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Program teaches land stewardship to youth

Written by Observer staff reports November 24, 2008 02:13 pm

Liza and Craig Nichols of the 6 Ranch teach the WREN students about cattle and team roping. Photo/JOYCE OSTERLOH

ENTERPRISE — Working together to educate the next generation of land stewards, decision-makers and community leaders is the goal of Wallowa Resources-Wallowa Mountain Institute’s WREN (Wallowa Resources Explorations of Nature) Program.

A collaboration with local natural resource professionals and landowners, WR-WMI educates 25 fifth through eighth-graders about stewardship of Wallowa County’s working landscapes. The 2008 sessions ran from Sept. 26 through Nov. 7.

This fall the WREN group spent seven Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the field with the goal of learning about Wallowa County’s working landscapes and the people who steward them.

The team of WR-WMI instructors who facilitated the program were Penny Arentsen, Janet Hohmann, Cheri Miller, Troy Nave, Lisa Armstrong-Roepke, Michele Chapin and JoAnn Snead.

Participants began on Sept. 26 with a trip up Mount Howard on the Wallowa Lake Tram to study Wallowa Valley geology, soil and sub-alpine plant life with Penny Arentsen as their guide.

They met with the Wallowa County Search and Rescue team on

Oct. 3 to learn about survival in the wilderness. Skills included preparation, using a map and how to cope if lost.

Wallowa Resources’ Weed Warriors taught WREN students about invasive species on Oct. 10 and tapped into their energy to fight the war against cheat grass.

Oct. 17 was a day in the life of a rancher with Liza Jane and Craig Nichols of the 6 Ranch.

The experience was dubbed the “very best WREN I’ve ever had” by Maddie Hill, a sixth-grader who also kept a blog of the program adventures. Students witnessed team roping, horse training and cow doctoring. Icing on the cake of this session was a visit to Erl McLaughlin’s antique farm machinery collection, Sunrise Iron.

The Oct. 24 session was with Forest Service forester Paul Survis. Students learned how to perform a forest plot inventory and worked on tree identification skills.

Anne Hayes and Shandon Powers showed WREN students around the Wallowa County History Museum in Joseph on Oct. 31. Students had spent time earlier in the day out in the Leap area, in the northwest portion of the valley, and at Hurricane Creek Cemetery exploring the lives and deaths of early Wallowa County settlers.

The last session Nov. 7 was spent with wildlife biologist Mike Hansen of ODFW.

The students tracked sharp tail grouse using radio collars and learned about the technological and biological aspects of monitoring wildlife species.

Wallowa Resources-Wallowa Mountain Institute’s WREN program will begin again in early March.

For more information on WREN and other Youth Stewardship Education Programs, contact Penny Arentsen at 426-8043, ext. 24 or visit the website at www.WallowaResources.org.