2009 Fire Ecology Institute for Educators

Sunday didn’t start out all that great. I was scheduled to attend the grand opening of Soapstone Open Space near the Wyoming line with a host of politicians and media types. The weather turned ugly, I ended up getting thoroughly drenched and waited through an intense hailstorm to head south. The clouds were black and tornadoes erupted to the west of I-25. As soon as I left the interstate, the weather and my luck improved. It was smooth, sunny, and green all the way to Durango.
Kent Grant helped with background information that we built on the rest of the week. The information he provided about forest health has been useful. I have looked up Community Wildfire Protection Plans for the areas of Larimer County that I work with. Although the forests of southwest Colorado are quite different from what I usually see up north, the importance of balance in an ecosystem is what works.
The Dendrochronology presentation was the right mix of content and hands on for participants. We learned to recognize trees in forests and in cross sections that have endured fires. I have already used a few of the Fireworks Curriculum resources and accessed the istorage web fire resources.
During the workshop I intended to talk to the two participants who had previously done fire ecology topic workshops with elementary and middle level students. The first person I met with was Karen Carver. She works locally with a summer program for gifted, younger students. She recommended Discover a Watershed as a particularly good resource and activities that could be adapted for younger learners; She avoided matches with the younger group, but included them with the older students. She emphasized how to take an activity and have students physically act out each part. This turned out to be great advice that I combined with Lu’s ideas about where to start teaching students about the three types of energy transfer: convection, conduction, and radiation. My supervisor in Fort Collins said no matches in anything at Red Feather, so the personalizing of content worked great. Ex: put hand on shoulder of nearby student for conduction.
The Fire Wars video was well done. I have passed all power points and DVDs on to the teachers in Poudre Schools that I usually share curriculum with, since I don’t have a regular classroom. They are looking it over this summer for our possible use next year. I loved the Wildland Fire Truck and crew. I wanted to have the local truck visit our school—they had been there this spring, so I was too late.
The Vallacita field trip with Craig helped put a number of vocabulary terms into perspective: fire regimes, stand replacing fire, historical range variability, basal area of trees, fire return interval. Going from map to a real location was very helpful.
The Lemon Reservoir visit with John taught the most of any of the field experiences: he used common sense, tenacity, local resources, and saved the reservoir from closure by debris. He used his photos and wry wit to keep us entertained. I can only hope when we have a fire that impacts one of the reservoirs that serves Fort Collins that we have someone like John available to get the job done.
The video that Butch brought changed my perception of what a large fire is capable of doing. It was amazing. He took the events that came together the day the Missionary Ridge fire started, coordinated pictures, and helped us grasp the fire chronology and destruction that has followed.
The weed information was very interesting, too. Because I am just finishing 6 years on the Open Lands Advisory Board for our county, I have heard lots about weeds. Tying weeds and fire together made sense. It is hard to balance resources and keep ecosystems healthy.
Entomology was also excellent. The top 10 approach made sense. I could see differences between the southern forests and northern forest issues. Another piece in the unhealthy forest puzzle throughout the west.
Mesa Verde has always been a very special place. I loved the guided tour and then the “behind the fires talk”. Their unique approach to lightning caused fires in the low moisture environment showed how technology and a handful of skilled firefighters can work together. It’s not a perfect system, too many acres for too few resources.
Because I had previously done the FEI at Pingree some years back, I was conditioned to think that I knew a lot of what would be taught. The reality is I learned it again and better in another environment with new perspectives and refreshing fieldwork with different, passionate leaders. Everyone should be able to do the workshop again. It is such an intense experience.
Thanks Shawna and Lu for making it really come alive!