranger District
Pat Momich, Southern Region, National Forests in North Carolina
Rob Morgenthaler, Alaska Region, Tongass National Forest, Juneau Ranger District
Congratulations to Robert Leonard and all the regional
nominees. Your achievements set the highest standards for all
of us to reach.
---------------------------------------------- NATUREWATCH
NEWS
Kimberly Anderson R02A
National NatureWatch Coordinator
Contributing Editor
The NatureWatch program provides recreational viewing opportunities for people to experience wildlife, fish, and plants in their natural settings; encourages learning about animals and plants and their environment; promotes conservation efforts and wise use of natural resources; and strives to develop broad public support for healthy ecosystems.
NatureWatch contains strong environmental ed and interpretation components, such as fish, wildlife, and plant viewing sites; classroom presentations; festivals; wayside signs; walks & talks; and more. And NatureWatch helps contribute to local economies ($1.8 billion was spent viewing fish, wildlife, and plants on National Forest in 1994). By 2040, nature viewing and touring are projected to increase 150 %.
Under the NatureWatch umbrella are several individual
programs: FishWatch, Celebrating Wildflowers, and Eyes on Wildlife.
FishWatch is an aquatic and fisheries educational program to boost awareness of the importance for fish and clean water; encourage an interest and excitement for fish viewing; provide fish viewing opportunities; and provide opportunities for volunteers and partnerships to play a role in the conservation of our aquatic resources.
Update: National Fishing Week
The first week of June is National Fishing Week, when the Forest Service joins with partners to celebrate sport fishing and family outdoor recreation through NFW activities. In 1995 over 85,000 children and adults took part in over 300 Forest Service sponsored activities
Other FishWatch highlights:
+ 2.3 million people participated in fish viewing/education activities on National Forest system lands last year. 27% of the population enjoys fish viewing.
+ More than 2,200 interactive aquatic education presentations were made during 1995.
+ Fisheries interpretive displays were developed and placed at 73 sites.
+ Nearly 300 multi-media aquatic ed products (brochures, videos, news features) were prepared.
+ The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival in Washington State drew 13,000 people.
+ Each year 120,000 visitors learn about stream ecology through the Kokanee Salmon Education Program at Lake Tahoe, NV.
+ The 1995 Forest Service fisheries budget of 39.51
million resulted in net public recreational fishing benefits of
$1.5 billion - a return of over $38 for each tax dollar invested.
Celebrating Wildflowers program increases public awareness of native plants, including but not limited to wildflowers. Corporate, civic and private partners help in this effort. Celebrating Wildflowers is now a season-long festival highlighting wildflower education, interpretation, and restoration activities on over 640 million acres of public land. CW hosts the wildflower hotline April through August, 800-354-4594. To get your forest listed, make sure to turn in CW news to your regional contact person.
Let's meet the regional Celebrating Wildflowers coordinators:
Northern - S.Shelly:R01A
Rocky Mountain - G.Austin:R02F04D07A
Southwestern - S.Knight:R03A
Intermountain - T.Prendusi:R04A
Pacific Southwest - J.Shevock:R05A
Pacific Northwest - S.Claggett:R06F03D08A
Southern - S.Hooks:R08B
Northeastern - J.Concannon:R09F21A
Alaska - M.Stensvold:R10F03A
A few CW highlights from the past:
+ Northwest Interpretive Assoc. produced T-shirts, pins, posters, and book markers.
+ Computerized B&W wildflower line drawings, useful for coloring books, pamphlets and other publications, were developed.
+ Fred Meyers corporate partner printed millions of grocery bags with CW information and coloring pages.
+ A Sunday paper "mini-page" for children, devoted exclusively to native plants and wildflowers, was printed.
+ Wildflower hotline lists events and programs from
April to August. Call 800-354-4595, new message every Wednesday.
Editor's note: this number doubles as the Fall Color Hotline during
September-October.
This is the Forest Service Watchable Wildlife Program. It began in 1988 as part of the Rare Plant Program. Like the other programs, Eyes is for children of all ages, students and adults who enjoy the outdoors through hiking, photography or wildlife viewing.
The National Survey on fishing, hunting, and wildlife by the Fish and Wildlife Service shows 74% of American age 16 and older participate in some form of viewing, feeding, or photography as a recreational activity. Current use of 33 million viewing days on NFS lands alone is expected to grow 150 % by 2040.
