Wildfires and Us: Community Funds an Opportunity for Students to Learn in the Forest and Museum

Wildfires have been a devastating fact of life in Central Washington, particularly in the last several years as wildfires have escalated to engulf not only forests, but also communities. A grass roots movement has begun to address the problem, and includes a Summit, a museum exhibit, outreach to legislators, and engaging the youth of Central Washington in the issue. See Facebook Photo Album of students in the forest and museum.

A Wildfire and Us Summit was held November 9 at the Numerica Performing Arts Center, an effort to examine the issues around wildfires, and create solutions to mitigate the devastation. The Summit included nationally known experts Paul Hessburg, speaking on the historic role of fire in North Central Washington, and Dave Calkin, on the need for communities to adapt to fire’s inevitability.

Then came a policy panel with Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark, Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, Chelan County Commissioner Ron Walter and representatives of the congressional delegation and Forest Service.

The summit was held in conjunction with the opening of the Wildfires and Us photography exhibit at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. This timely exhibit uses 3-D objects and large photos, mostly by Wenatchee photographer/wildlife biologist John Marshall, to illustrate the role of wildfire in eastern Cascades ecosystems. Marshall has been photographing forests for over twenty years, taking many photos in the exact same locations each year to record the changes to the forest.

John Marshall teaches students from Pioneer Middle School about the forest.

Local students visited the museum exhibit, which featured Marshall’s photos. Then they went were bused to Squilchuck State Park where they walked real forest trails to help them understand the history, complexity, and science of wildfires.

“The Wildfires and Us field experience really started with a conversation with John Marshall and I two years ago,” says Selina Danko, Education Coordinator at Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. “We saw an opportunity to develop a field experience where students spend half the day at the museum, and half the day outside learning.”

The conversation was spurred on by the worst fire season on record. “The community also recognizes that the people who are going to be making the decisions in the future, are the students that are in the classroom right now,” says Danko. “It takes getting kids outside for them to really understand the issues that our forests are facing right now, and to understand that we, as voters, have as a responsibility for the future of our lands.”

Transportation was the big expense in getting 3,000 students to the museum and Squilchuck State Park. The community picked up the tab. The only expense to schools was to allow a handful of teachers to accompany the students. “The community really supports children having authentic experiences outside,” explains Danko, “So much so that they paid $30,000 to bus 3000 students to Squilchuck State Park.”

“The museum would like to continue to offer Squilchuck State Park as an outdoor classroom,” says Danko, “whether it's fire ecology, or it's ecosystems, or a weather study. It's a 188-acre forest classroom. It has so much potential, and it's just six miles up the hill.”