Preserving an outdoor classroom: Opportunities for engaged citizenship and ecological learning

Background/Question/Methods Fort Lewis College’s SEEDS Campus Ecology chapter’s main focus over the past academic year has been preserving Horse Gulch, an undeveloped property adjacent to Fort Lewis College.  Horse Gulch is a 750 acre broad valley that is jointly owned by numerous parties including Fort Lewis College and the Fort Lewis College Foundation.  Horse Gulch is directly east of Fort Lewis College and provides an area for students to learn in an outdoor classroom and recreate.  Horse Gulch offers numerous opportunities to study ecology including plant community dynamics, trophic interactions, disturbance recovery, and edge effects.  Students in the Biology department have conducted capstone senior research projects in Horse Gulch investigating issues such as depredation on song bird eggs to invasive plants and human disturbance.  The property of Horse Gulch is currently undeveloped but pressures for development and roads are increasing and have been proposed for the near future. 

Results/Conclusions

The students of SEEDS have created a vision for Horse Gulch and want to educate the student body and general public of Durango about its unique value and why it should remain undeveloped and serve as open space for education, recreation, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics.  SEEDS students have met with city and county government to share their vision and to insure they are active participants in the decision-making process regarding Horse Gulch.  SEEDS hosted a variety of events to educate the student body and general public on Horse Gulch.  SEEDS sponsored a panel on the ecology of Horse Gulch and a panel on recreation in Horse Gulch.  Panel participants included college faculty, federal agencies, public officials, and non-profit representatives.  A spring clean-up in association with Earth Day along the trails of Horse Gulch will also be taking place to increase awareness of the ecological value of this unique land adjacent to Fort Lewis College and its importance as an outdoor classroom.