High Demand for Nature Education in Four Corners

Salt Lake Tribune – March 19, 2008
By Tom Wharton

Unless a visitor knew what to look for, the tiny endangered cactus near the top of the Grand Canyon would be easy to miss.

Judy Durzo, an Albuquerque lawyer and one of the founders of the Grand Circle Field School, knows just where to look.

And that's just a start.

Her nonprofit school not only offers educational programs in the remote Arizona Strip near the Utah state line, but also includes parts of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument and the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

The Grand Circle Field School is one of several such groups in the Four Corners region whose mission is to teach students of all ages about the human and natural history of the Colorado Plateau and have some fun in the process.

"Our mission is all about conservation and education," said Durzo while eating lunch at the Lees Ferry Lodge, one of the places where students meet for classes. "We take people to the land and teach them about it. If they come to understand it and appreciate it, maybe they will take care of it."

The idea for the Grand Circle Field School came about five years ago when public-land managers were seeking a partner to help lead educational tours.

Ann Zwinger, a well-known New Mexico naturalist and writer, co-founded the organization with Durzo.

"As we walk the land, read the sky, bless the rain and the river, we come to understand and cherish these extraordinary places," wrote Zwinger on the group's Web site.

Durzo said founders of the group recognized that more and more people were discovering the area. She felt there was a need to teach everyone from schoolchildren to seniors about the land's history.

Last year, the group offered a dozen classes.

Offerings have included an ElderHostel houseboat experience on Lake Powell, a kayak trip, a historical class about Lees Ferry, work with California condor biologists, photography workshops, geology classes and a float on the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon Dam for a discussion on the pros and cons of the dam.

Weekend classes for four days cost $600, while a kayaking class might cost $1,300 and a river trip on the San Juan River in Utah costs around $1,800.

One of the biggest markets for the program, as well as the Moab-based Canyonlands Field Institute, the Monticello-based Four Corners School of Outdoor Education, the Zion Canyon Field Institute and the Colorado-based Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, is to teach younger students.

"We have schools coming from all over the country," said Durzo. "I don't know how they are finding us. . . . There is a demand for learning vacations."

Karla VanderZanden, director of the Canyonlands Field Institute in Moab, agrees.

"There is a national groundswell of getting youth outdoors," she said. "There is a rider on the No Child Left Behind reauthorization that is called No Child Left Inside. It includes funding and training for environmental education at a national level."

VanderZanden's organization caters to two major groups: school groups and adults with families. Schools are a major emphasis.

"They come because they are trying to supplement science, civics and public-lands education," she said. "We offer a more hands-on concrete experience. There is a concern being expressed about kids not getting outdoors like they used to and spending too much time in the virtual world."

As for the adult and family groups, VanderZanden said families, often those with "an adventure uncle," opt to take a guided educational river trip or redrock adventure instead of doing a cruise or going to an amusement park for vacation.

"What we find is that they are wanting something that is authentic and meaningful in addition to the fun and adventure part," she said.

Tracy Jones of the Zion Canyon Field Institute said many who attend classes are those who have been more environmentally conscious and want to preserve places that are less spoiled.

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