Flagship Program

Submitted by fl_admin on Mon, 08/18/2014 - 11:02

The Flagship Program, developed by the RMRS Human Dimensions Program in 2013, provides after school and summer programs for at-risk students in grades K-12 throughout the Missoula County Public Schools District 1, Montana. Often these students do not have access to outdoor adventure activities. This summer, the RMRS Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program carried on the Flagship partnership, planning and hosting a one-week summer natural resource camp for 29 middle-school age children in June. A cost share agreement using RMRS Conservation Education funding provided transportation. The students visited various sites, including Garnet Ghost Town, USFWS Bison Range, the Lolo National Forest, the Watershed Education Network and Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks, and the Fire Lab and Smokejumper Base. The students learned about fuel-reduction projects to save local historical sites, Native American relationships with natural resources, insect collection, fish and their habitats, and fire ecology and fire behavior. Fire Behavior Specialist LaWen Hollingsworth, Physical Scientist Faith Ann Heinsch, and Ecologist Jane Smith, Missoula, joined the students at the Fire Lab and Smokejumper Base.