DEERFIELD — Bear-Paw Regional Greenways invites you to “Off Trail: Outdoor Skills for Land Conservation” on Sat., April 27, from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., at Freese Town Forest, Mount Delight Road in Deerfield.
Land conservation often means working outdoors, off the trail, and on your own. At the beginning of a conservation project, Bear-Paw staff and volunteers get to know properties through on-the-ground exploration and documentation of observations. Once land is conserved, Bear-Paw is then responsible for monitoring conservation lands annually to assure conservation objectives and restrictions are being met. This means walking the land, observing boundaries, and keeping notes on the condition of the land. Work such as this requires outdoor skills such as map and compass reading, understanding property survey maps, and navigating in sometimes unfamiliar and challenging terrain. Especially important is an ability to find one’s way around in the woods and then return home safely!
This workshop will give you a chance to learn and practice these outdoor skills, expanding your exploratory horizons, and bolstering your confidence about off-trail navigation. An indoor orientation to map and compass reading and interpretation as well as hot to operate a GPS will also be presented. Workshop participants will then head out to a conservation property to put what was learned into practice. There will also be a discussion about how and why Bear-Paw monitors its conservation lands and how volunteers can get involved.
Bear-Paw is expanding its volunteer conservation easement monitoring program and this outdoor skills workshop will be particularly valuable for those who are interested in being a Bear-Paw Volunteer Easement Monitor, as well as anyone who wants to learn more about off-trail navigation. To register for the workshop or to learn more about becoming a volunteer monitor, contact Bear-Paw at info@bear-Paw.org, www.bear-paw.org, or 603-463-9400.
