PRI Partners With CFI and Others to Bring Service-Learning to Youth

Recognizing the incredible value of service-learning activities in environmental education, this year PRI has been actively expanding its audience to include high school, middle school and even elementary school children. Since 2005, we've been working on a project to integrate a service component into the curriculum of Canyonlands Field Institute, an educational onon-profit organization in Moab and long-time partner of PRI. Through this project, which has been supported by a grant tawarded to PRI from the EPA, we have engaged over 130 students and teachers enrolled in CFI programs. Participants have cut back tamarisk, removed cheat grass and other annual weeds, seeded treatment areas with native grasses and planted willows along Mary Jane Creek in Professor Valley. And the best part was that students said they had fun, even pulling cheat grass!
We also had eigth-graders from California Waldorf School, a class of fifth through seventh grade students associated with a program at University of Denver, and a group of Girl Scouts from Salt Lake City participating in projects. Students enthusiastically dug out tamarisk stumps in Arches National Park, removed diffuse knapweed in Castle Valley, cut out russian olive along the Colorado River and weeded at Ken's Lake BLM Recreation Area near Moab.

Quotes From Our 2007 Alternative Break Season

Here are some quotes from our 2007 Alternative Break season:

Do you believe that the work you have provided has made a difference on the public and private conservation lands of the Canyonlands region?

"I believe that the work I did with the Tamerisk was very impactive for the future of that river and the wildlife around it. What REALLY helped me believe in my impact was the hike to the finished site where Tamerisk had been removed and Willow was growing. It gave me hope that the river I worked on would look as beautiful." - Amber, AB Participant from Sonoma State University

"Yes! Through just a few days of work, I feel like the results are apparent and important. Seeing recreationists on a stump-free beach after we cleared it gave me the feeling our work will be enjoyed" -Alida, AB Participant from Colorado State University

What was your most enjoyable aspect of this volunteer work experience?

"I loved planting native plants and removing invasives. This whole trip was amazing. I have always felt a responsibility to the earth and natural areas, but so often I don't know how to help and now not to harm. Having someone instruct and teach was amazing and I felt good about my contribution." -Rachel, AB Participant from Northwestern University

College Service-Learning Programs Take on International Flair

Alternative Spring Break programs were once again filled this past March. Thes programs provide students, who are interested in a week with volunteer service, outstanding educational opportunities, a chance to explore meet new friends and contribute to the health of our public lands near Moab. Groups this year included Northern State University of South Dakota who were with us in 2005, University of Texas at Austin joining us for the fifth time and Brookhaven College of Dallas, Texas making their first visit to Canyon Country.
This spring a number of international students participated via exchange programs, adding a one-world flair to the programs. Student sfrom Korea, Tiwan and China shared in the service learninge experiences alongside students from throughout the country. Lin Lin, recently let us know she returns to China at the end of the year. She wrote "I often think of you and the lovely time in Utah with you and our team. It is one of my sweetest memories in my life. I had many trips during the year, to the East Coast, to the large cities, to Disney, but the volunteer trip is the most meaningful one. I will never forget you and that trip. I will also tell people in China how important it is to protect our environment."
Our service projects include knapweed monitoring and removal in Castle Valley and a major fence construction and revegetation project at Ken's Lake BLM (Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management) Recreation Area just Sout of Moab.
Student sprovided nearly 1200 hours of service to our land management projects and shared their thoughts on regional, national and global environmental concerns. Board members Pam Hackley and Herm Hoops participated this year. Pam was a field leader and instructor on the Castle Valley project and Herm was a guest speaker and evening entertainment at Ken's Lake.
Snow was the theme of project weeks this spring. The UT, Austin students, who camped at Ken's Lake, arrived to find four inches of fresh snow where they planned to pitch their tents. The snow was promptly gathered to form snowballs and snowmen, before it melted the next day, allowing for a productive fencing, trail-building and restoration project.
During a mid-week break, the students took time to explore Arches National Park in a series of interpretive hikes with Plateau Restoration field leaders and instructors. Topics included history of Arches and the Moab area, geology, natural history and resource management issues of public lands.
Northern State junior Erin Dreis summed up her week this way: "I gained more knowledge in the past 5 days than I could have ever imagined. I thought the time I was able to spend talking with your leaders while working on the land and environmental issues were very important. It made everything real for me because I could see things happening before me, not just from a textbook".
thanks to Erin and all the students for another great spring break! And many thanks to Marilyn Peterson and Ed Stone of the BLM, Pam Hackley, Herm Hoops, Castle Valley Mayor Damian Bollermann, Jack Campbell and the Castle Valley Home Owners Association and Tim Higgs of the Grand County Weed Department for help with funding and facilitating this project!

Nature Trail Invites Discovery and Learning

The Sand Island Recreation Area has long been a destination for rafters and kayakers. It's one of two major launch points for float trips down the San Juan River. It also has one of the most accessible and spectacular rock art panels in the Four Corners. Eight years ago, the BLM upgraded the campground. Now it is also a camping and picnicking destination for many people traveling throughout SE Utah.
Right after campground construction, Plateau Restoration, in partnership witht he BLM established this area as a reclamation project site to restore a healthy bench and riparian habitat along the San Juan River. Now that this major reclamation area hast been completed, the second phase of work has begun. PRI created a self-guided nature education trail for the enjoyment and education fo the tens of thousands of people who visit Sand Island annually. We are spreading the word about the trail to commercial outfitters and the numberous college groupds that use Sand Island as a launch for river trips, so hopefully lots of folk will learn about native habitats and invasive weeds.

Colorado and Northwestern Team Up for Sand Island Success

A wonderful week of service was completed in Bluff, Utah in late March 2005. Students representing The University of Colorado and Northwestern University camped at the Sand Island Recreation Area for a week to help continue our work on the restoration site that was established 7 years ago. Students cut and removed Tamarisk, Russian Olive and Cheat crass, built a fence around a new native plant growing area, transplanted and reclaimed an illegal roadway. Wonderful conversation, great campfire gatherings and a job well done were the highlights of the week.

thanks to Linda Richmond, Summer Schultz, Brad Colin and Mark Meloy of the BLM for their assistance with this project.

New Internship Program Begins

In June our first internship program began. We had a number of outstanding applicants and our final selections were Heather Hosterman, BA U.C. Santa Cruz, Environmental Studies and Politics, Jim Buthman MA N.A.U. Political Science and Wyley Hodgson, BA U.C. Santa Cruz, Environmental Studies and Philosophy. They have been a real help with river programs, grant research, writing articles, fencing projects and recreation impact monitoring. The interns will be shared with Red Rock Forests a local non-profit advocacy group working on Forest Service issues. The internship was designed to expose the students to two different non-profit experiences.

Making Room for the Cottonwoods

Students from the University of Texas at Austin came out to Moab in March to volunteer for the third straight year. In fact, two members of the group were here with us last year. As student, Jessica Medlyn put it, "This experience was unforgettable. It was the perfect combination of fun, hard work, great food, and wonderful people". That must be why they keep returning. Their favorite project was removing Tamarisk from a spring site near the Slickrock Bike Trail (we got it all, without chemicals).
Recently, Plateau Restoration has been putting effort into weed control around critical upland water resources without the use of chemicals. For Tamarisk, this means digging down and cutting the tree below the root crown. An unexpected spin-off is that this activity is really popular. Shelly Tran, a UT student from last year said "we showed team work and enthusiasm and enjoyed the task completely". There's plenty more Shelly.