At a windy spot outside Winnemucca, Nevada, where recent extensive wildland fires had consumed many acres of brush and grass, students from the Winnemucca public schools got a chance to learn first-hand about the effects of fire on the environment. This spring, these students conducted field research so they could see the differences between lands that the fires had stripped of vegetation and land that had not been touched by the flames. These students were among the many Winnemucca children who have benefitted from BLM’s “Project F.I.R.E.” over the past two years.

The components that would result in the development of Project F.I.R.E. came together three years ago: the schools in Winnemucca had been searching for an environmental education project; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was offering grant funds for environmental education; wildland fires had scorched nearly 300,000 acres near Winnemucca; and BLM was preparing to implement rehabilitation measures on those burned lands. Mike Zielinski, a veteran soil scientist with BLM-Winnemucca, thought a great project would be one that would allow students to follow the progress of the rehabilitation efforts over a five-year period. Project F.I.R.E., as the program came to be known, could reach large numbers of students, and would incorporate English, math, science, and art. The grant money could be used for teaching materials, student transportation, and equipment and tools needed for field study.

Michelle Pasquale, an eighth-grade science teacher, worked with other Winnemucca teachers to develop lesson plans to be used in conjunction with Project F.I.R.E. During 1997, the program’s first year, a group of specialists from Federal and State resource management agencies taught field techniques to eighth-grade and high-school science students. Then, on the two field days, these “experienced”students taught younger students in the fifth and sixth grades.

About three weeks of classroom work were required to prepare the students for field days. They received lessons about insects, antelope and mule deer habitat, growth requirements for seeds, plant identification, orienteering with maps, and methods for making plant and insect counts. Even special-education students were actively involved: they grew plants in a greenhouse, then moved them outside and recorded their growth. In the field, fifth- and sixth-graders went through a series of stations, staffed by the older students, to make their own observations and gather data.

The first-year project was so successful that this year, 24 instructors were needed to teach 400 “student-teachers,” who taught 1,100 younger students. This year’s project was expanded to include fourth-grade students, who learned about “good fire/bad fire” comparisons and annual versus perennial plants.

BLM-Winnemucca uses its Project F.I.R.E program to increase environmental awareness among local school children, but BLM and the ecosystem benefit, as well: the Winnemucca Field Office will actually use the data that these students collect, so the children take their tasks seriously. With three years left to go on the FWS grant money, this project will continue to evolve to meet the needs of Winnemucca’s schools.

[An additional note: we’re happy to say that Mike Zielinski was recently selected to receive the 1998 BLM “Excellence in Environmental Education and Interpretation” Award for his outstanding work in developing and implementing Project F.I.R.E. He will accept the award at a special ceremony at the National Interpreters Workshop, which will be held in late October in Anchorage, Alaska.]

If you would like to know more about Project F.I.R.E., please contact Mike at (702) 623-1567 or e-mail mzielins@nv.blm.gov.

For further information on wildland fires and Federal fire activities, please visit the following websites:

Bureau of Land Management Education Programs
http://www.blm.gov/LearningLandscapes/teachers/fire.html

National Wildland Fire Page
http://www.nifc.gov

Wildfire News
http://www.wildfirenews.com

Smokey Bear
http://www.smokeybear.com

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