As a required component of this course, students will complete five service learning volunteer hours with a local or state environmental project, group, or organization. Participation in these service hours will allow students to:
“Appreciate the value of local as well as international collaboration in resolving environmental problems.”
“Appreciate that human society is both directly and indirectly linked to the environment at a number of levels and at a variety of scales.”
“Demonstrate the personal skills of cooperation and responsibility appropriate for effective investigation and problem solving.”
Each student will complete a minimum of five hours of service each semester, with the option of completing more hours to earn extra credit.
Completing all five required hours will earn 25 points. Each additional hour beyond five hours will earn a student an extra point. Collectively, service hours will be capped and are limited to 10 hours, totaling a possible 30/25 points.
To document service hours, students will complete a simple post on the class blog below. To get full credit, the post will state/summarize:
- Date of service, number of hours, location
- Name of organization/project
- Supervisor’s name and brief job description
- 250-300 word summary of the service completed and its relation to APES, careers in environmental science, and community
- A few (fun!) pictures of the student’s completion the service
Additionally, an email confirmation from the on-site supervisor of the organization must be sent to Mr. Esler in order to verify completed service hours.
The Confluence Project 
On Saturday, October 11, 2013 I volunteered at Junk2Funk in downtown Couer d’Alene. I volunteered 2 hours of work. It took place in the eagles ballroom. While I was there I moved items on and off stage for the live auction and helped sell little souvenirs under the direction of Adrienne Cronebaugh. Junk2Funk is cool because it is a fashion show that supports local designers and artists. For this designers make furniture and clothing out of recyclable, upcycled, and renewable items that would normally be discarded. the event was also in coordination with the local company, DOMA, which is a local coffee company. Much of my involvement was in the furniture portion of the show. Some of the more memorable items were a bench made entirely from drift wood, another chair made from rope, and a set of hand painted rocking chairs. Many of the artists were quite lively and fun to be around. The souvenirs were little hand made owls made up of recyclable materials. The really cool thing about those is that they were made by home schooled kids all through kootenai county between grades 3 to 12. It shows great relation to APES due to its renew and reuse aspect. People can get a career in fashion that allows them to use upcycled materials. It’s freat for the community because not only does it raise awareness in order for the public to produce less waste and recycle, but it also brings people together in order to have a fun time at a really cool and fun event with many interesting people.
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting
-November 1, 2014,
-4 hours
-Tubbs Hill
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Supervisor- Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
Katie handles all urban forestry matters in Coeur d’ Alene from tree plantings to specific tree health to tree inventory at some nurseries.
At the tree planting, we started off by getting the rundown of the days plans from the supervisor and were assigned to different groups. Then we headed up the hill and got a brief demonstration on how to use the equipment and how to properly plant the seedlings with a hoedad and shovel. The trees we were planting were Western Larch and Ponderosa Pine. The Larch grow better in the damper areas whereas the Pine can grow in the drier, rockier parts of the hill. We set off planting and it took the whole group of roughly 25 people 4 hours to plant 700 new trees on the Northwest side of tubs hill. We had to plant a lot because the seedlings have a low survival ratio. It is important to Tubbs Hill because the tree roots prevent the soil from eroding and the trees also provide shade for plants that grow below. This greatly benefits the community because Tubbs Hill is a very popular spot for walking, jogging, and swimming.
Eagle Watch
-December 30, 2014
-3 hours
-Mineral Ridge Trail Head
Eagle Watch Week
Supervisor: Carrie Hugo- BLM Wildlife biologist
Carrie studies wildlife and takes wildlife surveys for BLM. During Eagle Watch Week she is busy counting eagles on the north end of Lake Coeur d’ Alene.
For the Eagle watch, I arrived at the Mineral Ridge Trailhead at 9:30. It was 8 degrees. It stayed 8 degrees for the next 3 hours I was there. Even in the frigid weather families can to see and photograph the eagles. At our station there were two high powered spotting scopes, one pointing across the bay and one on an eagle that sat in a tree nearby. My job was to move these scopes so that they’d be showing eagles at all times. I would also help people see the eagles through the scopes as well as answer any questions that they might have. It is important that the community knows about the eagles because they are a huge part of the ecosystem of Lake Coeur d’ Alene. They eat the dying fish on the shore which helps fertilize the soil and trees growing there.
