Educational Journeys
Hanging out with some old friendsby Dan Hartman
Jan. 17, 2016
Several educational groups have made their yearly treck to Yellowstone this month. Nathan was here with his high school kids from Darby. Melissa was here today with her group of teachers from North Carolina. George and his college students from WhiteWater University placed camera traps above our cabin. They left them in place for a week, while I checkd on them every couple days. Last Monday we retrieved the traps and anxiously viewed the images on our TV.What we got were some great images of pine martens. Shots of a mountain fox. A silhouette of a flying squirrel and lots of song birds and red squirrels. Really the only thing we didn't get was an ermine.
I really can't stress enough the importance of leaders like Nathan, George and Melissa. Not to mention Natalie from UofM, David from Clemson and Kerry Edwards from Lethbridge, just to mention a few. When these leaders retire the programs will disappear. It takes a lot of determination and drive to put these tours together year after year. But one never knows. Maybe one of these kids coming to Yellowstone for the first time might wind up being another John Muir or a Mardy Murie.
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