Event awakens students to winter recreation
Guest Commentary:
It’s a beautiful thing when people and plans come together for the benefit of our local youth. After all, they really are our most precious natural resource. But these events do not necessarily come together on their own, they require people that sincerely believe the education of our young girls and boys should include mentoring them in outdoor skills and recreational pursuits.
Barb Jungst set up the groundwork for the Kootenai Outdoor Adventure Program. April Rewerts donated her time and skills to write the grants needed to fund the programs. Susie Rice networked local individuals to make this winter event happen.
These ladies contacted me and wanted to do a program with a focus on animal tracking and sign interpretation, with a possible attendance of 40 or so kids. I immediately enlisted the help of David and Suzie Kretzchmar, who assist me occasionally with some of the outdoor educational programs I do in the region. Since this event was part of the after-school program, we really did not have that much time to teach a science and art that emphasizes taking one’s time and being a nature detective.
We decided to divide and conquer, and set up a three-station program.
Group one would go with me on a ski tracking trek; group two would ski with Susie Rice and group three would visit a display of track casts, artificial scat examples, natural lures and tinctures and a bag of feet, with actual museum specimen feet that would also help illustrate the anatomical aspect of tracks. David and Suzie Kretzchmar would staff that table.
We provided the teachers at school with hand-outs and a track art workbook with drawings by Kara Adam in advance so the kids would have some background materials.
On the day of our event, Greg Rice groomed the ski trail portion of the Bear Creek Cross Country Ski Loops, while leaving the others alone to preserve what tracks might be found under non-optimal tracking conditions. Gary Crismon and Dave Swanson also showed up, the first of an army of adult volunteers and parents that were a big help.
In the quiet before the storm, a few snowflakes floated down through sucker holes of blue sky.
And then the bus arrived. The kids streamed out, dressed in bright flourescent snowsuits and camouflage outfits that were adequate gear and appropriate for this day. The excited kids were guided to their skis and divided into groups.
The teachers had obviously prepped the kids well. On our tracking foray we found tracks, scat, and sign of white tailed deer, pine squirrel, snowshoe hare, pileated woodpecker, ruffed grouse, coyote, turkey and raven. Back at the display table we saw Williamson’s sapsucker drillings, raven tracks, and a bald eagle even flew overhead!
The laughter of both kids and adults punctuated the cold, as they marveled at the display table and asked great questions. After burning their energy, and ours, skiing, tracking and studying the wildlife of our beautiful area, we all mellowed out with hot chocolate. The kids were smiling and so were we. What a beautiful thing indeed.
Do you want to help get kids in the woods during winter? Montana Wilderness Association sponsors free educational programs at: wildmontana.org and go to wilderness/winter walks to register adults and kids over 10 with adult supervisors. Also, Friends of Scotchman Peaks are providing trail camera and wildlife tracking programs to local schools. Go to scotchmanpeaks.org or email sandy@scotchmanpeaks.org for more information.
— Brian Baxter is a professional woodsman and is an outdoor educational instructor and coordinator.