Pablo Elementary students celebrate Wilderness Act
Into the Wild
Megan Strickland
Second graders search for aquatic life in a mountain creek.
Megan Strickland
Alishon Kelly deploys bear spray.
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
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RONAN – In honor of the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Wilderness Act, approximately 40 second-grade students from Pablo Elementary School hiked on Sept. 3 to the edge of the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness to learn how to safely appreciate and enjoy the great outdoors.
The hike to Swartz Lake was guided by staff from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Department of Natural Resources and emphasized the importance of shared public outdoors spaces.
“It became a law that we left some of the places in our country without roads,” second grade teacher Carolyn Pardini said as she explained the legislation to her class. “We’re going to the very edge of the road today to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Wilderness Act.”
Some of the students raced up the trail, wide-eyed and adventurous, pushing as far ahead as teachers would allow. Others huffed and puffed, inquiring how much further their pint-sized legs would have to carry them up the mountain until they reached the destination, but still apparently pleased as they got to laugh and splash in South Crow Creek during collection of aquatic life.
Pardini explained that wildlife managers have worked long and hard to set aside, manage, and protect the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness. She introduced Information and Education Specialist Germaine White, Tribal Wildlife Biologist Jason Adams, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Game Warden Mike McElderry as stewards of the forest.
“My good friend Germaine is one of the people who made sure that these mountains right here aren’t full of big old mansions with gates to keep people like you and me out,” Pardini said. “Germaine is one of the people who made sure this land is here for you and I to come and hike here any day we want.”
White, Adams and McElderry focused on teaching the youngsters how they could be safe while enjoying the wilderness in a detailed presentation about bear awareness.
The best way to avoid a bear encounter is to be aware of one’s surroundings, White said. Foul smells, bear scat, foods and attractants can increase chances of encountering a bear. A head-on wind and sound of rushing water can inhibit the ability to hear and smell, so having bear spray at the ready in these situations is important, White said.
She gave a demonstration of how to deploy the deterrent with canisters that were loaded without the active ingredient.
“It’s not enough to carry bear spray, you have to know how to use it,” White said.
McElderry told the children that spray is extremely effective, but warned that people almost always end up getting some of the aerosol on them, so it should only be deployed when a real danger is present.
“I had one lady and we had a bear in the area so we were trying to get her back in her house,” McElderry said. “She had some (bear spray) and took the trigger off and just dropped it. That was it. We both couldn’t breathe. It was in our eyes, everything, just that little bit. So expect it. If you are going to use this, you are going to have to expect that you are going to get it.”
In addition to bear awareness training, students completed a hike and scavenger hunt that encircled Swartz Lake after the presentation.
