Proctor has an extensive environmental education program, but beyond it, an equally extensive set of courses teach practical ecology, responsible resource management and a reverence for the out of doors. With several inches of fresh snow covering the school's 2500 acre woodlot, conditions are perfect for Wildlife Science to track animals.

After a quick classroom huddle at which strict adherence to wildlife census methods is reviewed, students break into small teams and hike a half mile into a section of school property designated "Ragged Mountain Unit One" to study tracks.

Land Use Manager Dave Pilla reminds students to open their senses to more than ground tracks. In fact, they are required to document meteorological conditions, snow depth and quality, and location before starting.

Tracks need to be measured and studied to determine gait, weight of the creature, direction and--even--purpose. Do they end at a tree trunk? Are strands of fur evident? Browsing or nesting? These boys have identified short-tailed weasel.

Courses like this transcend the curriculum, in that environmental science is here, beyond the rich environmental science department offerings. These courses also complement all of the courses (like GROWTH) that aim at ethical development. Below, we're following the tracks of teenagers on their way up the old rope tow trail. This a forestry class setting out to measure the basal density (quantity of wood, more or less) of distinct plots being surveyed by separate teams.

For the past few decades, foresters have employed small prisms to estimate basal density. The lens refracts light in a manner that indicates which tree trunks are large enough to be counted in the survey--according to a mathematical formula.

This is instructional, and a great example of how a school devoted to experiential means of teaching and learning can bring that style into academic courses. But this is more than an exercise. Students in Wildlife Science are involved in a real census of the population of red and grey squirrels, red and grey fox, short and long tailed weasels (ermine!), deer, moose, mice (beyond counting), perhaps bobcat, and much more, on our property. Students in forestry are collecting data that inform the school's five-year Land Use Plan.

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