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PROGRAMS & PROJECTS
community.html#enviromental
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The ERC's Environmental Education Outreach Program is well on its way to reaching even more students this year than ever before. This exciting program began as a pilot program at Hemingway Elementary second grade two years ago. Due to its success, the ERC is expanding its reach to all of the second and third grades in the Blaine County School District, over 500 students. The program involves bringing naturalists into the classrooms to provide stimulating presentations on important environmental topics that parallel the grade's curriculum.
In this year's first presentation, students learned about birds of prey from an educator from the Peregrine Fund of Boise. Students were treated to samples of bones, feathers, eggs, and slides of some of the most dynamic birds of prey.
"I feel that our outreach program is an excellent enhancement to a teacher's syllabus," states Jeanne Liston, ERC's Education Coordinator. "We realize that teachers are frequently overwhelmed, so we try to do as much ground work for the teachers as possible." The ERC helps the teachers by bringing in speakers from around the state at no cost to the schools and very little coordination time on their part.
The outreach program has some dynamic speakers that really involve the students in an interdisciplinary approach. Students learn science during the presentation, but are often encouraged to develop their social studies, language arts and math skills through additional exercises provided.
The ERC is excited to offer even more topics than in previous years. This year speakers on bears, fossils, soil ecology, fire and water are just some of the additions to the already existing talks on salmon, wolves, bats, foxes, recycling and wilderness. The ERC will continue to reach out to the schools so that the community's children learn all they can about the natural world. (Serves: 500+ students).
photo credit: Jessica Inch |
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For the price of a movie and popcorn you can journey to distant lands and local hideaways with local adventurers. The series is held on the third Thursday of each month from September through May and features shows about endangered orangutans of Borneo, skiing in Greenland, Mongolia, the effect of the wildfires on the Middle Fork River ecosystem, Siberia and more! (Participants: 450+)
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Bird walks are offered every Tuesday evening during July and August. Expert birders teach participants to identify birds and find the best viewing spots for our abundant avian species. Winter Animal Tracking workshops are offered twice each month from December through March. Travel to the most productive animal tracking areas around the valley and learn to identify which tracks belong to cougar, moose, elk and other animals. Local naturalists volunteer their time to lead these programs. (Participants: 100+)
Winter Tracking Workshops  Click for Tracking Story
Looking for tracks and signs in the snow for wild creatures that have been there; learning to identify the ever-present array of wild signatures scattered across our local landscape; investigating and being careful not to disturb the clues of what and who has been there. This is what the ERC's Animal Tracking Workshops are all about: looking, learning and investigating.
Workshops will be held every Saturday from 10am to 2pm starting December 29 through February 23.
Local naturalists including Ann Christensen will lead this fascinating outdoor experience. Participants are advised to bring snowshoes, water and a sack lunch. We advise pre-registering for each workshop as class sizes are limited and they fill up quickly.
The cost of the workshop is $10 for ERC members, $20 for general public, and children 12 and under are free.
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Team Recycling
You asked for it... The ERC is now collecting batteries to recycle. Help protect our water quality... recycle your batteries with the Valley's only collection program. Contact the ERC for details.
Wood River Valley Recycling Brochure
Computer Recycling Fact Sheet
Holiday Waste Reduction Fact Sheet
Idaho Business Recycling Fact Sheet
Junk Mail Fact Sheet
Composting with Worms Fact Sheet
Xeriscaping Fact Sheet
Minutes
NatureWatch
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The ERC has created an invaluable resource for the local naturalist and outdoor enthusiast. This free email service, unveiled on Earth Day (April 22), helps members keep up-to-date with all the natural phenomena that occur throughout central Idaho. Whether the sandhill cranes are out dancing, the Camas prairie is in bloom, the northern lights are aglow or there’s a mountain goat atop Baldy, this listserv will make sure that you don’t miss a beat of nature’s splendor.
