Project – August 11-14, 2008

What?

Students took part in a four-day outdoor camping, leadership and education program. Participants were kept happy and full as expert educators guided them through these activities:

Activism and Community Organizing – Renowned activist Dolores Huerta led a discussion on activism and community organizing. After talking about her experiences as life-long activist Dolores and the students looked at the social and political problems facing the Latino and farm worker communities in California and the United States. After Immersed in the Wild, the students will work with the Dolores Huerta Foundation on a community-organizing project in their own community. WildPlaces will support the project that the students organize in their community.

Watershed Science and Garbage Cleanup on the Tule River – We stopped at The Stairs swimming hole on the middle fork of the Tule on our way into the mountains. Students learned about the importance of watersheds, picked up garbage, talked to other river users about what we were doing and SWAM in the cool clear water.

Hike through Quaking Aspen Meadow – Students explored Quaking Aspen Meadow at the top of the Tule River watershed and learned about meadow ecology and hydrology.

Loggy Meadow Restoration – A joint project with the U.S. Forest Service, this restoration was begun by the Forest Service and worked on by last year’s Immersed in the Wild Dolores Huerta Foundation Participants. This year we focused on planting over 70 willows in an effort to stabilize stream banks that have been eroded by cattle. Eventually this project will restore the natural hydrology of the meadow.

Caring for the Giants – Throughout the summer of 2008 WildPlaces has planted over 50 Giant Sequoia Seedlings on the Trail of 100 Giants to educate the public and help close the gap in Sequoia regeneration that has opened in the last century. Students with the Dolores Huerta Foundation helped water these seedlings as they become established during their first summer, ensuring a healthy foundation to carry them thorough their more than 2000 year lifestrong.

Plants and Our Health – Local, certified Natural Health Practitioner – Adaniel Camacho – led students through various safe ways we can use aromatic plants and essential oils to improve our health. Students made a skin balm using pine, sandalwood and peppermint oils as well as a delicious dish of soy-viche with essential oils for all to share.

Hikes Through Giant Sequoia Groves – This year we explored both the Freeman Creek Giant Sequoia Grove and the Trail of 100 Giants. In both groves we explored the ancient trees with a sense of awe and learned about Sequoia ecology.

Camp Leadership Skills – At all Immersed in the Wild camps students become active leaders in charge of our basic needs. Students prepare camp meals, maintain camp and personal hygiene and manage camp waste, recycling and composting.

Why?

Experiential education programs are inadequate in California’s school system. The southern Sierra Nevada region contains many economically disadvantaged communities who are unable to experience the wild places around them. More and more youth feel disconnected from their communities and the natural habitats surrounding them, something that has become know among educators as “nature deficient disorder”. Youth are confined to classroom settings where learning how to take tests replaces opportunities to observe, compare, and comprehend the beauty and mystery of our environment. Immersed in the Wild programs are designed to provide those experiential opportunities for California’s youth.

Who?

13 students from Lamont, Arvin and Weedpatch joined 10 educators and facilitators at Quaking Aspen campground in the Giant Sequoia National Monument for 4 days of camping, education and exploration.

Where?

Quaking Aspen is located on the Western Divide in the Tule River watershed in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.