Tree Planting at Tubbs Hill
November 1, 2014
4 hours
Tubbs Hill, CDA
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Supervisor- Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
At the beginning of the day we all grouped up and the supervisor(s) explained to us what we were going to be doing and how they wanted it done. We then split our large group into smaller groups and headed off to different parts of Tubbs Hill to plant our trees. We all had two different kinds of trees; Western Larch and Ponderosa Pine. Once our small group had gotten to our starting area our supervisor showed us good places to plant trees, areas where they would be far enough away from other trees that their roots wouldn’t get choked but in a relatively flat area where they would get lots of sunlight. He also explained the specific way in which to plant the tree so that we could maximize it’s chances of survival. In total, our large group planted about 800 trees. This is beneficial to our community because the new trees provide habitats for many of the small animals and organisms that live in the area, and this is a very popular site for running, hiking, jogging, walking, swimming, etc. It relates to APES really well because it is doing something to help the environment which is what we’re learning and talking about every day in class.
Cleaning Up Trash at Hayden Creek Shooting Range
January 13, 2014
2.5 hours
Hayden Creek Forest Land
For our service hours, Josh, Dominic and I went to the Hayden Creek Shooting Range to pick up trash. It is a popular shooting range that has honestly just been turned into a dump. There was so much trash, everything you could imagine. There were empty boxes, milk jugs,cans, beer bottles. There was an old mattress and even a bowling ball that had been shot apart. The amount of trash up there was revolting and there is no way that one organization could keep it clean by themselves. Cleaning up the trash there was good for the environment because it was helping remove the pollutants in the area that are harming the environment.
My Grandparents tree Farm
Thinned out tree
Edge Creek Tree Farm, Wolf Lodge, Idaho
10 Hours
This past weekend, the 10th and the 11th, I spent the 10 hours with the clearing saw and chainsaw thinning out thick clumps of trees. Steve funk gave me a quick reminder on how to thin trees and what trees I should take out. I would usually leave a good 5 feet in between each tree. I have thinned both Douglas Fir clumps along with white pines. Most of where I was at was filled with Douglas Firs. Most of the trees were older and already had some sort of a disease so I would to eliminate the disease factor in the clump of trees. I would use the clearing saw if the trunks of the trees didn’t have a diameter greater than the blade on the clearing saw. If the trees were too big, I would use the chainsaw, which didn’t really happen. This benefits the people/community because the thinning of trees allows hunters to walk through the forest without the nose of branches rubbing against their gear. It also benefits the wildlife because the cut down tree will decompose naturally and be fertilizing the plants and trees around it.Also the fallen trees provide shelter for small ground animal. It relates to the class because we talk about how humans can either benefit or harm the earth, in this case, it benefits because we are trying to get rid of the diseases that destroy trees which will destroy habitat for both the air and the ground. The careers that usually involve this work are foresters, loggers, and even forest management consultants.
Helping Build Free Scarecrows for Kids/Random People at Kootenai County Farmers Market
-September 27, 2014
-3 hours
-Kootenai County Farmers Market, US-95 & W Prairie Ave
-Making Scarecrows with volunteers, Jamie Esler, and his wife
-Supervisor- Jamie Esler
We first emptied out of boxes and sorted dozens of sets of old clothes that had been donated for this activity. We prepared the huge stacks of straw, cut strings to tie the hay inside the scarecrows, and laid out the wooden skeletons on which the scarecrows were built. After the first half hour, we’d only had a few curious market-goers enquire about what on Earth we were doing with several hundred items of clothing lying in piles and on shelves and I think only one young couple had made a scarecrow at that point. Right after the young couple finished and left, a mother and her three children walked by, one of them obviously wanting to make a scarecrow. My friend asked them if they wanted to make one, and the mom said they probably didn’t have enough money. When the mom found out it the scarecrow was free, she, albeit a little flabbergasted, thanked us and helped her kids pick out a set of clothes to begin making their scarecrow. Less than ten minutes later, there were at least ten groups of people all making scarecrows. It was a bit chaotic, but it was awesome. All of the kids were so excited to get to build and throw around the hay. When we ran out of wooden skeletons, we must have helped make at least 10 scarecrows each between the 5 volunteers and supervisors. This was a great community building activity, plus it may have slightly helped encourage local homeowners to plant their own gardens and grow some of their own food now that they have a scarecrow to put in said garden.
