3-hour Field Sessions

3-hr sessions on Forests, Water, Soils, Geology, Rangelands, Wildlife and the challenges of applying these disciplines across diverse ownerships and landscapes, taught largely by natural resource agency and industry professionals.

Forestry

Students will gain a basic understanding of the diverse forest types and structures that occur across the landscapes of Montana. Human use and ownership of these forests will be put into perspective with Montana’s physical environment, natural history, and biological processes. Students will gain an understanding of management practices used to grow, harvest, and sustain forests for a wide variety of objectives.

The topics that will be covered are forest ecology, plant identification, forest landowner objectives, and forest management.

Water

Students will understand basic components of the water system including the hydrologic cycle, watersheds, streams, riparian areas, stream dynamics, influence of vegetation and how upland uses affect stream and water characteristics. Students engage in a monitoring exercise to understand how sampling populations of aquatic invertebrates can help to evaluate health of a stream.

The topics that will be covered are stream health and general safety, stream side vegetation, parts of a stream, stream bottom & suspended sediment, human changes to the stream including diversion dams, water levels & erosion & water rights & beaver, stream measurements & monitoring, and watersheds.

Soils

Students will gain understanding of the complexity of soils as a physical and biological system providing a basic resource for above ground biological systems. Students will learn a variety of characteristics used to describe soils and differentiate different soil types. Students will visit several different soil types and learn how each have unique characteristics that strongly influence a wide variety of management decisions.

The topics that will be covered are soils as complex living systems, humans would have serious problems without soils, soil property terms, and soil formation. 

Geology

Students will be able to discuss the importance of geology to their daily lives and understand the role of geology in natural resource management.

The topics that will be covered are rock identification, terminology, geological map reading, different mining resources, and water resources. 

Rangland

Students will understand the amount of rangeland and the importance of properrangeland management in Montana. Students will also understand the interaction of livestock and wildlife species that share the rangeland and ideas to ensure compatibility.

The topics that will be covered are rangeland facts & its importance, energy balance & transfer, range management, monitoring, types of life forms, and transects.

Wildlife

Students will understand the kinds and numbers of wildlife that live in Montana, the difference between game and non-game species, the kinds of activities that threaten or benefit certain wildlife species, and the agencies that help protect and use wildlife species.

The topics that will be covered are observational skills, surveying methods, wildlife management, and, wildlife species & interactions with rangeland and livestock.