Activities
The majority of the activities during the Range and Wildlife Camp will take place outdoors and will include:
- Wildlife Activities: Learn how wildlife depend on habitat, including food, cover, and water. Campers will examine tracks, scat, and habitat clues while exploring how wildlife biologists study animal movement and habitat use.
- Forestry and Fire: Explore forest structure, fuel arrangement, and fire behavior through hands on activities and outdoor field experiences that show how management decisions influence fire risk and ecosystem recovery.
- Soils and Habitat: Discover how soils shape ecosystems by testing soil texture, measuring water movement, and examining how soil properties influence plant growth and wildlife habitat.
- Water and Watersheds: Read topographic maps and investigate how water moves across landscapes. Campers will also explore stream systems and discuss how landforms, vegetation, and beavers influence water availability.
- Invertebrates and Ecosystem Connections: Investigate the diversity of insects and other invertebrates and consider the important roles they play in pollination, decomposition, and food webs.
- Reptiles and Wildlife Diversity: Learn about reptile adaptations, habitat needs, and their role in western ecosystems through live demonstrations and field observations.
- Rangeland Management and Restoration: Examine how land managers respond to ecological challenges using reseeding, grazing strategies, vegetation treatments, and other tools to improve rangeland health and wildlife habitat.
- GIS and Ecological Investigation: Use mapping tools and spatial thinking to solve ecological questions and explore how natural resource professionals use geographic information in decision making.
- Ecology and Stewardship Challenge: Throughout the week, campers work in teams to investigate a real ecological challenge, build a conceptual model, and present stewardship based solutions that connect what they learned across camp activities.
- Adventure and Team Building: Campers will participate in the mountain biking, rope course, and outdoor team activities designed to build confidence, trust, and collaboration.