Tree Planting at Tubbs Hill
-November 1, 2014
-4 hours
-Tubbs Hill, CDA
-Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
-Supervisor- Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
We all started out by separating into three large groups, then we headed up the hill where the coordinators taught all of the volunteers how to use the equipment and properly plant the trees. We were showed appropriate places to plant to trees, and we spread ourselves out into even smaller groups in which we started planting trees every 10 to 15 feet in a, more-or-less, straight line alongside other groups. We were planting Western Tamarack and Ponderosa Pines in areas of the hill that had been deforested; we even heard a funny story about how goats had been released and recaptured on the hill to eat the shrubs and other plants growing where we were going to plant the trees. The 25 or so of us planted around 800 trees in 4 hours. As the trees grow, their roots will help to anchor the soil on Tubbs Hill, preventing it from eroding, and their branches will provide shade for the plants that grow below them. This tree planting should improve the environment and the community around Tubbs Hill. It will improve the scenery and health of the area for the many people who recreate around Tubbs Hill, and in the short-run, it was a great experience for many members of the community to come together and work to fix an important issue in the area.
Coeur d Fondo
– 9/26/14
– the shops
– 4 hours
I helped at the bag collection for coeur d fondo. I worked with a family that was volunteering, some nice people who helped put it together, and many kids from the Lake City High School Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Orchestra, STOMP! , and String Ensemble. I helped open up and organize things before racers came in to get their bags. I set up bins at my booth for the Medio Fondo. Some of the other races were the piccolo fondo, the centro fondo, the family fondo, and the largest one, the gran fondo. I answered questions from racers and told them about all the papers in their bag. Many of the questions I answered were about: where they would drop off their bag, where the race started / ended, when the race would start / end, how to place their numbers, where to put their bike, etc. Many of the papers were coupons, a map of the race, food tickets, drink tickets, and bike tickets. I think that the most prevalent thing towards APES is that the events encourage people to ride their bikes and be healthy for not onay themselves, but keep the earth healthy too. While still enjoying their time with amazing people. One career some one could get that is related to this is to give people bike tours, they’re pretty popular among tourists. Another job people could get related to this is to promote the events among the public and motivate the public to participate. The community can also participate by volunteering to set up those places, cleaning up race zones, particiting in the races, and volunteering for bag drop.
Seedling Report On Deer Damage
-12/20/14
-4 hours
-Tubbs Hill
-Mark Weadick, Board of Directors of the Tubbs Hill Foundation
In December, shortly before the snow fall, Mark Weadick and I went to the same area where the students planted the 800 trees to do an assessment on them. We ran a transect below and above the fire road to observe the tree conditions. I kept the tally in three categories: well planted, poorly planted, and ones affected by deer damage. To our surprise there wasn’t as many deer damaged seedlings as we were thinking there would be. Deer tend to migrate toward these seedlings because they are rich in nutrients. Typically they will pull the seedling out of the ground and the needles will be broken off. If the plants were poorly planted we would replant them in an effective area and less susceptible to deer damage. Inputting the larch in this area creates “species diversity” which is healthy for the Tubbs Hill ecosystem. As we were hiking up to the area, Mr. Weadick taught me a lot about Tubbs Hill’s environmental history. He also indirectly taught me that there are a lot of people in our community that are really passionate about preserving it. I think this was really eye opening because soon it will be our job to take care of our biome for the next generation.
Picking up Trash at Cherry Hill
– 1/11/15
– 1 hour
-Cherry Hill
Since I live on Cherry Hill I drive by the most popular sledding spot in town on a daily basis. Ever since we got snow fall, people have been using it quite often. However they also leave things and trash the hill as well. I went to clean up the hill as much as I could. I found broken sled pieces, trash, bottles, and miscellaneous garments. Now, when the snow melts, those items won’t effect the runoff or infiltration processes.
-1/7/15,1/13/15
-5 hours
-Hayden Creek Forest land
I went up to Hayden Creek to pick up trash. Since this is a popular shooting range there is a lot of trash up there. I have been up there before and it’s a dump everything you can imagine has been shot up there. We saw old mattress, old beer bottles, paint, etc. People have no respect for the environment up there and the forest service is having a hard time keeping up with the trash so they need people to be picking up trash constantly. From what i have learned in APES class is that with all the trash up there it’s going to affect the food web by poisoning the little critters and then they getting eaten and the pollutants keep going up the ecosystem to eventually effecting dear and populations in the regions. A career that i see would be fun is a forest ranger since they can be in nature all day and they can help the environment in the process. The pollution in the shooting range can be carried down to the creek and carried to the lake where fish could die off because of the polluted water and this can affect the community. I learned a lot through the service hours and I hope people will treat the Hayden shooting with more respect.
