Debating the intricacies of land management might sound like the stuff of seasoned federal agents, but this year it was tasked to high schoolers in Albuquerque.
Beginning in January 2018 at the start of a new semester for the biology students of Freedom High School, students were introduced to the destruction, opportunities, and outcomes of the Las Conchas fire in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. After a couple of introductory classes, students were broken into different roles to discuss how the project could have – or should have – been handled. Students were broken into three different groups representing different entities that have a stake in land management – private landowners, Native tribes, and environmental groups.
The students stayed in their assigned roles throughout the semester, coming together once a week to dive deeper into the areas impacted by the Las Conchas fire. One week the students debated the merits of controlled burns, another whether wolf reintroduction is good for the environment and how it impacts the human population utilizing the land.
The Decision Makers Curriculum was implemented by Acting Executive Director Todd Leahy with the assistance of Freedom High School teacher Seth Shapiro. Freedom High School is a magnet school serving grades 10 – 12 who have faced barriers at traditional high schools in the heart of Albuquerque. During previous field trips with Freedom High School it became clear that many of the students had a passion for the outdoors but didn’t always have the resources to get out on a hike or go fishing. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation knew Freedom was the perfect school to implement the decision makers program.
The 11 week class culminated in a trip to the Valles Caldera so students could see first hand the area they had been studying all semester.
“The students have really appreciated the opportunity to debate ways different stakeholders can manage fire,” said Shapiro. “Anytime we can use a cross-curriculum strategy to engage students in a new way, we see great results. It was great to bring this all together on the field trip, in a place many of the students have not had the opportunity to visit.”
Photo by Shelby Webb
At the Caldera students met with Brittany Vander Werff, park ranger at the Valles Caldera who discussed the impact of the fire in the area. Afterwards students hiked up Coyote Trail and observed signs of fire in the area and debated if they thought the area looked healthy years after the fire had been put out.
“This has been a great opportunity for students to learn about the different careers available through land management and debate the sometimes complicated relationships that go into land management,” said Leahy. “I think this type of partnership could easily be applied to schools across New Mexico to give students additional access to career opportunities available to them in their home state.”
Students are concluding the class with a debate using arguments they’ve been honing all semester. By allowing students the opportunity to debate complex land management issues – that often do not have a black and white answer – NMWF hopes we’ve given students a closer look at the many careers and opportunities available in land management in New Mexico.