Major "Eyes" accomplishments include:
+ Signing a MOU between the Forest Service and Defenders of Wildlife providing a full-time coordinator position within the Forest Service responsible for helping develop state wildlife viewing guides.
+ Developed wildlife viewing ethics brochure, poster,
and video.
--------------------------------------- NATUREWATCH NEWS
From the Field
Smokey Bear Products
Teresa Ritter R05F13D56A
The current Smokey Bear theme is very wildlife oriented
with Smokey surrounded by a variety of animals and birds - very
nice if you haven't seen it. The themes change regularly so orders
should be made now if biologists are interested in obtaining these
items for environmental education. Call 218-327-4578 for a catalog
and order form. Fill out order and include management code and
Forest over-ride code (Region, Forest numbers). Send certified
DG to Smokey:R09F09B; or fax to 218-327-4581; or mail directly
to National Interagency Supply Cache, 402 11th Street SE, Grand
Rapids, MN 55744, Attn: Smokey Bear Order. The Nat'l Interagency
Supply Cache will directly bill the mgt. code through the over-ride
code and it will automatically show up on your transaction sheet
for the mgt. code you give.
Stream Rangers
Gary Asbridge R06F06D06A
Barlow RD has set up a challenge cost share stream
monitoring project on Fifteenmile Creek. Eighth graders will collect
water samples, do stream cross sections, inventory riparian vegetation
and gather habitat type information. All monitoring parameters
are repeatable and objective. Partners include Oregon Dept. Fish
and Wildlife, Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District,
and BLM.
Salmon Watch
Julie Schreck R06F06A
An environmental ed project of Oregon Trout, lets
students experience both in classroom study and in the field,
riparian ecology and the relationship of people and the environment
through learning about the life of the wild northwest salmon.
The program acquaints tomorrow's leaders with the historic, cultural
and economic values of wild native fish.
FishWatch news
American Zoo and Aquarium Association, AZA
"Wonders of Our Waters" is a new national program on freshwater fish and mussels. Contact Michael Hitchins at 2845@aol.com for details from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. Posters, video, brochures, factsheet and a website. A related "Fisheries Awareness Program" is sponsored by the National Audubon Society; and the "Oceans Awareness Campaign" is sponsored by AZA and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
------------------------------------------------NEWS FEATURE -- EE ON THE WWW
Todd Phillipe R02F03A
Contributing Editor
Seems like everything can be found on the World Wide Web/Internet these days, and conservation education and interpretation are no exceptions. Excellent homepages abound, with information about programs, curricula, resources and much more. Forest Service interpreters and EE folks can't avoid finding useful information for their school talks, programs and EE projects.
Both the DG and IBM give access to the Internet. If you're not already a user, just ask your sysop (system operator) for help. It's surprisingly easy to sign on, navigate around the web, even mail documents to your DG inbox. The IBM 615 uses a graphical Mosaic web browser, while the DG uses a text only Lynx browser. I recommend using the DG. Besides, the IBM may not be up and running at your location, because it's not at mine. Lately, one of the fastest access routes to the Internet has been National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's homepage at www.esdim1.esdim.noaa.gov. Your unit should have this site listed on a macro for easy DG access, and you can change your main menu to include it.
My favorite onramp for WWW conservation education is EELink, maintained by the University of Michigan at www.nceet.snre.umich.edu. A sampling from this month's "What's New" section includes "Green Teacher" magazine, "WhaleNet" information packets, and "Ripple Effect" newsletter.
Another environmental ed onramp is www.envirolink.org, but it's more commercial than EELink. And don't forget the Forest Service homepage at www.fs.fed.us or National Park Service at www.nps.gov for lots of good links.
Here are some selected websites related to our conservation education mission. Remember to put "http://www." before the address.