-1/7/15, and 1/13/15
-5 Hours
-Hayden Creek Forest Service Land
For my volunteer work I went up with Josh Lyon and picked up trash at the Hayden Creek Shooting Range. There was so much trash, it was crazy how little respect the people that go up there have for the environment and there facility. There was all sorts of trash like Josh said; a mattress, beer bottles, empty propane bottles, shot bowling balls, etc. By the end of the time picking up trash we had 4 large garbage bags filled with all sorts of trash. This service activity relates to what we have learned in Environmental Science because it is a direct example of how poorly some people treat the outdoors. The effects that the trash has on that environment is it creates a less ideal habitat for the organisms that live there both in the ground by the range and a little farther out. There is a creek that runs along the shooting range so as water drains off the range it collects trash and chemicals that will mix into the creek and effect fish and other aquatic life as the creek flows into Hayden Lake affecting even more life. I think it would be good to get Forest Service Rangers up there while people are using the range in an effort to help decrease the amount of pollution at the Hayden Creek Shooting Range.
Tree Planting at Tubbs Hill
-November 1, 2014
-4 hours
-Tubbs Hill, Coeur D’ Alene
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Supervisor: Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
Once we arrived at the base of the hill we grabbed shovels and hoes and headed up the path to the site of where we would be planting trees. After a brief demonstration of how deep to dig the hole so the tree roots would be at a healthy depth, we hiked down the hill to start the planting from the bottom up. When we split up into groups of about 4-6 we spread throughout the starting line. Alternating between trees we planted two different species of trees, Ponderosa Pine and Western Larch as we walked up the hill making sure to carefully space them far enough apart and deep enough so that the base of the tree was burried. These trees were better fitted for the environment and habitat. We had learned in the APES program about how introducing new plants to help the environment can help the biodiversity levels come to a better balance for the Tubbs Hill habitat. This helps our community by creating a healthier and therefore prettier environment for all the tourists, bikers, hikers, and sightseers that all use the hill for their various activities. This gave me a better look at all the different people and organizations whose jobs are to take care of our environment and how much the environment means to them. By the end of the 4 hours we had planted close to 800 trees with only 25 people! This in all was a great eye opening experience and I had a lot of fun while doing it.
Tree Planting
-November 1st
-5 Hours
-Tubbs Hill
As soon as we got there they gave us a run down of what was going to happen that morning, the tools we would be using, as well as keeping us very happy, with candy and hot cocoa, in the cold weather. We started out by hiking up Tubbs hill with our groups, shovels, and baby trees. We learned how to plant the trees in order for them to have the best chance of survival and where to plant them. Overall we planted 800 trees and had a lot of fun! This helps Tubbs by creating not just more trees but better diversity and preventing soil erosion.
Fill The Bus
-10 hours (Two Days)
-Super 1
With Lake City’s Key Club we raised over 2,300 pounds of food for the local food bank. It was a very fun and uplifting experience to help so many others! This relates to APES through human population and how one can affect their environment. Other volunteers and I impacted our environment in a positive way and helped others so they can sustain themselves for the future.
November 1, 2014
4 hours
Tubbs Hill
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
On November 1st, 2014 some people form Lake City High school and members of the community went to Tubbs Hill to plant Tamarack and Ponderosa Pine trees. When we first got there they told us to get in groups of 2-3 and grab trees and grab a shovel. Then they split us up into large groups that later split back into the smaller groups of 2-3. Once we got to the planting site, they showed us how to plant the trees, and where to plant them. Then we walked off the path and each group was spaced about 10 feet apart. We alternated between the two types of trees, but if we were in a very rocky area we just planted Ponderosa Pine because they grew better in those conditions then Tamarack. After everything was set up we began to plant the trees up the hill. At the end of the day we planted about 800 trees. Hopefully in the future the trees we planted will be strong and healthy, and provide great habitats for animals and other plant species. This relates well to the confluence project, we worked with members of our community and LCHS to plant trees. The reason we planted the trees was to prevent soil erosion, and to reverse the deforestation that happened there. In the future Tubbs hill will be a more enjoyable place to be!
-September 13, 2014 September 20, 2014
-6 hours
-Land work in partnership with the BLM
-Mike Gaertner, Doug Evans(BLM)
On September 13th I volunteered to help build a cross course underneath the highway 95 bridge going across the river.
When I got there, there were already several people beginning to work. I was instructed to start moving branches and debris out of the trail. After clearing the debris off of the designated section of the course, I had to remove several small stumps that were in the course because of the possibility of a racer hitting them.
