Summit Addresses Environmental Issues
After spending much of the first day of the Faculty Summit discussing leadership skills, teaching techniques, and ways to foster inclusion, the second day began with a reminder to faculty: you have an incredible opportunity to inspire a new generation to care about the environment.
Dan Garvey delivered the morning’s first presentation. Garvey’s humorous approach softened the otherwise sobering discourse about ethical failures and their catastrophic impact on the environment.
Dan Garvey addresses NOLS faculty. Photo Credit: Brad Christensen
Next, George Luber delved further into the theme of environmental consciousness with a thorough presentation of the changes occurring in the environment and, consequently, in the health of Americans.
George Luber explains the numerous changes occuring in the environment. Photo credit: Brad Christensen
Although Luber’s statistics were staggering, he, like Garvey, urged NOLS faculty to take the information and act, rather than allow it to be paralytic in its seriousness. For example, he suggested appealing to the self interest of students, whose appreciation for wild places grows during a NOLS course.
“Instead of pointing out all of the weeds, get in the garden,” deplored Garvey.
For videos of talks, forums, and workshops at the NOLS Faculty Summit, please visit NOLS.tv
Permalink | Posted by Alison Hudson on May 17, 2012 in the following categories: Alumni, Curriculum, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Instructor News, Leadership
Building Gardens, Growing Community
Thank you to all those volunteers from NOLS who came out to Ft. Washakie last Friday to help out with the Earth Day Community Garden Outreach event! Battling through 40 mph winds which made earth moving all the more challenging, we worked alongside students from the local Charter School, Boces Green Construction and the Pathfinder High School, to build over 600 feet of perimeter fencing and 300 feet of raised beds. It was truly an incredible effort!
Fred Groenke, Director of the Wind River Native Science Field Center, and the mastermind behind the project, expects the gardens to be used and appreciated by the community, with the ultimate goal of raising awareness surrounding healthy diet and lifestyle. We were so pleased to be able to support this mission, and hope to see the fruits and vegetables of our labor come summertime!
We would like to give a special thanks to the following for their support: The Noble Kitchen, NOLS transportation, The Gourmet Gulch, Bread Board, The Cooking Crow, Apple Valley Market, Mr. D's and Safeway
Julie, Kay and Dave
Rocky Mountain and Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Interns
Permalink | Posted by Kay Sherwood on Apr 30, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Rocky Mountain
Excellent EB for the good of the river
Friday brought beautiful weather and buses full of eager Lander Middle School students to the banks of the Little Popo Agie River, where they practiced expedition behavior and developed their environmental ethic.
All afternoon the students, with direction from NOLS instructors, Popo Agie Anglers volunteers, Trout Unlimited representatives, Wyoming Game and Fish Department employees, and Popo Agie Conservation District members, planted 700 willow cuttings to stabilize the river’s banks. The willows will serve to stabilize the river banks and provide protection for the river’s fish populations.
The willows students helped plant will prevent erosion on corners like these in the future. Lindsay D'Addato photo
Friday’s community effort also included a number of educational facets for the young volunteers, ranging from fly fishing to GPS navigation, from aquatic biology to ways to prevent snakebites.The event took place at a Red Canyon Public Fishing Access fishing access adjacent to the Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus and was the second and final step in the Red Canyon River Bank Stabilization project. Read more about the first day of the undertaking here.
Students practice their fly-fishing technique near the river that will soon be a better home for fish. Lindsay D'Addato photo
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Apr 23, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Rocky Mountain, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Check your map for Earth Day events
The mission of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has always been to be the source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment. On Earth Day, NOLS locations will bring these backcountry practices to the frontcountry by taking part in events in their respective communities.
The staff of NOLS Alaska will be hitting the road this Earth Day, literally. The crew is planning to tackle their annual cleanup of Farm Loop road—a three-mile stretch of road that leads up to the Palmer headquarters.
The cleanup, which is a part of the annual staff orientation day, happens each spring once the snowmelt has progressed enough to allow for it. This year, the orientation day has been scheduled to coordinate with Earth Day.
“After our long winters, the receding snows offer any number of roadside ‘treasures,’” said Don Ford, NOLS Alaska director. “It is a great time to show our new staff what is able to be recycled at the Valley Recycling Center, to show our neighbors that we care, and to have a good time. The most unusual find of the day always gets a laugh!”
