Conservation and stewardship topics explored at Discovery Days

OVANDO - With the sound of wolves yipping and woodpeckers hammering away, the SSHS Discovery Days began in Mollett Park on the Blackfoot Challenge Community Conservation Area (BCCA) May 25. Students arrived by school bus to the open grassland area with wetlands and forest skirting the sides. Discovery Days is planned yearly by Trace Stone, Seeley-Swan High School teacher, as a means to get students outside and experience new things.

 This year, Elaine Caton, Education Coordinator of the Blackfoot Challenge, approached Stone with the idea of hosting Discovery Days with Blackfoot Challenge educators.

"Hosting Discovery Days seemed like a nice opportunity to provide Blackfoot Challenge programming at the high school level," said Caton. "We reach the grade schools quite often, but hadn't reached out to the high school level yet." 

For the introduction, Caton emphasized that the Blackfoot Challenge works with people from loggers, ranchers and fishermen to hunters and ecologists. Through these diverse partnerships, the Blackfoot Challenge has demonstrated the value of working together for the common goal of preserving the rural lifestyle and open space of the Blackfoot Watershed area which includes land from Condon, through Seeley, Potomac and up to Lincoln.

Students were divided into five groups and rotated through stations on water, fire, range management, wildlife and weeds. In the 45-minute presentations students were given hands-on activities to practice what was being taught.

The water station led by Water Steward Jennifer Schoonen discussed beaver impacts on a landscape. Students created their own creeks and beaver dams in trays of soil and tested them by pouring bottles of water into the creeks they had fashioned. All the dams held!

 At the station on fire, Cindy Super, Forestry and Prescribed Fire Coordinator, had students measuring tree height, age and tree species identification. Super spoke about how forest management can create less devastating fire conditions.

"People have a relationship of fear and uncertainty with fire," stated Super. "With education we can learn how to live with fire and still be safe."

Determining how many cows could graze the open meadow in Mollett Park was the assignment at the Range Management station led by Brad Weltzein, Land Steward of the BCCA. He stated that learning to manage grazing can make the land more productive and help maintain it well.

Students had the opportunity to practice spraying inert cans of bear spray at a black bear hide at the Wildlife Management station led by Eric Graham, Wildlife Coordinator. In addition Graham and the students discussed bear safety and the importance of not training bears to have bad behavior by leaving out attractants such as garbage.

 Learning about weed identification was the focus at the noxious weed station, taught by Karen Laitala, Powell County Weed Specialist and Blackfoot Challenge Vegetation Coordinator.

"A weed is just a plant you don't want, or in a place you don't want it," said Laitala.

Many students and teachers had never been to the BCCA and expressed interest in learning more about recreational opportunities there.

"Discovery Days today was very engaging and well-done", said Bridget Laird, SSHS English teacher.

SSHS Science teacher Gretchen Watkins added, "Discovery Days helped reinforce the lessons taught in the classroom."