On September 20th I was told to arrange loose branches along the side of the course so that people would know where to go. While working on a portion of the forested area of the course we came across a dug out room underneath some dirt and other debris. We found quite a few things in the shelter including: a tarp used to cover the shelter, a dirty carry on suitcase with misc. garbage and plastic wrappers, a cd case with 30+ cd’s, empty cans of soda and fruit, remnants of a vintage jacket, and worn out garden gloves. After our adventures with the garbage I set sail to smooth out the forested section of the course using a rake and the power of my mind. The End.
November 1st, 2014
4 hours
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
On November 1st 2014, Lake City High School students and other community members came to Tubbs Hill to plant trees. We were told to get in to groups of 3-4 and grab a shovel or a hoedad. I grabbed a shovel, thinking that the hoedads were weird. I later discovered that a hoedad was a much easier tool to use than a shovel. We hiked up the trail and then were told what we needed to do. The leaders gave us the trees and told us to plant them in soft soil, and in open spaces where the trees would get sunlight. They were Western Larch and Ponderosa Pine trees. The Larches would grow better in damp, soft soil and the pines could grow in drier rockier areas. The whole group planted about 700 trees! The seedlings had a low survival rate so it was important to plant a lot of them. This benefits Tubbs Hill because the trees help prevent soil erosion, provide habitats for animals, and provides shade. This was a very fun experience for me. Tubbs Hill is a very popular and beautiful area and I hope to keep it that way! I am very happy I was able to be a part of such a good cause and I hope to contribute more in the future.
Macy DuCoeur
December 2- January 22
6 hours
Recycling program at Sorensen Elementary
Moira DuCoeur
Starting in December, I looked up what products can be recycled within Coeur d’Alene. Then I printed out several sheets and brought them around to all the teachers in Sorensen. I went to the school twice a week and made boxes with the the students that the teachers could use for their recycling. With the help of the third graders, we made 10 boxes! In addition, I made sure that each class was informed on what can be recycled and how the recycling program works. Mrs. DuCoeur’s students will be going around to each classroom everyday collecting the recycling bins and emptying them out. I loved watching the students get excited about recycling and helping me out. It was a great experience and I’m so glad I got to introduce the concept of recycling to elementary kids. I hope that they learn to follow through with recycling at home and throughout their life.
JOSHUA MASON
November 1, 2014
4 hours
Tubbs Hill Tree Planting with the USFS
Katie Kosanke, Urban Forestry Coordinator
Once Upon A Time……..In a galaxay….FAR FAR AWAY….there was this Saturday where I decided that it would be cool to plant some trees with some cool people (so i did). Upon getting there I didn’t know if I would be cold, really cold, or just fine. This is when I decided that I should dress for the occasion that was meant for the really cold day. So, prepared with 4 layers of sweaters, and a happy little attitude, I plunged myself into the abyss to save Mother Nature. Before we started, everyone was separated into different groups so that we could cover more ground faster. Personally I would’ve preferred to be in the group with all the pretty girls, but alas, I was in a group full of dudes. So partnered with my partners in crime, Gabe Kegly, Andu Jakubek (something like that, it’s weird) and A-ARON Mcknee, we planted around 120 trees.The best part for me would’ve been planting the trees and seeing Elser going up to an area, look up, then bash the ground, plant a tree, and like a mountain goat, race to the top of the hill. I really enjoyed this experience, because I was allowed to bond and save the planet.I would do this again next year, just sign me up. Glad to have been in the Class. #PEACE
-If you are looking for some of the specifics, go to Aaron Mcknees, it’ll give it to ya.
– January 29th 2015
– 3 hours
– Blackwell Hotel
Kootenai Environmental Alliance – KEA’s Annual Event/Meeting
Adrienne Cronebaugh: Executive Director of KEA
Chloe and I met Adrienne at 5:30 at the Blackwell Hotel to set up early for the first half hour of our volunteer work. When it turned six o’clock, we put our name tags on and were ready to greet the guests. Chloe stood by the main entrance collecting coats and passing out name tags while I welcomed members of KEA through the side entrance. While people mingled throughout the night, some seemed amazed to see such young faces (Chloe and me) at the event. They expressed how they felt that more teens need to be involved in environmental issues experienced in our community. I was really surprised but also happy to hear that. Until this year, I thought people my age couldn’t make much of a difference in the world environmentally or that older generations were uninterested in our help. That’s certainly not the case! Another fascinating aspect of the night was the meeting itself. Adrienne discussed the achievements of the past year and the projects that they would focus on in the upcoming year. From saving seventy percent of the trees on the Dike Road to supporting the Coeur d’Alene Glass Recycling program, KEA has accomplished some inspirational feats. I couldn’t believe anything like this was happening in my own community. By the end of the night, I realized that KEA is an amazing organization that has been extremely successful; however, this organization is still in need of help, especially from younger generations. After three hours, it had felt like I hadn’t done any work at all. I had a ton of fun, learned a lot, met many moving people, and left feeling inspired.
