Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” (Education Quotes and Proverbs, para.2).  How appropriate is this quote for the effect that the Fire Ecology Institute (FEI) had on its participants?  My mind is still racing through all the material that I learned during this course, thinking of more and better ways to present those concepts to my family, my students, and my community.  The FEI facilitators, Shawna Crocker, Gabi Morey, and Lu Boren, did an excellent job at coordinating a wide variety of speakers, field trips, and activities to help the participants understand how many components of the ecosystem are affected by fire, in both positive and negative scenarios.  Although every part lent itself to the overall education experience, the components that had the greatest effect on me as a student would have to be Craig Goodell/Dalla Mountain Hike, Rich Graeber/Forest Lakes Subdivision, John Ey/Lemon Reservoir, and the teaching materials received through the PLT Environmental Education Activity Guide.

On the first day, Craig Goodell, Fire Mitigation & Education Specialist from the Bureau of Land Management, led us on a hike into Dalla Mountain Park to view a treated area, old-growth versus second-growth trees, and evidence of previous fires. Prior to this educational outing, Kent Grant, District Forester from the Colorado State Forest Service and Laurie Huckaby of the United States Forest Service well prepared us with lectures on major forest types in southwestern Colorado and dendrochronology/studying fire history from tree rings. We were then able to identify different types of trees and understand why certain trees must be removed.  We saw fire-scarred trees and tree stumps, and we actually cored a tree to determine its age by counting the tree rings. This trip served as a huge eye opener, not only to the complexity of the forested environments we are so seemingly familiar with in this area but also the possible complexity of the learning experiences we expose to our students. To begin with, even though I live in the area locally, I did not know about Dalla Mountain Park and its proximity to my workplace, which makes it absolutely ideal for student field trips. Lectures in a classroom can only go so far toward impacting the students’ understanding of a subject, but following up with a hands-on activity such as our hike has a much greater effect on the learning experience.

Rich Graeber, Chief Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, along with Craig Goodell, provided the opportunity to see fire mitigation in action during our field trip to the Forest Lakes subdivision.  I live in the same area as this neighborhood and know many of the residents, so this excursion had a tremendous effect on how I view Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI). The Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002 was a big wake-up call for the Durango area in terms of the necessity of fire mitigation, not only in our overgrown forests, but within neighborhoods that border the forests or are nestled within, which is fairly prominent in this area of the country.  Many residents moved to Forest Lakes to have that “dream home in the woods,” especially with a view of the valley.  Unfortunately, having a house upslope in a heavily wooded area with southern exposure can also spell a formula for disaster if the homeowner and the neighborhood homeowners’ association do not take a proactive stance on fire mitigation and creating defensible space around the homes.  I was happy to see areas in the subdivision that were being treated or thinned and then subjected to prescribed burns.  What many people do not realize is that fire is a natural part of the life cycle of a forest, and this is knowledge I certainly hope to pass on with my teaching. The ashes of these smaller fires act as fertilizer to plants, whose new growth provides a better food supply for the animal population.  Furthermore, Ponderosa pines, which are the most prevalent trees in this area, are naturally designed to survive low intensity fires or ground fires, but if overgrown trees and shrubs such as Junipers and Gamble Oak allow the fire to “climb a ladder” up into the canopy, then a stand-clearing (and perhaps subdivision clearing) fire could occur.  Residents in a WUI area need to be educated on the importance of fire mitigation around their homes so they can successfully live within a healthy forest.

