Students at Pitzer College carry a lantern for the CCI

Today a group of Environmental Education students at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA learned about the habitat value of dead and dying trees.  Their guest speaker, Gillian Martin, Program Director of the Cavity Conservation Initiative (CCI), left knowing that each student carried a new lantern for the mission of the program.  After Gillian’s presentation and an examination of the teaching resources she shared, a class discussion, guided by professor, Wallace Meyer, produced many creative ideas about how to engage youngsters in the subject.

Some of Professor Meyer’s students are currently practicing their teaching skills with a class of 6th graders.  The College’s Bernard Field Station where he is the Director, provides an ideal field trip location for such youngsters.  A visit to this protected habitat will allow youngsters an opportunity to “read” dead trees and downed wood, perhaps identify species that are using them, and discover the beneficial relationships between these organisms and the surrounding habitat.

The outcome?  Students will be able to answer the question, “Why should we care about dead trees?”  But the experience will hopefully teach youngsters something more.  The availability of dead trees in our nation’s forests (upon which many nesting birds and other wildlife rely) is negatively impacted by our growing consumption of wood products.  And in the urban landscape, the availability of dead trees depends on our willingness to accept such trees where we live and recreate.  The hope is that a new perspective of the habitat value of dead trees and how to safely retain some of them can lead to better stewardship.