We had a new rider join us in Seattle. Like the rest of the crew of the Legacy Bus Tour, he was a student leader working to promote solutions to the world's most pressing issues. Unfortunately, he's distracting many of the riders away from socializing in our free time. His name? Harry Potter!
Several of us hit up University Book Store near the University of Washington in Seattle the night of the release of Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Our eye-glasses and ballpoint-penned lightning bolts on our foreheads fit right in with the other young witches and wizards, some of whom brought brooms and flaunted couture capes. There we made slime in Professor Snape's potions class, listened to bands that sang about Hogwarts and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, got our picture taken as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and made predictions about the conclusion of the beloved series. At least we weren't the OLDEST people in the crowd, since there were several parents in attendance.
One estimate says that 400,000 trees were cut to make the first printing of the book - which makes environmentalist fans like me cringe - but I was excited to hear that half of those trees were Forest Stewardship Council certified "sustainably harvested" this time around. Although that's a step in the right direction, it's too bad they couldn't all be printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Personally, I'll hold out and recycle a copy of the book from another rider. Sharing is one of the best ways to approach sustainability, and it's also more fun – I can't wait to talk about the book with the other riders!
By: Jen Baldwin
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Do You Believe in Magic?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Life is Good
After a dinner under the great Montana sky, watching clouds tumble over our conversations, I left the group for my own exploration. Rapidly I changed clothes and jumped out the door of our temporary home in the University of Montana's dorms. I ran to the eastern edge of campus. There I found a small yellow cottage and, just to the north of it, a small trail. I followed it. The switchbacks were steep and the trail was dusty. There weren't very many people out, as the sun was beginning to set across town. I pushed myself, feeling the burn in my legs and the calories from my dinner float off into the Montana sky. I switched back and forth, back and forth, gradually climbing above the town of Missoula. Memories of my childhood home in Colorado materialized. I recalled many similar hikes with my parents up Skyline Drive, a road that climbed high above our town so we could look down on it below. The same sense of freedom and perspective filled my chest in Missoula. I reached the top of the hill, the end of the switchbacks, and paused at the base of an oversized letter M. Its significance was to mark the University of Montana, which I now looked down upon. The sun was setting behind the town, behind the western mountain range, and filling nomadic cloud formations with a deep red orange glow. I imagined being a rancher roaming the countryside, galloping off into the sunset. Wind blowing through my hair!
After a deep breath and a million tiny inspired thoughts on the meaning of life, I ran back down the hill and on through the campus for a few miles. This was one of those moments where I could throw my head back and say without hesitation, "Life is Good."
By Crystal Olin
Missoula and Pablo -- What a Place to Call Home !
What a place to call home, the northern Rockies! I sound like a nature writer already! I really enjoyed our time spent in Missoula and on the Flathead Reservation north of Missoula. Throughout college I spent a lot of time studying agriculture and working on different farms in northern Wisconsin, and I feel pretty passionate about the role food can play in fostering a positive environmental ethic, as well as the importance of reinvesting in rural America. In this vein, it was so wonderful to hear about the efforts of the Farm to College program, which is instituting major changes in how both the University of Montana (UM) and Salish Kootenai College (SKC) purchase food for its dining halls.
UM is currently spending 14.6% of their annual budget on local and regional foods, and available that day were cherries from Flathead, along with local chicken, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, safflower oil, salsa, honey, and regional beef, bread, and cheese. Products and produce from the state of Montana are considered local, and regional is defined as agricultural products grown or produced in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota—which is a pretty huge region. The program is about 4 years old and focuses on the importance of local economy (cycling 14.6% of the total $3 million spent annually by the school within the region is pretty huge), the greater reliability of local food sources, along with the strengthening of community that comes with knowing where your food comes from and building local partnerships. And as Marc LaPoco (pictured at left), head of UM’s dining services put it, the research on the nutrition of fresh food is rolling in, and, as many have intuitively known, fresh food, and organic foods, are typically higher in nutritional value than conventionally grown foods.