Before our class headed out on our field trip to Lemon Reservoir, Dan Noonan, Chief Durango Fire & Rescue Authority, and Butch Knowlton, Director of Housing and Safety Emergency Preparedness for La Plata County, presented us with very vivid pictures of the devastation of the Missionary Ridge Fire, as well as the after-effects including erosion and debris flows.  Again, classroom presentations followed by hands-on, interactive activities lent itself to a more powerful impact on the education of the class.  After we arrived at the reservoir, a site that once suffered from the wrath of the Missionary Ridge Fire, we were able to see how John Ey of the Florida Water District, almost single-handedly saved Durango’s drinking water supply at Lemon Reservoir with common sense thinking and quick action, such aspects other organizations lacked during the madness the fire left behind. The fires on the steep slopes leading into the reservoir were extremely intense and completely destroyed all vegetation. John realized the huge potential for disaster if rain fell before the slopes were stabilized.  In a very short amount of time, he was able to coordinate the installment of log erosion barriers (LEBs) on the hillsides, heavy steel debris flow barriers in the deep ravines, “beaver dams” or small detaining ponds closer to the top of the slopes, as well as replanting grass seeds and mulching with weed-free straw to recreate a semblance of thatch that would normally occur on the forest floor.  When the rains did finally arrive within a couple of weeks, only a normal trickle of water came down the hillsides into the lake instead of major mud/rockslides that were being seen in nearby areas.  For several years after the original fire, the build-up of earth behind each LEB had to be removed in order to further the success of the overall erosion project, which we witnessed firsthand during our hike up into the previously burned area.  Not only did John present us with knowledge of fire recovery strategies but also with the importance of thinking outside of the box and simply taking necessary actions, skills that would prove very useful to our students in their quest to conquer life’s challenges.

Outside of our travels, the Fire Ecology Institute provided a plethora of educational resources to use in the classroom and community to include lesson plan ideas, science journals, manipulatives (Match Stick Forest), activity booklets, DVDs, CDs, and reading materials such as magazines, newspapers, pamphlets and picture books.  Most importantly though, in my opinion, is the Project Learning Tree PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide.  This is the “Holy Grail” for hands-on interactive lesson plans that integrate across several core subjects in environmental education.  Each lesson offers a quick synopsis of the appropriate grade level, subjects covered, concepts for each PLT theme, identified skills set, as well as differentiated instruction, technology connections, materials, time considerations and related PLT activities.  Background information is given on the topic to help the teacher prepare for presenting to the students, and the PLT Guide provides lesson objectives and various assessment opportunities. However, as a brand new middle school English teacher, what really caught my eye were the reading connection listings at the end of each activity.  I am in the process of evaluating the current reading selections for all three grade levels, and the information provided will be invaluable to this project.

The art of teaching, or creative approaches that go beyond basic technique, is the key to successfully involving the students in the learning process.  As quoted in a Native-American saying, “Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand” (Education Quotes & Proverbs, para.3).  When I accepted my position in the middle school, the principal presented me with the idea of creating a course of study for our students which integrates across all subjects. So when Lu Boren, who is the Science teacher at St. Columba Middle School, approached me about participating in the Fire Ecology Institute, I realized what a great opportunity it would be to receive first-hand knowledge of what she is teaching in her classroom so I can better integrate the science curriculum into mine. Since I have now acquired this knowledge, our plan is to incorporate the novel, “The Big Burn” by Jeanette Ingold as a literature piece about the great fires of 1910 to be used in conjunction with Lu’s 8^th grade fire ecology unit.  After completing the story, the students can then write a research paper based on their choice of another major fire occurrence somewhere throughout the world to compare/contrast what was learned in the 1910 fires which lead to a century of fire suppression in our country. (Also, I am currently reading “Year of the Fires – The Story of the Great Fires of 1910” by Stephen J. Pyne to give me the background information needed to better understand this event.  I received this book as part of the FEI materials.)  Other activities may include daily journal writing with topics concerning fire ecology or a “Drop Everything And Read” (DEAR) silent sustained reading session in a nearby wooded park (another way they can fully appreciate our beautiful forested environments). I am incredibly excited to start sharing everything I took away from my experience in this class. So thank you, Fire Ecology Institute facilitators, for lighting a fire in my mind and giving me the knowledge and materials needed to spread this fire into the minds of others.

References

Education Quotes and Proverbs. (n.d.).  Retrieved July 22, 2008, from http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/quotes-about-education.html

Project Learning Tree: Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. (2011). Washington D.C.: American Forest Foundation.