Students from Grades 3 to 6 at Nakusp Elementary School (NES) had the chance to learn about local forestry and invasive species during a field trip in partnership with the Nakusp and area Community Forest (NACFOR) and the Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society (CKISS).
Divided into two busloads, teachers, students, and chaperones split up, with one bus going to the ferry terminal at Galena Bay, while the other went down the road leading to Trout Lake.
Upon arriving at their destinations, the groups were once again split up.
At the ferry landing one group went on a nature hike, where they identified various plants in along the Galena Bay Trail, and discussed what plants were native and which ones are invasive. The other group learned about the variety of aquatic invasive species coming to the area.
One such species is the zebra mussel, which has been found in Manitoba and other parts of North America.
“We discovered them in Montana last year, so they are getting closer,” said Laurie Frankcom, the education program coordinator with CKISS. “We’re trying to educate folks that they need to clean, drain, and dry their watercraft before moving to another body of water to prevent the spread.”
Clean, drain, and dry means a person must properly clean all watercraft and equipment, drain any standing water in hoses, tanks, or bilges, and making sure everything is dry before moving any and all watercraft and equipment to a new body of water.
Doing this is particularly important when dealing with zebra mussels as a female can lay up to one million eggs in a year, meaning they can clog up up dam systems which could potentially lead to an increase in hydro bills to offset the costs of cleaning.
At the tree-planting site, students were once again divided into two groups. One went tree planting, while the other went on a scavenger hunt, with the two groups switching activities part way through.
For the scavenger hunt the students learned about mapping, and how to find their way in the forest. They were then split up into six groups, with each group consisting of two or three members. They were tasked with using their compass and map to find a letter. Once found, they would bring the letter back to their original location and try to figure out what word the letters spelled. Hint: It’s a six-letter word that starts with ‘N’ and ends in ‘P’.
During the tree planting, the students were once again divided into groups, with each group given about a dozen tree saplings of different varieties. The saplings were white pine, cedar, larch, and fir.
After getting a lesson in the best location for each type of tree, students went off to make their mark and help the forest grow, but not before singing happy birthday to NACFOR employee Forest Humphreys.
Frances Swan, a registered professional forester and project manager with NACFOR believes having this type of event can be very beneficial to the students.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to get kids outside and on the landscape and understand a little bit about forestry and ecology,” she said.
One thing about the field trip was certain: students had a lot of fun.
“I thought it was good, I enjoyed it,” said Elias Lampimacki. “I liked getting to go walking around in the forest with the scavenger hunt.”
This was Lampimacki’s third year doing the tree planting. While he did enjoy it, he thinks doing the tree planting and learning about invasive species is very important.
“If students my age, or other people, don’t learn about this, in their older years they might accidentally support the invasive species and help them somehow,” he concluded.
Like many other students, he would love to do this again next year.
