| Message from The Education Coordinator The River Mile is a network of teachers, students and partners throughout the Columbia River Watershed who conduct research, resource managment projects and utilize sections of the Columbia River and its tributaries as their outdoor laboratory.
The program began with schools adopting one mile sections of the Columbia River within Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and learning about those sections. Today many groups are working with bodies of water closer to their school, usually within walking distance. All of this water ends up in the Columbia River and affects the other sections. |
| School Site Visits
Be sure to schedule your site visits soon to ensure park staff and supplies are available.
TRM Program Materials |
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Upcoming Events
Orientation Webinar
September 9, 2010
3:15 PM
All new and returning
participants learn about opportunities and requirements for the upcoming school year.We will cover the focus for the year's program, teacher and student training, student programs, scholarships and other available opportunities throughout the year.
4th Annual Student Science Symposium
May 26, 2011
Gonzaga Univesity
The Student Science Symposium is scheduled for May again this year! The symposium offers an opportunity for teachers and students to work one on one with resource managers, scientists, researchers and environmental educators.
This year's Keynote address will be presented by noted author and historian Jack Nisbit.
Don't miss this exciting event!
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On-Line Forms
Many of the forms, educator materials, PowerPoint programs and refrences you need for your site visits are now availalbe on-line (scroll to the bottom of the page in the link).
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Scholarships
School scholarships will be available again this year. A limited amount of funds are still available. Application deadline for the first round is September 30, 2010
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Message
You can use this sidebar to communicate something other than the details of your event to your contacts. It may be news in your industry, organization changes or the results of your most recent website poll. Inserting a link in your article lets you track which topics attract the most interest.
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Welcome!
Welcome to the new school year and the Welcome Back! issue of The River Mile's electronic newsletter for teachers, students and partners. In this issue you will find information about site visits for this fall, scholarship information, important dates and deadlines, and an introduction to the park's new Chief of Integrated Resource Management, Ken Hyde.
Our orientation webinar for all program participants will be on Thursday September 9th at 3:15 PM. Please make sure you have adequate representation from your grade or school to ensure you know and understand
The River Mile this year.
It is the intent of this newsletter to assist with communication about the Columbia River watershed and what we learn as we work with The River Mile.
Future newsletters will feature articles about natural and cultural resource issues, announcements about workshops and training opportunties, current research activities, education methods ideas, school project updates and much more!
The newsletter will publish a newsletter Approximately 3 times a year. Contributions are welcome from all participants.
Enjoy!
Janice Elvidge
Education Specialist
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Joint Stock Assessment Project
by Brian Crossley
Water & Fish Program Manager Spokane Tribe of Indians
JSAP (Joint Stock Assessment Project) was first funded by Bonneville Pow
er in 1998 and is a partnership amongst fisheries managers in NE Washington to evaluate fish populations in the "blocked area" or that area above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams.
The partners on this project are the Kalispel Tribe, Colville Confederated Tribes, Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and the Spokane Tribe. It was recognized that with the loss of anadromous runs up many of these tributaries little effort has been made to characterize the extent of fish in the rivers and tributaries in the area. Managers knew little about what species of fish existed in these tributaries and what their overall condition and abundance were and if there were basic habitat limitations. The group met several times to design a stream survey that would collect the needed information and be useful now as well as in the future. The streams are broken up into reaches and each reach is broken up into 100 meter sections. The target of the survey is to sample at least 10% of the reach by picking one or more 100 meter sections. A fish survey is conducted in the selected section using backpack electroshockers. Fish are identified to species, weighed and measured and then released back into the stream from which a density can be calculated. A length frequency distribution is then developed which allows managers to determine how many year classes of fish are in the stream and their relative abundance. Using the fishes weight, a relative weight chart is produced that compares the weight of the captured fish to an average fish in the region. Habitat data is measured over the same 100 meter section and measures a number of habitat characteristics every 5 meters. The collected parameters are: habitat type (riffle, pool, run), three water depths, maximum water depth, substrate, gradient, cobble embeddedness, temperature, large woody debris, and average bankfull width and depth. Also within the streams during the course of the survey we will collect basic water quality data such as dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity and flow. As the survey is conducted natural fish barriers such as falls and beaver dams are identified as well as unnatural fish barriers such as culverts and dams. This information has allowed fish managers and the public to become familiar with each of these streams, most of which had never been surveyed. Basic limiting factors have been identified and allow for future projects to be proposed for these streams to improve fish abundance and overall health. This baseline survey will always be a tool when future managers want to conduct trend analysis and evaluate if a stream has improved or degraded. Some of the streams surveyed under this project include all of the major streams on the Spokane Indian Reservation including Chamokane Creek as well as Spring, Mill, Hawk, Hunters, and Harvey Creeks off of the Reservation. We may be able to assist you if you have any questions or would like assistance in setting up a sampling program for your class or need sampling equipment or just somebody on the ground as you visit your sites. Brian Crossley Water & Fish Program Manager Spokane Tribe of Indians
crossley@spokanetribe.com
(509) 626-4409
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| Meet The Manager
NPS Welcomes New Chief of Integrated Resources
Ken Hyde, the new Chief of Integrated Resources at Lake Roosevelt NRA recently reported to take over the lead on the natural resource, cultural resource, and interpretation programs.
A graduate of Chewelah High School, he is very excited to be back in the state and working on Lake Roosevelt. After high school, he obtained a B.S and M.S. in Wildlife & Range Management from schools in Utah and Texas. For the next 13 years he worked for the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service in Nebraska, Oregon, Arizona, and Washington as a Range Conservationist, Soil Conservationist, Salmon Recovery Specialist, Wildlife Biologist and Coordinator of the Upper Columbia RC&D Council. He gained invaluable experience in wildlife habitat and wetland restoration, watershed planning, grazing management systems, and riparian area improvements from these various positions.