Smokey Bear - smokeybear.com
Endangered species - tnc.org (Nature Conservancy)
Great Outdoors Recreation Pages - gorp.com
National Science Teachers Association - nsta.org
National Parks and Conservation Association - npca.org
NAI Natl. Assoc. for Interp - environment.sfasu.edu/nai
Tread Lightly - treadlightly.org
Project Wild - nceet.snre.umich.edu/wild
Project Learning Tree - nceet.snre.umich.edu/plt.html
Leave No Trace - nols.edu/lnt
National Academy of Sciences - nas.gov
National Science Foundation - nfs.gov
Extension Service - reeusda.gov
Natl. Agriculture Library - nalusda.gov
Bristlecone pine homepage - sonic.net/bristlecone
Wildflowers homepage - wild-flowers.com
Prairie ecology - prairienet.org
Wolf homepage - wolf.org
Virtual forestry - metla.fi/info
Rocky Mtn Nature Assoc. - rmna.org/bookstore
HikeNet - eclipse.net/~hikenet
Map and compass - orienteering.org, usgs.gov
Backcountry homepage - io.datasys.swri.edu/overview
Native plant conservation - aqd.nps.gov/natnet/npci
Connecting with Nature - pacificrim.net/~nature
Universities are another excellent resource, especially Extension websites. Check out Iowa State University's (my alma mater) at exnet.iastate.edu for useful links to environmental ed homepages.
When you find something that interests you, it's easy to mail it to your DG inbox. Use the O hotkey, then hit P and type in your email address. Now hit newline and R, and your address is saved for that particular Internet session. To mail a document to yourself, hit P and then NL twice. The document will appear in your inbox, usually in 2-3 minutes. Every Forest Service employee has an email address. You can figure out yours from this one: /s=s.bear/ou1=r01f01d01a@mhs-fswa.attmail.com. Just substitute your name and DG where highlighted, keep the rest of it the same, and you should be all set.
Finally, you can use any of the numerous free search
engines to provide instant links to websites on any topic. Two
services that are easy to use are altavista.digital.com and excite.com,
and there are others. Once you're in, arrow down to the submit
form, enter your topic, hit the down arrow again, then new line.
In seconds you'll receive pages of websites related to that particular
interp or EE topic; just use the down arrow and NL key to go to
those pages.
------------------------------------------------------ INTERP NEWS
From the Field
Alaska update "Surf and Turf" program in May explained two important winter survival strategies used by birds, bears and whales: migration and hibernation. "SeaWeek" program focused on bird migration for an audience of Juneau fourth graders. A.Nettleton:R10F03D04A.
Staff of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center have designed and constructed new outdoor interpretive signs that overlook the glacier. D.Campbell: R10F03D03A.
Southeast Alaska Visitor Center (SEAVC) at Ketchikan has completed its second season. Newest indoor exhibit is a temperate rainforest room that features painted wall murals, 3-D spruce, hemlock and cedar trees plus other native plants and wildlife. SEAVC is the last of four Alaska Public Lands Information Centers, opening in June 1995. The other centers are at Tok, Fairbanks and Anchorage. C.Cupito:R10F05A.
The spring Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival attracts bird lovers from all over. This community event teaches about the natural history of wetlands and shorebirds. Over 5 million birds stop here on their migration to breeding grounds in interior Alaska. Watchable Wildlife Minutes are broadcast on radio station KLAM in Cordova. Covering everything from moose to mosquitoes, the series includes more than 20 3 to 4 minute radio spots. S.Frost:R10F04D02A.
North Carolina news Cradle of Forestry on the Pisgah National Forest has two new full time interpreters thanks to their local interpretive association. Their Living with the Forest field trip is gaining teacher support including greater use of pre-visit activities. Perennial wildflowers have been added to the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Garden. Garden interpretive signs, funded in party by Wildlife Forever, are being prepared by the San Juan NF design team. The gift shop has been revamped and is now named "The Giving Tree" gift shop. C.Carpenter and T.Hopkins:R08F11D59A.
Colorado news Pikes Peak Ranger District offered 5-8 programs on summer weekends at the Manitou Park recreation area. District interpreters also served visitors three days a week on the summit of Pikes Peak. Camp TIPS, Teens in Positive Service, has completed three years of trail and general conservation projects; partners include JTPA, the National Forest Foundation and Fort Carson. E.Southard:R02F12D09A.
Black Hills news Spearfish Ranger District hosted a series of summer and fall "Moon Walks". These are night interp walks during the full moon, each walk focusing on a different natural history topic. J.Colwell:R02F03D11A.
Interpretive signing on the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway is underway with an ISTEA grant administered by the South Dakota Dept. of Transportation. Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial are also partners. J.Timm:R02F03A.
The 1997 Capitol Christmas tree will be cut on the Black Hills NF next fall, the Forest's centennial year. It's a 60 foot white spruce (locally known as Black Hills spruce.) Major partner is Keep South Dakota Green Association. Keep Green and the Forest hope to use this as an opportunity to teach young and old alike about the importance of managed forests. G.Say:R02F03D11A.
