Conservation Education:
Creating Natural Connections
The San Juan Conservation Education Program works within
our mountain communities to provide a wide variety of educational
and interpretive experiences for families, visitors, teachers,
and students. We are a partner in ANCRE – the Alliance
for Natural and Cultural Resources Education. ANCRE works
with all agencies and nonprofits, promoting conservation education
events of southwest Colorado.
This is a list of ongoing programs. For updated information,
dates, locations, and contact information for each program,
please visit the searchable Alliance for Natural and Cultural
Resources Web site at www.ancre.org.
Read the ANCRE
News,
Spring 2004 quarterly newsletter [PDF,
4 pages, 68 KB].
For general questions, contact Gabi Morey at gabi@sjma.org.
- Classroom Visits are available on a variety
of topics. Activities are designed to be age-appropriate,
hands-on, and interactive.
- Field Trips to Public Lands offer a chance
to get out and explore, as well as lessons for areas schools.
Topics focus on trees, wildlife, fire, and exploration.
- Fire Month and Summer Fire Tours provide
opportunities to find out more about the Missionary Ridge
burn area, fire ecology, rehabilitation efforts, and how
to reduce wildfire risk.
- Weed Tours provide invasive species education
and identification.
- Service-Learning programs connect learning
with hands-on, meaningful service. This program focuses
on developing personal stewardship values and student-driven
projects to reflect those values.
- Mountain EDVentures invite participants
to attend guided naturalist hikes and family events at Durango
Mountain Resort.
- Forest Keepers is a self-guided junior
ranger program, for kids ages four to twelve. Free workbooks
can be picked up at any San Juan Public Lands office, and
local visitor centers. Activities are divided into age groups.
Decorate a pot; watch wildlife; solve History Mysteries;
do Nature Sketches; Be a Tree, and more. Forest Keepers
receive a pin. View an abridged version of the Forest Keepers
workbook [PDF, 4 pgs, 1871 KB].
- Senior Rangers is a self-guided exploration
of public lands for retired visitors. Free workbooks are
available at all offices and throughout the area. Senior
Rangers receive a butterfly pin.
- Full Moon Hikes are a unique interpretive
experience. Enjoy public land by taking a walk under the
night sky.
- Rail Rangers are trained volunteers that
ride the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, answering
questions about forest history, flora and fauna, fire information,
and multiple-use management.
- Teacher Workshops are offered throughout
the year, on many topics, both for credit and noncredit.
Teacher workshops offered in previous years include Project
Wet, Wild, and Learning Tree, Project Archaeology, Okay
Outside, Nature Speaks, and Exploring Nature conferences.
- Special Events happen throughout the
year, including Earth Day, Arbor Day, National Fishing Week,
and the Water Festivals.
- The Teacher-in-Residence program offers
teachers an opportunity to live in the Aspen Guard Station
while completing educational projects for San Juan Public
Lands.
- Resources to Check Out for teachers include
the Wilderness Box, Tree Trunks, the Fossil Box, videos,
and a lending library.
This nonprofit group helps develop effective partnerships
between local communities and the federal land-management
agencies.
The mission of the SJMA is to enhance personal and community
stewardship of natural, cultural, and heritage resources on
public and other land in southwest Colorado, through education,
interpretation, information, and participation.
Members of the San Juan String Band have combined their passion for the environment with their love of music, to provide conservation education and environmental awareness messages for the public.
Hairy woodpecker on ponderosa pine bark
Photo by Chris Schultz, San Juan NF
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