“The wilderness gave them their first taste of those rewards and penalties for wise and foolish acts which every woodsman faces daily, but against which civilization has built a thousand buffers.” — Aldo Leopold
University of Idaho senior Sarah Rose credited the American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist with her favorite wilderness quote.
“I want to make sure I get it right,” Rose said, her freckled face open and slightly eager. ” I wouldn’t want to misquote Aldo Leopold.”
Rose and 10 other UI students and faculty members, who took part in UI’s first-ever Semester in the Wild program during fall 2013, broke at least a few of those buffers.
Participating students of all majors learned in a hands-on classroom at the Taylor Wilderness Research Station, nestled in the River of No Return Wilderness.
The property started as a trappers’ homestead claim in the early 1900s. UI purchased the plot in the ’70s, and employed year-round managers to maintain the land and the cluster of cabins speckling the area. These cabins housed the Semester in the Wild group for the duration of their stay.
“We felt like we were a family,” Rose said. “There were 11 of us in one cabin.”
The cabin resembled a ski lodge, she said.
“I actually slept in a wall tent most of the time, because I felt like the cabin was a little too posh,” said Rose, who studies ecology and conservation biology.
More wall tents are in order for fall 2014 to accommodate an expansion of the program.
Tom Gorman, associate dean for the College of Natural Resources, played a large part in creating the program, and said he expects application numbers to increase as word spreads. Last semester, approximately half of the students participating in the program hailed from other states, including North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Most students who have interest in the program are involved in a wildlife resources or outdoor sciences major, but applicants from all fields of study are considered. In fact, Gorman said two of the courses fulfill humanities requirements.
Limited space in the research center’s accommodations means an influx of applicants wouldn’t inflate the program’s enrollment. Gorman said expansion is limited due to wilderness integrity, so applicants are selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We would like to really have enough demand for the program that we get to hand-pick,” he said.
The first group of students managed to hand-pick themselves.
“They knew they were ready for the experience, and came ready to engage,” Gorman said.
In fact, when a forest fire endangered the area and officials advised the group against trekking the 3 miles from the trailhead to the station, students discussed the possibility of waking up early to hike it anyway.
The students were flown to the station. For the next few months, they took on the challenges and triumphs of a 16-credit workload, rotating cooking-crew duties, and living in the constant companionship of the natural elements and each other.
Rose said the average day started at 7 a.m. Those responsible for making meals that day prepared hot coffee and oatmeal for the group before classes, each of which were intensive 400-level courses led by one of five faculty members. Classes ended in the afternoon, and students were free to spend the time before dinner, homework and bed however they liked.
Flown-in food deliveries forced students to plan ahead and manage their limited stores. Electricity and Internet access are powered by solar and hydroelectric energy, and the stoves run on propane.
“It was the most challenging semester I’ve ever had,” Rose said.
Gorman and Rose agreed that students left the wilderness with a new sense of maturity and self-awareness.
“They know they can be independent and take care of themselves,” Gorman said. “They probably have a stronger feel about their career direction, had time to reflect on what they’re doing and why.”
Rose described her return to civilization as strange and over-stimulating.
“I think the weirdest thing I remember was going to get a hamburger and walking in the bar…the bar had, like, 12 TV screens all playing different things, and no one was watching them,” she said. “And all I could think about was how many solar panels that you would (need) to run those TVs.”
She plans on returning to the Taylor Research Station this summer as an intern. On top of her other responsibilities, Rose plans on continuing the station’s sustainability efforts by planting a garden.
“It was the most experiential education I have ever had,” she said. “You should go. You should definitely go.”
Applications for fall 2014 are available online at uidaho.edu/cnr/wild/apply.
Written by Miranda Rae Carter