– June 1st and June 4th
– 2 hours
– Lake City High School’s garden
AP Environmental Science – Legacy Project
Jamie Esler: Science Teacher at Lake City High School
I helped in Lake City High School’s garden after school on Monday and Thursday of this week. Tristan Reasor and I worked on finishing our Legacy Project which included the addition of edging to the school garden. With the help of Mr. Esler, Aaron McNee, Collin Hunter, Macy DuCoeur, Josh Doherty, and Nora Kennedy, we finished placing the edging within about two hours. These two hours of work included: preparing the garden by digging trenches, securing the edging in the trenches by staking it, surrounding the edging with soil once in place, and cleaning any excess soil off the path or sidewalk. The addition of edging to the path of the school garden relates to topics one, two, and five of our APES curriculum because: it will prevent future erosion; it will create a healthier ecosystem; and it will save energy. Placing edging in the school garden relates to topic two because by being able to better hold nutrients and water due to being more compact, the soil is healthier and therefore more resistant to weathering. Furthermore, adding edging to the school garden also relates to topic one because it creates a healthier ecosystem since an ecosystem begins with its environment.. Lastly, placing edging in the school garden relates to topic five because it increases the energy efficiency of the garden by preventing grass from growing onto the path. Tristan and my Legacy Project also relates to community because the school garden’s purpose is to promote smart gardening practices, educate the public, inspire others, and hopefully influence change in our community. Therefore, any addition to the school garden is helping Lake City High School achieve that goal.
-April,3,2015
-5 hours
-Trash pickup in the Hayden creek forest lands.
On one sunny Friday morning me and Dominic went up to the Hayden creek shooting range to pick up trash. This area of Hayden creek is really dirty and is basically a landfill to people who go there to shoot. The area up here is managed by the forest service and the people doing the managing are the forest rangers these people make sure that the public forest lands are clean and safe for both people who visit them and animals that live in them. They also assist in the collecting of scientific data for other scientists in the forest service. I am not really interested in becoming a park ranger because it would get really boring at times.
On February 5, 2015 I went to the Forest Service Nursery and completed 2 hours of volunteer service hours. I worked with Emily Overton who works at the nursery sowing seeds and taking care of all sorts of native plant and tree species from white bark pine to river aspen. My job while I was there was to sow white bark pine seeds. These trees are extremely difficult to grow also grow very slowly. They live in high elevation forests where they are slowly getting killed off by mountain pine beetle. The Nursery is trying hard to re populate the species. To sow the seeds, they have to be soaked in water and then refrigerated at 46 degrees. After this process, they were ready to be planted. For each seed, I poked a hole in the cones of soil with the end of a pen about 3/4 of an inch deep. The depth is important because if it is too deep or shallow, the seed won’t germinate. I placed each seed, which are about the size of a skittle, in the holes and gently covered them. After a section (98 cones) of the planting tables was done, I took the tamper and compacted the soil. The tamper is basically a board with 49 rounded shovel handle ends sticking about 2 inches out of it. Each one fit into a separate cone. The next step was to take a metal plate with 98 holes in it, set it over the cones, and shovel recycled Styrofoam pebbles into the top of the cones. This helped keep the moisture in the soil after they were watered. I did this for another 3 sections, 784 seeds total. At the end we took a look at trees already growing. 1 year old trees were 2-3 inches tall. 2 year old trees were about 6-7 inches tall and 5 year old trees were a foot and a half tall.
On February 21, 2015, I went with the Lake City Key Club up to the trail heads on Canfield Mountain to pick up trash for 3 hours. I have biked there and a couple of other bikers in Key Club noticed that there was a ton of trash! We arrived there only expecting to be picking up trash for an hour and a half but there was so much that we stayed twice as long as intended. We found everything from old sleeping bags to deer carcasses to bottles to underwear to dog carriers and stuffed it all into over 10 trash bags. There was still a lot more trash to pick up both up the trails and down the road and I hope to go back and finish the job.