Interestingly, one problem that both schools face is helping make it affordable and feasible for farmers to sell to the schools at wholesale prices, not prices found at farmers markets, the main venue for smaller market farms. Organized by Udall alumna Lauren Caldwell, the Farm to College Program at SKC in Pablo is in its second year and already the school is purchasing 10% of its food from local sources. At SKC, local has been defined as being from within the reservation. This is a pretty important difference between the two programs. While many of the growers living on the res are themselves not members of the confederated tribes, I hope that having a program like Farm to College can encourage new growers by providing a reliable place to sell their products. The Three Wolves cafeteria at SKC is more like a diner, where you can order individual items, and I wonder if this may make it easier to purchase local foods if there are fewer issues with waste, as it isn’t buffet style. At the same time, the vegetables found at most diner type places include salads, lettuce, and tomatoes, which are available for a few months in the year. We ate lunch at Three Wolves and most everyone, myself included, had an Indian taco, some for the first time. The frybread was made with regional flour and then topped with local beef, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese, among other fixings. It was definitely delicious (though I didn’t eat the beef…).
We did so much during our time in the northern Rockies, in addition to learning about the Farm to College programs. We toured the schools, learned a little about Native American Journalism at UM; met with two potential Udall scholars from SKC, the Marceau brothers, who told us about their work and gave us a tour of the biochemistry lab; we saw the art gallery at SKC; and the new and huge community garden. We picked up trash in a park along Flathead Lake before jumping in. Our alumni meet-up
the night before was at a park in Missoula, where we were guests of the Bridges to Baccalaureate and Project TRAIN programs, both programs that provide research and internship opportunities for American Indians working in a wide range of science and health fields. We met lots of really cool people there and were the judges for a side-dish tasting competition (the winners got some fancy Udall t-shirts). All in all I thought it was a ton of fun and we learned so much about the different communities living in Missoula and in Flathead.I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made our stop possible. I’m moving to the Missoula area after the trip (having made the decision last February ;)) and I am nothing but excited to be there again.
By Jenny Vazquez
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Journey into Yellowstone
After a relaxing visit to the Grand Tetons, and another sad farewell as Melissa ended her short stay with us, the crew headed on to explore another one of nature’s public wonders – Yellowstone National Park, a stop I had been anticipating for quite some time.
Before arriving at the park, I had been mostly looking forward to seeing the abundant wildlife – particularly elk and bison – that frequent the park; however, after visiting, I found myself equally, if not more, impressed with the bizarre geologic activity found throughout the entire park – from geysers and mud pots to steam vents and hot springs.
Although we only had one day to see and travel through the park, we were able to witness some of Yellowstone’s most impressive landscapes in action, including Old Faithful, the Fountain Paint Pot, and Mammoth Hot Springs.
Bewildered by each of the Park’s mysterious treasures, I couldn’t help but to try to take a memory of every color, texture and sound I encountered.
So here are a few of my favorite pictures from our journey…
The Legacy Bus cruises through Yellowstone
Old Faithful puts on another encore performance.
Bacteria mat, yummy…
Another geyser erupts near Old Faithful
Morning Glory Pool
What a view!
An array of colors at Mammoth Hot Springs…
By: Bret Muter
Monday, July 23, 2007
Episode 2: Constant MO-Tion
Episode 2 is ready for public consumption, and presents an overview of our stops in Bar Harbor, ME (College of the Atlantic); Rutland and Burlington, VT; Ithaca, NY (Cornell); and State College, PA (Penn State). Here's a teaser: it stars Willy the Donkey!
By: Jen Baldwin
A guest artist's eye on the Tetons
We had a surprise guest -- namely Melissa Millage (the one who came up with the idea two years ago for this whole tour!) -- join us from Denver through the Tetons. When she's not making the trip run -- she takes a pretty picture now and then. Ok, she takes a lot of amazing photos. Here's a sampling:
Text by Eli Zigas. Photos by Melissa Millage.
Adventures in Revegetation
On Monday, half of the Legacy Crew headed to the Moose Visitor Center on the south end of Grand Teton National Park. There we met with Park Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott and two park rangers, Andrew and Damien, from the Revegetation Crew. The team of seven on the Reveg Crew works on revitalizing areas of the park that have been disturbed by human activity. They only use plants and seeds that are native to the park itself in their projects.Here’s a pictorial sampling of what we worked on:
Parks In Focus Goes Grand Teton – Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming
The choice of Grand Teton National Park for our second Parks in Focus program was a perfect match. Savanna, months before in our planning stages, always reinforced the breathtaking beauty of the Tetons. I was equally astonished and excited to enjoy my first visit to this special place with the Eastern Shoshone Boys and Girls Club.
