Youth & Community Education
Youth Education
Every fall, Youth Field Day brings over 150 middle school students into an outdoor setting for a full-day event on varying topics. Previous years’ themes include: The Blackfoot River – Fisheries, Riparian Areas & Livelihoods; Ranching in the Blackfoot at Rolling Stone Ranch; Place-based art at Lincoln’s Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture Park; Fire Ecology at Monture Guard Station; and Forestry and Wildlife Study Methods at Lubrecht Experimental Forest. Youth Field Day is one of the Challenge’s longest-running events.
Through a variety of science-based natural resource monitoring lesson, local students also learn about specific Blackfoot ecological issue. Annual offerings have included monitoring stream flow and water quality, assessing forest stand health and composition, learning how to measure snowpack, and gathering and identifying macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects) to learn about stream health. Students learn about the natural processes that sustain the healthy watershed where they live, while also gathering valuable information for conservation and stewardship planning among public and private partners.
Our Naturalist Speakers Series brings experts into classrooms on a regular basis to share their real-life knowledge about the natural world with students. We engage presenters from our own staff as well as experts from state and federal agencies, universities and other conservation organization. Students have had opportunities to learn about beavers and bears, native plants and pollinators, fisheries and aquatic life.
For several years as partners worked to restore trumpeter swans to the Blackfoot watershed, teachers and students attended the an annual trumpeter swan release to take part in releasing young swans and participate in learning stations afterwards. Topics included trumpeter swan biology, aquatic invasive species, wetland ecology, and nature journaling.
Community Education
Working with a variety of partners and experts, the Challenge hosts Pure Montana Tales and additional community programming to share presentations on topics as diverse as birdwatching, bear safety, harmful algal blooms, and avalanche awareness with watershed communities.
Beyond the Blackfoot watershed, the Challenge responds to requests to share the story of our collaborative process and information about programs that could benefit other watersheds — like drought planning or bear conflict mitigation. These offerings take shape as webinars, in-person talks, and tours of Blackfoot projects. Audiences range from university classes to conservation professionals from other states.
The Blackfoot Landowner Stewardship Guide is full of great stewardship ideas and resources for private landowners. This handbook is your go-to resource for questions related to natural resource issues and land stewardship in the Blackfoot watershed. It addresses the most common questions that come up related to managing wildlife, water, forests, grasslands, native and invasive plants, and more on your property, and includes an in-depth list of contacts, resources, and references to learn more or find assistance from Challenge staff and our partners.
Stay tuned to our Events Calendar for upcoming community education events.