Winter ecology class announced

Come out into the world of winter wonder for a relaxed, safe-space day studying the interactions of plants, organisms, and aquatic habitats.

The mid-January winter ecology class will combine and inter-connect winter birding, winter botany, and the science and art of animal tracking and sign interpretation. The small group, limited to eight participants, will visit private land sites, roadside locations, birding viewpoints, and riverside and creek habitats. The class will cover an area of diverse locations, by caravanning in participants’ rigs, stopping and hopping out at roadside stops, and taking a few short walks or mini-hikes of less than one-mile round trip. During the day, participants will also briefly discuss the history of David Thompson, and the Salish-Kootenai in the area.

The class will be meeting at Riverfront Park at 9 a.m., Mountain Time in Libby, Montana. Riverfront Park is located on the southwest side of where Highway 37 begins to cross the bridge in Libby. There are blue-and-white signs to the turnoff before you cross the bridge heading up toward Eureka. Participants will meet under the large timber frame shelter, and briefly go over the day’s plan. Please arrive with full gas tanks, water, lunch, appropriate layers and boots for the weather, hats and gloves for the extremities, binoculars, cameras, and any bird, track, and plant field guide books you might have. Bring snowshoes if you have them, in case of deeper snows. Wrap up time will be about 3 p.m. Mountain Time.

This class is sponsored by Libby Hostel Base Camp (libbyhostelbasecampairbnb.com), and is designed as a COVID-19 aware outdoor experience where participants will all maintain safe distances. The instructor for the day is college educated, with over 43 years of field experience in forestry, wildlife research, and land surveying, and over twenty years of teaching outdoor educational classes. For more information and to register, email: b_baxter53@yahoo.com or call 406-291-2154.