Program & Event Descriptions

Ongoing series of events, hosted throughout the year by the ERC. Please see our calendar page for more details about our current events.

Nature Workshops

Birding

Each summer and winter, we offer a series of birding walks with local birding expert Poo Wright-Pulliam and the ERC’s own Ann Parry. In winter, participants snowshoe to the Nature Conservancy’s Silver Creek Preserve to check out local winter bird residents. In summer, we host a series of 4 – 6 walks which include an introduction to our local summer birds and basics of birding prior to going into the field to check out and listen to some of our favorite local birds.

Our 2017 winter birding series has concluded. Information on summer dates will be announced in May.

Winter Tracking

Each winter, we offer a series of tracking workshops centering on the winter world. Long-time Wood River Valley resident and tracking extraordinaire, Ann Christensen, leads these workshops. Ann begins each workshop with a short tracking introduction at the ERC office where she introduces participants to our local winter animals, their life-histories and winter adaptations while laying out some basics about tracks. Participants then head outside on a snowshoe tracking adventure through the fields and woods north of town. Ann, who studied with famous tracker and author James Halfpenny, has been introducing valley residents to the secret stories left in the snow for decades.

Our 2017 winter tracking tours have concluded. Information on 2017-2018 dates will be announced in November.

Miscellaneous

Throughout the year, the ERC also hosts a myriad of other nature workshops including beaver walks, river romps, and fire/forest ecology walks. Check back often to see what workshops we have in store for you.

Green Community Workshops

Throughout the year, the ERC conducts several workshops and programs that further educate our community on what it means to be “green” and “sustainable.” These programs not only educate but also show individuals in the community how they can make collective and individual differences in creating and encouraging a more sustainable community.

Environmental Book Discussion Series

Join the ERC this winter for an Environmental Book Series. Each month, participants will read a classic or contemporary book on a selected environmental topic. Hadley DeBree of the ERC will then facilitate an interactive discussion of the book during the third week of the month on Tuesdays at the ERC Office (471 Washington Ave, Ketchum) and on Wednesdays at the Wood River Sustainability Center (308 S. River St., Hailey). In addition to these monthly discussions, supplemental programs such as lectures and film showings will be offered on the environmental topics explored throughout the book series. This series is free and open to the public and participants are welcome to drop in each month.

Schedule of readings (for more information click the dates below):

February 28 and March 1: “The Once and Future World: Nature As it Was, As it Is, As it Could Be”
by J.B. Mackinnon

March 21 and 22: “Coming of Age at the End of Nature: A Generation Faces Living on a Changed Planet”
by Julie Dunlap and Susan A. Cohen

April 18 and 19: Citizen Scientist: “Searching for Heroes and Hope in the Age of Extinction”
by Mary Ellen Hannibal

May 16 and 17: Invisible Nature: “Healing the Destructive Divide Between People and the Environment”
by Kenneth Worthy

Environmental Advocates Alliance Meetings

On the first Thursday of every other month join the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) and Idaho Conservation League (ICL) at 6pm for an hour-long Environmental Advocates Alliance meeting. Each meeting will focus on a variety of important local, state, and national environmental issues.

For the first 30 minutes of the program, participants will learn about local, state and national legislation focused on a specific environmental issue. Participants will then have the opportunity to learn which tools are available to them and what actions they can take to make their voices heard on issues that are important to them. Time and materials will be provided during the second half of the program for participants to take immediate action should they choose.

All community members are invited to attend.

Schedule of meetings (for more information click the dates below):

March 2: Public Lands

April 3: Idaho Science Standards

Gallery Walk

Two to three times per year, in conjunction with the SVGA Gallery Walks, the ERC hosts art exhibitions that highlight our local environment and activities in and around that environment that make our valley a special place to live.