Inyo Creative Services (ICS) is a new internal enterprise team that will work for you. Based on the Inyo National Forest but including team members at other locations as well, the team has skills in design, writing and editing, illustration, cartography, production coordination and research. Cynthia Dykes explains that "Inyo" is Native American for "dwelling place of a great spirit", and that's what ICS is all about. Reach them at ICSIE:R05F04A or by phone at (619) 873-2404.
Help wanted - Looking for auto tour information.
Anyone have experience or thoughts on evaluating or monitoring
auto tour programs? We have a Watchable Wildlife tour with brochure
and numbered signs along the route; take signs down before winter
sets in. At least one teacher uses the tour in her natural resource
curriculum. T.Wenum:R01F10A.
-----------------------------------------------VOLUNTEER NEWS
From the WO and the Field
The numbers are in for 1996, and they're impressive, even though down slightly from 1995. Figures just released by the WO show that during FY 96, the Forest Service hosted more than 80,000 volunteers who worked almost 2000 person years. Value of their work is almost $35 million! Some 68 percent of the work is in recreation, with fish and wildlife coming in second at 7 percent. Age-wise, 43 percent of volunteers are under 20, another 43 percent are 20-54, and 14 percent are 55 and older. One in ten is a minority volunteer, and 36 percent are women. Don Hansen, HRP/WO 703-235-8858.
New volunteer brochure is out: Publication FS-579, Volunteering with the Forest Service, has been reprinted and distributed to the field. The new brochure includes corrected phone numbers and a new title. D.Hanson:W01B.
Volunteer application revised: Form OF-301, Volunteer Application for Natural Resource Agencies, has been slightly revised and reprinted. It's good until January 1998 according to OMB, which has the final word on government forms. All units should request copies of the new form from their Region or Director, and make all the copies you need. D.Hanson:W01B.
Volunteer book in the works: Melody Herbert is the volunteer coordinator for the Black Hills National Forest and Nebraska National Forest. She's putting together a book listing volunteer opportunities on the forest and grassland units in the Northern Plains region she's responsible for. Several hundred copies will be mailed to colleges, civic and community organizations and other groups. M.Herbert:R02F07A.
Volunteer info on the Internet: Check out "volunteers" or a similar
topic on one of the world wide web search engines like Yahoo,
AltaVista or Excite. New information is constantly added, and you
might find some good ideas or resources to make your volunteer
program stronger. The NPS page may also have some
good volunteer links to check out. T.Phillipe:R02F03A.
------------------------NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION EDUCATION NEWS
Formerly the Catalyst
This is a shortened version of a 13 page report prepared by Gwen Brady before she left the Forest Service last summer.
A Birds Eye View Students from 12 Colorado Front Range schools have participated in a NRCE funded program called "A Bird's Eye View on Ecosystems". Last winter students were part of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Project Feederwatch. They kept naturalist notebooks and some prepared artwork. Faith Duncan 303-275-5610.
Bearly Back Black bears are making a comeback in Kentucky, and the London Ranger District, Daniel Boone NF has an educational program for local school children about why the bears disappeared, and what might happen as their populations recover. NRCE funds helped purchase a black bear mount known as "roller bear" because it's on casters for easy movement into classrooms. Steve Kickert 606-864-4163.
SEAVC open house Last spring, the staff of Southeast Alaska Visitor Center in Ketchikan hosted over 40 teachers for a multimedia show, "Mystic Alaska". The Alaska Natural History Association donated books, videos and tapes. The Wilderness Box and Songbird Blues Box were shown. Sandy Skrien 907-945-3631.
Alaska Naturalist Program This new program, an outgrowth of an earlier similar program at UA's Sitka Campus, provides educators and visitor industry employees with accurate and interesting information about Alaska's natural history. In Wrangell, instructors include teachers, doctors, fishermen, native elders and of course Forest Service employees. Lezlie Murray 907-874-2323.
Treeture news Thanks to a Coop Forestry grant, elementary students at Stagecoach school in Gallup, NM have newly planted trees in their schoolyard. In addition, the "Treeture" creature made a guest appearance, and Mount Taylor Ranger District / Cibola NF employees took students to the nearby Zuni Mountains. Donna Nemeth 505-287-8833
Friends of Smokey Bear Balloon FOSBB, Inc. has created a series of EE videos for elementary kids. NRCE funded about half the production costs. The "Tree House Kids" build a tree house with access to a magical hot air balloon that transports them to exciting places where they learn about the environment and how to take care of it. Jane Westenberger, 7437 Saratoga Lane, Santa Fe NM 87505.
