Reflection by NS

I had a three-fold purpose as I entered the week of study; 1) increase my content knowledge of forest attributes, wild land fires, fire mitigation, and the other topics to be presented; 2) gain a better understanding of wildfire prevention, affects and firefighting strategies as my husband is a firefighter and has been involved with the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires; 3) return from the institute with lessons and information to share with my students to increase their understanding, respect for and future relationship with the forest.

Reading the story about the events surrounding the fire on Storm King Mountain set a tone of the serious need for teamwork and respect of knowledge in an area of expertise where wild land fires are concerned. Having the Black Forest Fire devastate my community was surreal and ominous all at the same time, particularly as it took place days before this week of study.

Goal 1 was met as all the guest speakers, films, activities, tours and handouts served to increase my knowledge. I learned about the human ignorance of forest behavior and the importance fire plays in a healthy forest ecosystem over the decades, as well as the difficult task ahead to educate the public of the important need for mitigation, forest behavior education and the human component that effects forests, fires, mitigation and societal acceptance and responsibility towards all of the previously mentioned topics.

Goals 2 & 3 were met, as my foundational fire ecology knowledge was very limited prior to this class. Program Coordinator, Amy Sylvester of CSFD, shared a very convincing presentation in connection to the work that has been done (and is on-going) with the Colorado Springs community in regards to wild land fire prevention and home mitigation. Theresa Springer of the CUSP (Coalition for the Upper South Platte) spoke passionately of the work being done and the extreme need to educate the public of the aftermath of a fire. The extensive tours in the Waldo Canyon, Hayman and Blodgett Peak area were quite revealing. Hands-on activities with soil in a burn area with Eric Billmeyer from UCCS were surprising and peaked my interest in hydrophobic soil attributes. Soft-spoken, and heartfelt was the forest walk with The Nature Place Director, Rob Jolly. His dedication to community and education came through as he shared in earnest the work completed and the work in progress to keep the guests, campers and properties of The Nature Place safe and available for years to come. A believer in the power of inquiry-based learning, I appreciated his approach as he led us on a tour of the forests and the mitigation efforts in place and the impact of those efforts. The presentation by Dr. Peter Brown, Director of the Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, made an equally strong impact on my thinking of this entire weeks study. The strategies (coring, tree ring analysis, graphic analysis of tree-ring dating, droughts, fires, and strong growth years) used to explore forest history longitudinally, as well as historically, (‘The cross dating analysis supports replication of chronologies, time, severity, and changes of elevation: Fire is inevitable it is not a question of IF, but when’)

illustrated occurrences over time that man has most likely contributed to unknowingly and continues to try to control that which Mother Nature will dictate in the end. While I may not be able to transfer the extent of information I was exposed to during the week of the institute, it is my goal to integrate as much as I can into the content storylines in my classroom be it science, engineering, social studies or math. I look forward to inviting Amy Sylvester to my school community to speak and raise awareness, as well as my husband to share his experiences. I am not sure at this time as to the level of involvement my students can engage with CUSP, but I will endeavor to raise their awareness and hopefully their involvement in the prevention of forest fires, appreciation for forest ecosystems and global forest status.