Getting and measuring trash and recycling for the Idaho Green Schools Challenge
-February 1st through 26th
-6 hours
-Lake City High School
-Getting and measuring trash and recycling for the Idaho Green Schools Challenge with volunteers and eco-action team
-Supervisor- Jamie Esler
For the Idaho Green Schools Challenge, we had to collect and measure all of the trash and recycling produced by 8 A2 teachers at Lake City High School. Every other day after school throughout February, a group of volunteers from YVA and the eco-action team—including myself—would go to the 8 teachers’ classrooms and measure their trash and recycling. We kept track of the data and later found that our other actions in eco-action team had helped to increase the proportion of recycling done by those classrooms.
-4/3/15
-Hayden Creek Shooting Range
-5 Hours
On the Friday of the end of spring break, on a beautiful sunny morning I had the pleasure of spending my morning picking up trash with Josh Lyon at the Hayden Creek Shooting Range. This shooting range is used quite a bit by a wide range of types of people. The problem is that most people do not clean up what they were shooting at when they are done shooting, resulting in a bunch of shredded trash all over the Forest Service land. So Josh and I decided to go up there and pick up trash for 5 hours to try and help clean it up. The jobs that relate to this would be a park ranger, because they are responsible for the maintenance of forest service land. I could possibly be interested in a career in land management but I am still largely unsure.
I did my service hours during 3 different occasions.
-Access fund adopt a crag (Q’emlin Park Post Falls)
-Earth day Gala (Hayden Country Club)
-Meeting with John Beacham the Post falls Env. manager (Post Falls City Hall)
At Adopt A Crag I was part of a team of 30+ volunteers. We did landscaping and basic maintenance on the trails and removed a large pile of non-native rocks.
At the Earth day Gala me, Marco Patano, Mikayla Cotton, and Andy Jakubeck worked to raise money for the Outdoor Studies Program by presenting and meeting with the audience members.
Meeting with John Beacham was a very successful, and encouraging way to follow up on my Youth Water Summit project. He informed me that the Iron polluted water was most likely not harming the river. Afterwords we spoke of internship possibilities (Yay!) and OSP.
My service hours were completed at two different events!
-Earth Day Gala (Hayden Country Club)
-Canfield Mountain Cleanup
At the Earth Day Gala me and fellow students talked about the Outdoor Studies Program, met with local environmentalists, as well as eat some great food! It was a fun and uplifting opportunity!
At the Canfield Mountain Cleanup Key Club, a club at Lake City, picked up a ton of trash up around the trail head afterwards we met at Capone’s and discussed future projects. We picked up around 10 bags of trash and got a lot of thanks from those who saw us picking up trash.
Camryn Wendlandt
Volunteer Hours-
February 10 & 11-
I volunteered at the Forest Service (Coeur d’ Alene Nursery)
Emily Overton
Horticulturist
Both days I went for an hour and a half and planted a native tree for a certain national park, I can’t remember which one. Basically all I did was make a hole for the seed, put only 1 in the hole, and then lightly covered it. After, we would cover it with grit to keep the moisture in. I felt pretty successful because I planted almost 400 each day. I think it’s really cool how we can recover and keep up the native plant species in a certain area and that people care enough to put a ton of time into doing so. While I was at the Coeur d’ Alene Nursery I learned a lot about what they do and educational steps you have to do to become involved with the program.
June 6-
The Roots Pursuit
3 hours- 9am-12pm
Obviously I have not done this volunteer shift yet but I am going to in two days. It looks like a fun way to get out in the community while doing good for it. I am going to work with Korrine Rothrock.
Chloe Dennis
January 29th – 3 hours – Blackwell Hotel
Kootenai Environmental Alliance – KEA’s Annual Meeting
Adrienne Cronebaugh: Executive Director of KEA
At the KEA meeting, Julia and I helped greet people and direct them in the right directing. We arrived early to help set up, organize name tags, and learn what we would be doing. At 6pm people began filling the room, one right after the other. I worked the front entrance where I opened the door, greeted people, took their coat, gave them their name tag, and collected any membership payments or donations they needed to make. It was amazing to see how many people were involved. We quickly ran out of space to put all the coats. Many people complimented Julia and I for taking the time to volunteer and for being involved with the community. There were several people who all had interesting backgrounds and information to share with us. Some people had just gotten to Coeur d’ Alene from Alaska and were already participating with KEA. During the meeting Adrienne talked about their accomplishments and their future goals. They were able to save 70% of the trees near the Dike Road and were helping the community with their program known as Roots Pursuit! It was great to see everyone working together and putting in their time and love into the community. Adrienne also does a great job organizing various events and is very insightful on the current things happening within our community. I enjoyed volunteering and meeting all the wonderful people and look forward to volunteering with KEA again.