Email listservs build an “online” community of people interested in a common topic and enable them to communicate quickly and easily to one another. People who are interested in experiencing nature firsthand will now have a way to share their excitement and discoveries with other like-minded individuals. So, if you’ve just returned from a hike along Redfish lake and spotted a rare bird or a moose or if you're wondering whether the lupine wildflowers are still in bloom along the trail to the Pioneer Cabin, you can share your discoveries with others and post your questions so that the other subscribers might help enrich your outdoor experience.
We hope that you'll find this a valuable resource in learning more about our natural world and sharing with others your observations.
To visit NatureWatch's home page and browse through all the messages, visit groups.yahoo.com/group/NatureWatch/.
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Publications Team
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The ERC's biyearly newsletter which features articles about the ERC's activities and the local environment. (Serves: 500+) |
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The ERC web site serves as an adjunct to the "physical" resource center and gives the public another avenue to learn about the environment and the ERC. Our research indicates most citizens, teachers and students who need local and global environmental information prefer to reach it over the Internet. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive and informative website which will serve adults and children through interactive programs, action alerts, calendar listing and links to other environmental sites. (Serves: Potentially millions!) |
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The ERC is excited to be a sponsor of the Wood River Farmer's Market, inaugurated in 2000. Held every Tuesday from June through October in the parking lot across from Atkinsons' in Ketchum. The majority of growers at the market travel from Shoshone and Fairfield and are committed to bringing fresh, organic produce to the consumer. The ERC has information about ERC programs and other important issues about which the community may be interested. (Serves: hundreds) |
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Since children inherit the Earth, it's never too early to make them eco-conscious. Children ages
8 to 14 can attend a week long overnight camp at the 4-H facility. The
children will learn the importance of recycling, how to explore the outdoors
respectfully and will have a great time. The camp will run from July
21 to July 25th. Give the ERC a call for more information. |
PARTNERSHIPS
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The ERC knows that it, alone, cannot champion each community cause, so it is determined to foster partnerships for mutual benefit. In fact, the ERC, with over 700 members, firmly believes that there is strength in numbers. The ERC has pursued a number of strategic partnerships with other local nonprofits and projects, including:
Collaborating with 6 local organizations hosting special events and 4 sponsoring organizations to start special event and plastics recycling;
Co-sponsoring the Earth Day Festival with the Community Labyrinth;
Hosting a Living with Carnivores presentation sponsored by US Fish & Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife, Wolf Education & Research Center, US Forest Service and others;
Coordinating with the Wood River Land Trust on Weed Out Day and conducting ERC nature programs on open space preserved by the land trust;
Partnering with the Sawtooth Society to provide educational programs to their members;
Maintaining a comprehensive EcoCalendar on the web (www.ercsv.org) that lists environmentally-related activities sponsored by groups throughout the valley;
Collaborating with Blaine County and the Southern Idaho Solid Waste District on computer and special materials recycling;
Partnering with the Northwest Earth Institute and their simple living discussion courses; and
Partnering with 11 members of the local business community and the Ketchum/Sun Valley, Hailey and Bellevue Chambers of Commerce to host the Clean Sweep event and offer outdoor education programs for the community.
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the cities of Sun Valley and Ketchum, Trinity Springs Water, Blaine Co. Recreation District/Wood River Trails and the Southern Idaho Solid Waste District. Participants pick up trash and debris from streets, alleys and the bike path. The cities provide garbage haulers to take the trash away from a central drop-off point. The clean up ends with a free barbeque and raffle. (Participants: 160+)
This annual event which will be held this year on Saturday,
July 30, provides a fun and educational opportunity for the non-farming community to learn first-hand about ranching and agriculture in our high desert environment. Participants visit area farms and learn from the farmers about their daily life and agricultural operations. Co-sponsored by the Blaine Co. Ranchers' Association, Blaine Soil Conservation District and The Nature Conservancy. (Participants: 125)
In a Poll conducted by the Idaho Statesman Newspaper, 42.3% of people polled felt their quality of life in Idaho is excellent. When asked the principal or most important issue facing Idaho today, 38.1% said the environment. Respondents were concerned with water resources, timber and mining, and the environment in general.
When shopping for a new car, don't forget to factor in fuel efficiency. Reduce your gas costs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and reduce the damage being done to the atmosphere.