Big Timber outdoor ed Gallatin NF and other partners have built an outdoor ed program for students in grades 1-8 in the Big Timber, Montana public schools. The goal is to stimulate a sense of wonder about the environment by studying geology, soils, forestry, range, heritage resources, fire prevention and wildlife ecology. Locations alternate between two nearby mountain ranges, the Absarokas and the Crazies. James Sparks 406-932-5155
Kaibab killers Predator-prey relations are emphasized in an interactive outdoor program run by Kaibab NF interpreters in northern Arizona. Using laminated posters and pictures mounted on sticks, participants come forward as called. Soon most of the audience is involved, learning about ecosystems and sensitive species in the process. Sharon Waltrip 520-635-8200
TRAIL BOSS Northeastern Forest Experiment station with the Cradle of Liberty Council of Boy Scouts of America and Schuylkill River Greenway Association held a day long seminar last spring to explain the TRAIL BOSS program to conservation leaders. TRAIL stands for Teaching Resources and Individual Leadership. Tom Birch and Anne Bohnet conducted the training. TRAIL BOSS is a joint effort of Boy Scouts and seven resource agencies. Jane GamalEldin 610-975-4229
Taking the Right Course Forest Service employees along with folks from other agencies and the National Environmental Education Training Foundation explained ecosystem management to science teachers at last spring's National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in St. Louis. Smokey and Woodsy made several appearances during the four day event. Math and science are foundations for teaching about the connections between lifestyle choices and demand, consumption, protection and conservation of natural resources. Rachael Schneider 770-536-0541
Kids - For the Birds Last April (Audubon Month) and May (Migratory Bird Month) Tahoe NF employees along with Audubon volunteers visited elementary classrooms in Nevada County, California. Their bag of tricks included games, songs, slides, posters and specimens. With NRCE funding, six mounted birds were acquired (with permits) for educational purposes. When it was all over, some 2500 children had flapped their wings and made bird sounds. Ann Westling 916-478-6205
Global ReLeaf American Forests, the nation's oldest nonprofit citizen conservation organization, has a fund-raiser program called "Sharing in a Better World". Last year this program raised $20,000 and planted 8000 trees for youth groups. All told, some 165,000 trees have been planted so far. Adam Schoenberg 800-545-TREE ext. 212
NRCE national conference decisions National NRCE coordinators have made several strategic decisions to strengthen this vital effort. Collaboration among NRCE, interpretive and watchable wildlife programs will be emphasized. Regional conservation education councils may be created. And a national conservation ed summit may be held. Finally, separate program newsletters will be combined in the future. Pam Godsey 202-205-1545
WOW Urban Camping Program The national curriculum development committee has been busy with the National WOW Environmental Ed Program. This is a partnership involving The Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles city rec. program, California state parks and wildlife departments, Project Learning Tree and National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). In 1996 WOW planned to expand to 6-10 additional cities. Susan Mochenhaupt 202-205-1007
Girl Scout partnership update Cleveland NF supervisor Anne Fege has been a driving force behind an interagency partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA for some time now. Thanks in part to a NRCE grant, a training session in outdoor skills was held for Girl Scouts. Forest Service, BLM, NPS and FWS helped conduct the training. Long term goals include helping girls explore career options, become responsible outdoor enthusiasts, and informed and involved adults. Anne Fege 619-673-6180
Preschool programs in Colorado Thanks to a $1500 NRCE grant and $300 from Wal-Mart, a dozen preschool story hour packs have been created for use in libraries. Each kit contains award winning books, puppets, audio and video tapes and hands-on objects to excite curious young minds. While the audience is small (around three feet) the excitement is high with this new program. Jackie Sanderson 303-638-4516
Alaska trail Students in the Yukon River village of Ruby, Alaska now have a two mile nature trail to help them study the woods, waters and wildlife of the area. Armed with a $7000 NRCE grant, students built picnic tables and a camping area, cleared trails and wrote a booklet on the trail. Anne Titus thought of the project, saying it teaches Native children they don't have to destroy nature to enjoy it. Gene Wheeler 907-271-2577
Gingerbread ecosystem Wolf howls and northern lights are just two elements that turn the Copper River Delta into a magical place in winter. Last winter employees from the Cordova Ranger District and Prince William Sound Science Center helped 300 student recreate this special place in the form of an indoor gingerbread ecosystem, replete with edible trees, bears, moose, snowshoe hares, swans, beavers and many more animals. The 40 square foot ecosystem was displayed in a local bank over the holidays where it charmed hundreds of adults while providing a unique educational experience for the entire community. Sandy Frost 907-424-7661
Flathead kudos Barb Penner, Flathead NF interpreter in northwest Montana, was praised by the regional forester for her efforts to lead and improve interp and educational programs and facilities at the Big Mountain Environmental Ed Center. And, the Flathead Family Forestry Expo was named one of two winners of the Northern Region Natural Resource Education Award for 1995.