In 2001, this wide range of experience allowed him to become the Chief of Integrated Resources at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument unit of the NPS in Oregon. He completed extensive improvements on buildings and a orchard in a national historic district; finalized and implemented a Integrated Pest Management program on a wide array of invasive weeds; completed inventories of nearly all of the major plant, animal, and butterfly/moth species in the park; and completed several projects to prepare a fish-friendly diversion and highly efficient irrigation system for the historic fields. He then spent nearly 4 years as the Wildlife Biologist for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore along Lake Michigan in the state of Michigan. He had projects eradicating invasive weeds and trees; a large recovery program for the endangered piping plover; and conducted much research on water bird and native fish die-offs from Type E botulism. His most recent position was with Wind Cave National Park as Chief of Resource Management over the world's 4th longest cave and an amazing array of wildlife including bison, elk, antelope, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets in South Dakota.
Ken is excited to come to LARO to manage and protect the wonderful water resources of Lake Roosevelt along with the associated cultural and natural resources. He looks forward to playing an active role in providing interpretive and educational opportunities to the local schools and visiting public so that they too realize the great resources found here in their backyard. Ken and his wife Julie have 6 children, with the youngest two now enrolled at Lake Roosevelt H.S. in Coulee Dam.
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School Report
New to The River Mile this year is the Kettle Falls School District. The school district began investigating participation in "The River Mile" last spring and their 5th grade class tested the program at Meyer's Falls on the Colville River. The district's science teachers participated in an introductory workshop in April and in August a number of teachers and principals meet with Lake Roosevelt NRA's Education Specialist, Janice Elvidge, to discuss participation in the program and the districts specific needs and questions.
Each grade in the Kettle Falls School District particpates in expeditions during the school year that focus on one subject. Through these expeditions students gain an indepth understanding of the topic. To learn more about the expeditions at Kettle Falls see the article "Kettle Falls Schools and Expeditionary Learning."
We are excited to welcome the Kettle Falls School District to "The River Mile."
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Kettle Falls Schools and Expeditionary Learning
All K-12 students in Kettle Falls learn through Expeditionary Learning Model. What is Expeditionary Learning, you ask? It has three components that strongly impact student learning: Learning Expeditions, Character Education and Instructional Practices that ensure engagement, critical thinking and rigor.
Learning Expeditions are based on the state standards in Science and/or Social Studies and then students research a compelling topic around those standards. Literacy is embedded in every expedition, again based on the state standards. The key is the role of fieldwork, experts and service learning that support the learning targets throughout each expedition.
Being in the field whenever possible is key to the expeditions. Last year we had expeditions that:
- Answered the question, "What is a Healthy Forest and How Can it Be Sustained?". Every other week the students went into the field to collect data on a recently harvested section of Bangs Mountain. This data will be used for future comparisons. Fourth Graders and High School Wildlife students worked together.
- Had students do stream restoration with the Forest Service at Growden Dam after learning how water impacts the Lake Roosevelt watershed. Biology students and third graders worked together on this project.
- Took on the task of ensuring that the Colville River could support wood ducks and built and hung many wood duck nesting boxes that they built with the help of the high school wood shop classes. The second grade auctioned off their artwork to support Ducks Unlimited.
- Blended high school algebra and wildlife students worked collaboratively with the Colville Fish Hatchery to clip fins of trout. Students practiced algebraic equations needed to determine the health of the fish.
- Had Kindergarteners hatching pheasant eggs that were then passed to the FFA students to raise until their release.
- Taught kids to analyze by researching the history and impact of the litter laws. Then they ran an anti-litter campaign at Town and Country Days. Fourth graders sewed 150 reusable shopping bags that were distributed at the Grumpy Grouch Run.
- Had Wildlife students working in collaboration with the Forest Service and using trail cameras to find evidence of wolves in the local forests.
- Supported High school biology students in the study of environmental sciences and they conducted water sample tests on local streams before and after doing stream restoration projects.
We believe that students will be more engaged in their learning if they are compelled by a topic that has multiple perspectives and a chance to make a difference. The skills of reading, writing and math become purposeful and authentic.
Character traits are developed through hard work and service learning. Fieldwork gives students the authentic application of the skills they are learning, while doing service for others. Students have multiple opportunities to reflect on their character, service and learning throughout the expeditions. They learn that kids can make a difference in their world.
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| New! Webinar Series
Over the next few months we will be announcing the topics and dates of our new webinar series. This series of webinars will feature natural and cultural resource specialists sharing topics of interest to you and your students. These series will allow you and your students to register for a webinar and interact with the speaker.
If you have an idea for a presenter for the webinar series let us know.
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The River Mile and The Columbia River: A River of Change
This year's theme is "The Columbia River: A River of Change." We will explore how and in what ways the Columbia River has changed since the construction of Grand Coulee Dam. What was the river like in the region where the inundation waters flooded after construction of Grand Coulee Dam? What species are no longer in the river? What species are still here? A variety of opportunities for teachers and students will be available throughout the year which explore these questions.
As returning groups explore their river mile this year park staff will work closely with each of you to help you develop your research project ideas and goals. If you have not completed your site inventories, park staff will work with you this year to move toward completion. These inventories form the foundation for future research projects. As you complete your inventories park staff will work with you in developing a research project of mutual interest to your group and the park or managing agency.
Watch for webinars, workshops, newsletters and other programs and join us as we explore the past, present and future of the great Columbia River!
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