Morning Ferris, from the Eastern Shoshone Boys and Girls Club, worked with us to bring ten youth and a handful of adults to meet with us at Jackson Lake Lodge for Parks in Focus.
Bob Filbin, Savanna Ferguson, Bret Muter, Martina Gast, and I worked together to teach the children about photography, the environment, and the legacy of Mo Udall. We were also very happy to have Melissa Millage join us during her short visit from Arizona! We couldn’t have asked for a better group.
The morning consisted of lessons about safety, basic photography, Morris K. Udall, and conservation. We gave each participant a digital camera to use during the program. Savanna led our first hike on the trails behind Jackson Lake Lodge.
Our first photography stop included a lesson on wildlife photography. The children practiced taking pictures of the Jackson Lake Lodge trail horses and whistle pigs that scurried around the horse fence. After some practice, latter in the day, we were able to capture wildlife shots of birds, a deer, and even a moose.
As Savanna continued the hike, Bob taught about how to take pictures of flowers using macro functions. Savanna joined in to teach them about the natural history. In our program, we try to teach conservation through “taking on pictures, leaving only foot prints”. Indian paint brush, sage, aspen, the forest was full of so many beautiful plants.
After a yummy lunch, and a few skits about the geology of the Tetons, we hiked along the Lunch Time Trail outside of the Lodge. The trail is an excellent place to view the Tetons. Bob did one last lesson about landscape photography. We ended our day together reinforcing conservation, taking a group pictures, and rewarding the Eastern Shoshone Boys and Girls Club with certificates of completion, our Parks in Focus patch, cliff bars, and Udall Nalgene bottles.
By Jessica Fagan
A Teton Picnic
Monday Evening July 16, 2007
After our two service projects, the group rejoined to visit the Indian Art Museum at Colter Bay. The museum had a stunning array of native art. I was amazed at the intricate bead work displayed on clothing, hand bags, and moccasins.
Following our visit to the Indian Art Museum, the group traveled to a cookout site within the Colter Bay campground. We made burgers, ate lots of chips and salsa, and really enjoyed a relaxed evening together. To top off the event, we used sticks to roast s’mores and toasted bananas. We sat around the fire in camaraderie. We are happy to have joined together on such a spectacular journey. This will be an experience we will never forget.
By Jessica Fagan
Floating Down the Snake River – Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming
Sunday July 15th, 2007
Sunday was an official day off for the Udall Legacy Bus Crew; however, we carried the legacy of Morris K. Udall with us as we ventured around Grand Teton National Park. We had the opportunity to enjoy some of our country’s most beautiful public lands.
Some of us went canoeing on Jenny Lake, others hiked, a few went horseback riding, and several of us took a float trip.
Melissa Millage, Bret Muter, and I enjoyed the early morning float trip out of Jackson Lake Lodge down the Snake River.
Was it gorgeous? Yes.
Did we see wildlife? Pronghorn, bison, birds, and a little baby chipmunk.
Did we get to help steer the boat? Yep…. It is a lot harder than it looks!Did we take lots of pictures? Of course!
Did we eat great food? The trip included a BBQ at the end… Yum
In the afternoon, several of us went on another hike to scout out trails for Parks In Focus. It was a wonderful day for everyone. Several of us even spotted a few black bears. Joel Prive, our driver, came back to the lodge with sun burned knees… evidence of his exciting canoeing adventure. What a great day.
By Jessica Fagan
Escape from the City… I can see Stars! – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Saturday July 14, 2007
The late night streets of Nashville and New Orleans were full of neon character and culture. Today, Wyoming skies revealed a very different view.
The drive from the Colorado Rockies to the Grand Tetons was absolutely gorgeous. This is my first time to Wyoming. I will never forget my initial glimpse of Mount Moran…. Wow! I will never forget how the Teton mountain range dominated the sky after hours of driving through rolling flats. I will never forget seeing the reflection of the Tetons mirrored so beautifully in Jackson Lake.
We arrived to Grand Teton National Park in the late afternoon. As the sun was setting, thousands of stars appeared behind the outline of towering mountains. It was an amazing site. Many of the riders just sat there in awe.
By Jessica Fagan