The NOLS Southwest staff will also be supporting Earth Day by getting involved in Let’s G.O! (Get Outside) on Saturday, April 21. Supported by other organizations such as 4-H, Sierra Club, and Parks in Focus, the event will have different outdoor activity stations (play-stations), for children and adults that focus on getting active in the outdoors and creating healthy communities.
The entire NOLS Southwest staff will participate in the event and will host several play-stations, including include learning to make bracelets and key chains using old webbing and cordelette and an orienteering/treasure hunt station, as well as assisting with set-up and breakdown of the event and serving lunch.
“NOLS Southwest is excited to be working with the other sponsors of this event to provide an opportunity for kids and families to get outside and celebrate Earth Day,” wrote Nick Cross, assistant director at NOLS Southwest. “We as a branch have been making an effort to get more involved in the Tucson community, finding ways to volunteer and make positive contributions to events/organizations that we identify with.”
NOLS Headquarters and NOLS Rocky Mountain, both located in Lander, Wyo., are teaming up and joining a number of invaluable community partners to make two projects happen over the weekend. NOLS is co-sponsoring a riverbank stabilization project in Red Canyon on April 20 and a community garden build at two locations on the Wind River Reservation on April 27. At both events, volunteers will be working with students from local schools in an effort to educate attendees about the environment while building stronger community ties.
On April 20 in Red Canyon, students and organizers will plant willow cuttings along the banks of the little Popo Agie with a group of students from Lander Middle School. Working with the Popo Agie Anglers, Trout Unlimited, Wyoming Game and Fish and the Popo Agie Conservation District the group not only be preventing erosion but also teaching a Red Canyon place-based curriculum. For more on this event, check out our recent blog post about the first step.
After students harvested willows early this month and soaked them for a few weeks, they are now ready to be planted along Wyoming river banks. Lindsay D'Addato photo.
On April 27, Lander NOLS folks and partners are fully psyched to get their hands dirty alongside students from the Fort Washakie Charter School to build raised beds and fencing for two new community gardens in Ft. Washakie. The project is the brainchild of Fred Groenke, an avid farmer, teacher, and director of the Wind River Native Science Field Center. The project was designed to create public awareness of the importance of preserving our natural environment and developing and maintaining sustainable growing practices that promote healthy lifestyles and connect us with the natural world. We at NOLS are providing volunteer support and organizing a nutritious lunch for volunteers. And on that note, we should give thanks where they are due to BOCES Green Construction, and the Wind River Diabetes Program for their support as well as Apple Valley Market and Mr. D’s Grocery for answering the food donation call.
So come on out to one of these amazing events in celebration and support of your local NOLS community and the larger, global community that you are a part of!
Permalink | Posted by Casey Dean on Apr 17, 2012 in the following categories: Alaska, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Rocky Mountain, Southwest, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
LMS Students Get Outside to Protect the Little Popo Agie
What do you get when you mix 120 middle schoolers, branch loppers, and a need for willow cuttings to stabilize cut-banks along the Little Popo Agie River? You might be thinking missing digits, but on a beautiful spring afternoon this week, the answer was 700 willow cuttings and a highly successful first installment of the Red Canyon River Bank Stabilization project.
One student trimming a willow cutting at Red Canyon. Photo credit: Lindsay D’Addato
We felt incredibly lucky to have such a positive and motivated group of students from the Lander Middle School come out to Red Canyon for the afternoon on Tuesday. Along with harvesting and trimming willows, students rotated through a series of classes, including: a macro-invertebrates class from the Popo Agie Conservation District’s Dave Morneau; a fly casting clinic; a geo-caching tutorial; and a Dangerous Flora and Fauna of Red Canyon class by WMI’s own Anna Gast. It was a great opportunity for students to explore the many ways that they can enjoy the amazing lands surrounding Lander.
Students eagerly participated in a class on Red Canyon flora and fauna Tuesday afternoon. Photo credit: Lindsay D’Addato.
It was smiles all around as volunteers from the Popo Agie Anglers and teachers and staff from school shuffled students through classes and willow cutting. We want to express thanks to Nan Slingerland, Donn Kesselheim, Gary Blackwelder, and The Nature Conservancy who gave us permission to harvest on their land.