Coram Experimental Forest is one of Montana's best-kept secrets. Located on the Hungry Horse Ranger District of the Flathead NF, this facility has been operated by Intermountain Research Station for 50 years. Coram has long taught foresters how to manage and regenerate native Douglas-fir and larch forests. Now, with help from a NRCE grant, Coram is on its way to becoming a teaching forest for local schools as well. In 1994, the International Larch Arboretum was dedicated in Hungry Horse. Donald Kiehn 406-387-4224
Forestry CD-ROM The Forest Service's Northeastern Area, Mid-Atlantic State Foresters and Major Educational Resources Corp. (MERC) are developing a CD-ROM on forestry. Phase One is compete and includes forest values and benefits, forestry tools, tree ID and forest products. Phase Two will include modules on forest management, wildlife, recreation, soil, water and fire. NE's Dan Kincaid provides overall project coordination. NE Area 304-285-1524
Virtual hardwoods Another CD-ROM project, this one on central hardwoods, will allow students to walk through a typical forest where they can examine leaves and bark, key out tree species, measure tree diameters and more. The project is designed to prepare students for actual field trips. It's a coop venture of the Indiana Forestry Education Foundation, Purdue University and Indiana DNR. Sam Carman 317-232-4105
Wilderness Summit Middle school students from southern Indiana learned about citizen participation by examining wilderness issues on the Hoosier NF. Using the popular IYE (Investigating Your Environment) series, Indiana University staff and grad students involved 10 teachers and 300 students in the natural and social issues of wilderness. The project culminated in a Wilderness Summit when students met with the Forest Service. Doug Knapp 812-855-3094
Prairie Festival Over 1000 people were treated to a one-day festival focused on the wonders of the prairie ecosystem. 230-acre Nine Mile Prairie is a native tall grass prairie near Lincoln, Nebraska. Keynote speaker Dave Hartnett, who directs the Nature Conservancy's Konza Prairie in Kansas and is a professor at KSU, spoke about bison and fire in the prairie ecosystem. A NRCE grant from the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Experiment Station helped fund the annual event. Carol Schumann 402-437-5178 ext. 19
Tim Womick Story Womick is a modern day Johnny Appleseed,
spreading his environmental message as he runs across
Georgia and other states. For four years, Womick has run his one
man crusade called "A Trail of Trees", which has won awards from
American Forests. More than 2000 people heard hispositive message
in Georgia alone this past spring. Sharon Dallivec 912-751-3559
Please fill out according to the sample documents. Mail to T.Heyer:S23A.
Target audience: High School students; Teachers (K-12)
Location of Program: Camp Cottonwood near Lakeview, OR
Program Name: RAP Camp (Resources and People Career Camp)
Program Dates: July 6 - 12, 1997
Frequency of Occurrence: Annually
Brief Description (include target audience and any costs to participants):
This program is for high school students and educators (K-12). Participants
learn about natural resources and how they are being managed through field
trips and a land management planning exercise. Students are given many
career ideas, encouraged to stay in school and have the opportunity to
experience interaction with others from differing backgrounds
(rural/urban and cultural). Teachers write lesson plans for their classrooms,
receive a wealth of material and "hands-on" ideas plus 3 hours
of continuing education credit from Southern Oregon State College.
Cost is $50 including room, board, registration and transportation from
centralized points in Oregon and Northern California. Teachers also pay
approximately $40 per credit hour.
Contact Person:
Shirley Kerns 541-883-6716 Winema National Forest 2819 Dahlia Klamath Falls, OR 97601
DG Address: S.Kerns:R06F20A
E-mail Address: /s=s.kerns/ou1=R06F20A@mhs-fswa.attmail.com
Other additional information: Applications due April 1, 1997; available by writing or calling above.
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