|
|
|
Students in Wilderness Leadership Program > The Nuts and Bolts of the Students in Wilderness Leadership Program > Slide Show of students on Cloud Peak trip (Large PDF file) ►► We are seeking all eligible teachers from high schools across the state of Wyoming to take part in the Students in Wilderness Leadership Program. If you are interested, or know a fellow teacher who would like to start a program at your high school please call us at (307)672-2751 or email us at liz@wildwyo.org. Trips into Wyoming’s wilderness areas are life-changing and inspiring experiences, but increasingly the majority of those in the wilderness today are older adults. We are alarmed at the intensity and domination of the computer gaming, x-box culture over our growing teens. This is evident by their lack of desire, knowledge and ability to go into the wilderness. We are losing an entire generation to computer and TV screens. Who will be the next generation to save the wilderness in Wyoming? This strategic plan to get kids into the wild is an absolute necessity. Although only a pilot project this year, the program will grow. This is not a “school” for wilderness science; this is not a “survival” program, but a project that will develop appreciation of wilderness, the nuts and bolts of protecting wilderness for the future of the Bighorn National Forest, and clean camp skills of Leave No Trace. Support for this project is being sought as our long-term goal that is no small task: to change the attitudes in Wyoming to one of cherishing the legacy of wilderness, thereby preserving Wyoming’s precious wild lands and wildlife for future generations; and specifically, to develop a youth constituency that would advocate for the protection of roadless areas in Wyoming.
The Wyoming Wilderness
Association is assured that this pilot program will make a
difference in our young people’s lives. The local School
District solidly backed our efforts with use of their
facility for meetings, transportation and insurance plans
for the trips and outings. We all know how important it is
to developing the grassroots for Wyoming’s wilderness
future, but without the appreciation developed in our youth
now, there will not be a next generation that will fight to
protect our last remaining wilderness areas. |