April 18th – 3 hours 30 minutes – Coeur d’ Alene Library
Kootenai Environmental Alliance – Coeur d’ Alene Earth Day Fair
Adrienne Cronebaugh: Executive Director of KEA
The CDA Earth Day Fair is an event that happens at the CDA library where various groups get together to inform people about Earth and to just take time to appreciate the beauty of Earth as a whole. There were several different organizations and people there such as the CDA Lake Management and EPA. Some people were giving away plants, others were doing projects with kids, and some people were just handing out information. I ran the KEA booth where I interacted with the kids and the adults. The kids would come spin the wheel and it would land on a color. I would then ask question from that color and if they got the question right they would get candy or flower seeds. It was so neat seeing how many young children (around 5 to 12) knew so much about the environment they lived in. They definitely knew more than I did. Some of the questions were easy like, “How can you recycle?” and other were a bit harder like, “What’s the average amount of garbage and waste an American produces each year?”. I interacted with the adults by handing out videos, flower seeds, and nature summer camp applications and information. I’m glad that I was able to participate in the Earth Day Fair because it was inspiring to see the community come together to protect and raise awareness about our Earth- Our home.
Josh Doherty
Plant Transplant
Feb. 11 2 hours
Harry, Collin and I stay after school to transplant the blanket flower and yarrow. We did this to free up space so the plants could grow bigger. We used new soil and fertilizer to make them grow better. We removed all of the empty pods and placed them in a checkered like style so the lively pods could have room to grow while also receiving nutrients from the soil.
Supervisor: Mr. Esler
May 30 3 hours
I went to the Gathering Garden at NIC to help weed, rake, and plant. I worked with Jessica Mannon for the most part. I got there and pulled weeds for a near total of 2 hours. We then raked the plot to even out the soil. I don’t think I helped it too much by raking, but whatever. We then evenly placed drip lines across the plot and used them as markers as to where to plant the plants. We used homemade, mostly organic fertilizer in the soil for the plants. (These plants where squash, onion, and zucchini). It was hot and sweaty. My back hurt from being bent over for 3 hours, but it has worth it.
Supervisor: Jessica Mannon
June 4th 1 hour
I went to the LCHS Garden and helped place barriers along the sidewalk and garden to keep mulch, soil, and vegetation from spilling on the sidewalk. We dug down on the edge of the sidewalk to place them. We dug metal stake through the plastic barrier to keep it in place. The School Garden look a lot better after this year.
Supervisor: Mr. Esler
Total: 6 hours
Aaron McNee
Lake City High School Garden
June 1st and June 4th
A few other students and I spent an hour in the garden both on June 1st and June 4th. We helped Julia McCaw and Tristan Reasor with their project of putting in the edging around the perimeter of the garden. It wasn’t hard work, but it was fun to spend time with friends and help out with the garden. I’m glad I was able to be a part of it this year.
-May 5th- May 9th
-Spokane Junior Livestock Show
-Approximately 10 hours
I volunteered with fitting kids’s 4-H animals, along with teaching school kids about the proper way to take care of a lamb. This was such a rewarding experience, I got to teach kids something that I was passionate about, and this gave me an outlet to tell kids where their food comes from, how it is raised, what type of animals we eat… This goes along with our school lessons because I taught about agriculture and why it is good for us and the environment (sometimes). Teaching AG is one of my favorite things to do. Kids have no clue about anything in the agricultural world, and I get to open their eyes and let them see how big that world actually is! This gives them the opportunity to learn about jobs they never knew about and give them the opportunity to learn more.
Macy DuCoeur
The first three hours of my service hours were working with the students and teachers at Sorensen Elementary School. I came up with a recycling program last semester so this semester I decided to inform all of the students and teachers about what can and cannot be recycled. I wrote up several pages of information and went around to each of the classrooms and let them know about how the recycling program works. The last two hours of service I did were in the school garden at LCHS with Mr. Esler. We put in edging all around most of the garden and then I helped pull weeds and touch up a few other parts of the garden as well. I enjoyed working and learning with everyone this year!