An LMS student learning the ins and outs of the fly cast. Photo Credit: Lindsay D’Addato
The willow cuttings that were harvested at this event are going to soak for the next two weeks, and will be planted at the Red Canyon Public Fishing Access on April 20th from 12pm – 3pm with the help of the same group of all-stars from the middle school. We’re also planning to continue developing the Red Canyon-specific curriculum.
If you are interested in volunteering at the planting event on April 20th, please send an e-mail to David Clark-Barol, ES&S intern, at david_clark-barol@nols.edu.
Check out a video of all the action at the County 10 website.
Permalink | Posted by Dave Clark-Barol on Apr 4, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Rocky Mountain, Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus
Desolation Canyon to See Drilling
It continues to be a tough year for NOLS river classrooms, as the BLM released a final environmental impact statement last week assessing the Gasco Energy Uinta Basin natural gas project. If authorized, Gasco- a Colorado-based natural gas company- will build nearly 1,300 new natural gas wells in Utah’s Desolation Canyon and other remote areas. A notice in the Federal Register opened a 30-day public review period, which ends April 16th, after which the final authorization will likely be granted.
The pristine beauty of Desolation Canyon/ Photo credit: Ashley Wise
The highly controversial decision made by the Department of the Interior and approved by the Obama administration has drawn strong criticism. The project poses a major threat to the Desolation Canyon wilderness study area, an oft-frequented NOLS river classroom, and the largest unprotected roadless complex in the lower 48.
It was a surprising decision in light of the fact that in November of 2011 Secretary Salazar, head of the Department of the interior, declared that Desolation Canyon merited wilderness protections by Congress. Furthermore, the administration chose this option over two other, more protective, alternatives.
NOLS has participated in public comment periods throughout the process, expressing a concern “that this project will have a serious impact on the river experience.” NOLS also commented on the threat that development poses to air quality, which will “degrade the outstanding and remarkable values that compelled the Vernal BLM to recommend this stretch of the Green River as suitable for designation under the Wild and Scenic River Act.”
NOLS canoe course running the waters of Desolation Canyon/ Photo credit: Ashley Wise
The proposed final EIS does not strike the necessary balance between development and conservation. As a result, some of the wildest and most pristine parts of Utah and a valuable NOLS classroom are going to be compromised. If you would like to comment on the recently authorized Environmental Impact Statement that allows the development of around 200 natural gas wells in the Desolation Canyon wilderness study area, you can address comments to:
UT_Vernal_Comments@BLM.gov
Attn: Mark Wimmer
Check out the NRDC's Switchboard blog for more information.
Permalink | Posted by Dave Clark-Barol on Mar 22, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Rocky Mountain
NOLS Grad Makes a Difference Without Leaving a Footrpint
When students graduate from high school, they often travel to a resort on a sunny beach to celebrate their freedom. In 2001 Sam Hagler decided to break this trend and, fresh out of high school, chose to celebrate graduation his own way by cycling across the country.
When his father asked what charity he would be riding for, Sam wasn’t sure at first but then thought of his grandmother and her multiple sclerosis. Soon after, he began his self-supported tour in support of MS at the age of 18. This trip would be the first of many future cycling adventures taking him all over the world.
Sam Hagler
A graduate from Northern Arizona University with a B.S. in parks and recreation management, Hagler is also a NOLS alumni who completed a Pacific Northwest Backpacking course in 2005. After college he joined the Peace Corps and spent the next two years in Paraguay involved with several conservation projects including Procosara and Guyra Paraguay.
Driven by his love for the environment, he then organized a 10,000-mile solo bike tour through 15 countries to raise money for saving the San Rafael Reserve. Beginning in Paraguay and ending in the United States, Sam described his journey as “the trip of a lifetime… for sure!” His “trip of a lifetime” raised enough money to allow the Conservation Alliance in Paraguay to purchase 20 acres of jungle in the San Rafael Reserve.
Tim McKinley
Sam is now teaming up with good friend and fellow cyclist Tim McKinley to raise $5,000 for Ride For School Gardens. Tim is also a returned Peace Corps volunteer who shares Sam’s love for both the environment and cycling, having toured parts of Zambia while volunteering in Africa.
