Theme Trips

This year we are offering two separate river trips:

A.  2 day river ecology trip  $269
B.   5 day wolf education trip 

see below for a description of each type of trip 

A. River Ecology with Wet & Project Wild  -   $269

A Fundamental Science of Land Health Education

Living in the age of instant mass information often tricks people into believing this is the same thing as greater knowledge and better wisdom.  But, the zombie induced behavior brought about by our computer oriented, nature deficit culture, leads to a kind of modern education that promotes human domination to its zenith.   And at what expense?  Rather than reshaping a planet to accommodate our infinite desires, does it not make better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet?  But how? It all starts with education.

Most of our formal education programs are really designed to help young people find careers, as opposed to a "calling. " Their learning is fragmented and geared to develop upward mobility and consumer lifestyles that normally take more than they give back. A "calling" comes from an inner conversation with oneself and serves a larger social purpose. The ecological emergency of our times is the failure to see our connection to the biotic community and our utter dependency on the "services of nature."  This calls for an education that prepares people for livelihoods based on the laws of ecology and thermodynamics.

Teachers often forget that all education is environmental education.  Simply by what information we include or exclude, we teach people that we are either a part of, or apart from, the natural world.  Some types of knowledge is increasing, while other kinds is being lost. What we need is education that gets back to enlightening minds ignorant of their own ignorance.  As Rachael Carson once  wrote: " it is not half so important to know as to feel." Engaging nature toe to toe allows us to feel the mysteries and wonder of our living earth.

The River Ecology Trip with Wet & Project Wild - more specifically

The beauty of floating a wild river and camping-out to facilitate the WET, WILD, and Learning Tree curricula is that it provides an exciting venue to enhance the learning experience.  Rivers are the life blood of mother earth and source of nourishment to all organisms. The rivers flow is the heartbeat to all natural cycles and rhythms. You will be a part of this great circle,  learning, and having great fun as you feel raw nature and discover new ideas. You will be refreshed and  re-charged with a ripple effect that will help you better teach students when you return to your respective institutions.

Our float trip will take place on a  special segment of the Salmon River, famed "River of no Return", near Riggins, Idaho.  It flows through the second deepest gorge in North America and is the longest free flowing river in the lower continent of the United States.  The natural flow of the Salmon River, and all the ecological ramifications it represents in its natural state, (undammed) is itself, an integral part of the environmental education.  Potential opportunities to encounter various species of flora and fauna, side stops for interesting topic-specific curricula,  and chances to ponder how early cultures lived in the canyon, all add to the holistic value of this trip.

Another important highlight of this class is that the professionals facilitating the river trip are year-round, local Riggins, Idaho guides, intimately familiar to the area. As veteran oarsmen, they are also heavily backgrounded in natural history, geology, archeology, astronomy, and other ologies. It is a vernacular knowledge (of place) that is often missing in our world today. They also live simple lifestyles, in tune to the river and more in harmony to the fundamentals of a healthy "Aldo Leopold" land ethic as championed by WET & PROJECT WILD.

Why is this floating outdoor classroom so valuable?  Because it offers the type of educational experience that is hands-on, outdoors, and an immersion into the very essence of a heart-felt ecological consiousness being taught.  Our high tech society has the tendency to reduce humans into something like a "brain in a bottle".  What we need is to morph our self-centeredness into more critical thinking, willing to free our thoughts and re-focus attention to wonders of the natural world again.

Project WILD is a program promoted by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. They will provide the professional instructor for the college credit curriculum on this trip. The IDF&G fee is $25. For college credit, an additional $60 fee is required.

Course content includes environmental education, fisheries and wildlife science, and conservation ethics.

To find out more about Project WILD:  fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/education/project_wild/

Come share and learn with us, on a journey both inner and outer. Drink in the beauty of primal places wild and free.

Dates:  July 13 -14   2 days: $269 (university credit also available)

Note: This trip books up fast, last year we had people on a waiting list, so if interested please book early. There will be a special discount on this 2 day trip, so our regular 2 day price does not apply to this trip.

B. Wolf Trip

This trip is designed to teach you about wolf ecology. On day one of this trip we will visit the Wolf Education and Research Center in Winchester, Idaho. There you will observe wild wolves in their natural habitat and be given a tour of the facility by a Wolf Biologist who will also share with you a brief history of the gray wolf. The Wolf centers mission is dedicated to providing public education and scientific research concerning the gray wolf and it's habitat in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The center provides the public with the rare opportunity to observe and learn more about this beautiful animal in it's natural habitat. They also seek to enhance the awarness of threatened species in the region and ways to co-exist with these species. From there we will travel to our put in on the Salmon River "the famous river of no return" for 5 days of fun rapids, relaxation and informal discussion about wolves, while floating through one of the deepest canyons in North America. Your guide is Gary Lane owner of Wapiti River Guides and a trained Wildlife Biologist turned river guide, who has 40 years experience, running rivers in Idaho, Oregon and Alaska.

Click here for more information on the Wolf Education & Research Center.

Note: This trip has no specific launch date, but is booked on an individual basis, thus allowing guests to arrange their schedule to fit their individual needs. There is a maximum of 10 people for this trip and a 2 person minimum. Please contact us at 800-488-9872 for more detailed information or to book this trip.