During his time with the Peace Corps, Tim worked as an agro-forestry extension agent on a variety of production and conservation projects, including training communities in nutritional education through vegetable gardening in rural or urban areas. Now back from abroad, Tim shares his love for gardening by working with the school gardens at Kinsey Elementary School in Flagstaff, Ariz. It is his passion for conservation and agriculture that sparked Tim’s idea to work with Sam and organize the Ride For School Gardens fundraiser.
Ride For School Gardens is an alternative spring break bicycle tour fundraiser covering 250 miles in Northern California to raise awareness for the importance of school gardens as supplementary educational tools. Sam and Tim hope to raise $5,000 to support schools’ independent gardening programs, and every small donation helps them reach their goal. Donations can be made for Sam and Tim’s fundraiser by clicking here. You can also visit their Facebook page Ride For School Gardens to help spread the word.
Permalink | Posted by Mike Hepler on Mar 12, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability
Bannon to Sit on Wyoming’s State Parks and Cultural Resources Commission
We are proud to announce that the Wyoming State Senate confirmed the appointment of NOLS Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Director Aaron Bannon to the State’s Parks & Cultural Resources Commission (SPCRC). The appointment is well-deserved recognition of Aaron’s enthusiasm for the natural and cultural wonders of the Cowboy State.
Aaron, who was born and raised in Wyoming, will assume the seat vacated by Ernie Over as the representative of District 7. In this position, he will be charged with fulfilling the SPCRC’s mission of providing quality recreational and cultural opportunities to residents and visitors. Aaron will bring his expertise in land management to the administration of Wyoming’s 22 state parks and historic sites and over 8,500 miles of trails. Congratulations on the appointment, Aaron. We are confident you’ll bring the same energy and vision that you bring to NOLS to the SPCRC.
Permalink | Posted by Dave Clark-Barol on Mar 8, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, In The News, Leadership, Rocky Mountain
WaterSmart in the Southwest
Adding to a growing list of sustainability accolades, NOLS Southwest was recently recognized for its “wise water management” by Tucson Water’s WaterSmart Business Program. The program helps business owners and managers set goals to conserve water, save money and contribute to a sustainable community. In Tucson’s desert climate, water scarcity is a serious concern, so improving water efficiency is a logical and significant action for NOLS SW.
A passive solar water tank on the NOLS SW campus./Photo credit: Ashley Wise
The WaterSmart Business Program provided a list of suggestions for improved efficiency based on an evaluation of the NOLS SW water bill and an on-site evaluation. To build on the SW’s previous efforts, including low-flow showerheads and rainwater catchments, the audit suggested additional rainwater catchments, drip irrigation, and expanded capture and use of gray water. Considering the NOLS SW track record, you can expect to see many of these efficiencies in place before too long.
Permalink | Posted by Dave Clark-Barol on Mar 7, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Southwest
Peel Region At Risk as Yukon Government Disregards Planning Commission’s Recommendations
To the dismay of many Yukoners, the Peel Watershed, one of the world's largest and most pristine ecosystems, may soon be opened to increased development. On February 14th the Yukon Party Government announced that it would not follow the final recommended plan of the Peel Watershed Planning Commission. The Plan, which took 7 years to complete and cost around $1.6 million, was an effort to effectively balance the interests of native groups, industry and conservationists, and recommended that 80% of the Peel River watershed, located in the Peel region in Northern Yukon, be designated as conservation areas.
Instead, the Government released eight principles that will guide the planning process. The principles will likely guide the plan towards a multiple use philosophy and open much of the area to road development and mining activity. Native groups, conservationists, and the tourism industry see this as an unfair betrayal of the democratic process. NOLS sometimes operates in the Peel Watershed, and the school is concerned that this decision will set a precedent for the management and planning processes in other areas of the Yukon.
Citizens of the area are speaking out against the government’s decision. Many have pointed out that the Yukon Party is acting against the interests of the majority of Yukoners. An independent 2010 report by the Datapath group corroborates this stance; stating that three-quarters of Yukoners supported protection of 80% of the planning region.
For more information on the process visit ProtectPeel.ca
Permalink | Posted by Dave Clark-Barol on Mar 2, 2012 in the following categories: Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Yukon
