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NIC students help secure a greener future

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NIC students help secure a greener future

Students got to stretch their legs and sow the seeds of a green future at the Post Falls Dam Q’emlin Park during Outdoor Pursuit’s annual “Adopt a Crag” event.

The event has been a standing tradition for a couple of years now in an effort to restore the Q’emlin Park area after extraneous paths were created by visitors over time, thus putting the aesthetic of the locale at risk.

This particular visit, led by Outdoor Pursuits Intern Albia Aye, was specifically aimed at re-growing and protecting Lady Burn Creek, the only natural spring in the park. Where the spring used to flow now sits a small footbridge in solitude over empty space and dirt next to the Post Rock area. Half of the attendees planted while others took on the task of finding logs to block off unwanted paths nearby, and still more others traveled the intentional paths and emphasized them by raking and disrupting the soil.

The event as a tradition has had visible results. Aye said that City of Post Falls Parks Supervisor Brian Bergstrom pointed out where previous “Adopt a Crag” protections had been placed. Some of the logs were placed in front of unwanted paths up to three years ago and now have visible shrubbery.

The student collaboration was incredibly successful, Aye said. All goals were met, the goal turnout of 20 was exceeded, and everyone finished ten minutes early.

“I’ve been taking advantage of this climbing area and it feels really good to give back to the area I’ve been using so much this summer,” Aye said.

The park also doubles as an Outdoor Pursuits rock-climbing class during the fall semester on Tuesdays. The fall yields many opportunities for students: sailing on Mondays, mountain biking on Wednesdays, and paddle boarding on Thursdays. All that is required is showing up at the Outdoor Pursuits building on the side of McLain Hall, paying a fee and then leaving. Students who have questions about safety or preparation are encouraged to call or email Outdoor Pursuits.

The event was also an opportunity to practice leadership skills for the Outdoor Pursuits interns, such as Katy Honodel, Outdoor Pursuits, 20, Post Falls. Honodel was previously pursuing a physics major, but she lost her passion when looking outside during math classes.

“I fell in love with Idaho, so I changed my major,” Honodel said.

The official Outdoor Pursuits program was created so that students can get a certificate in outdoor leadership. Interns in the program such as Honodel, as well as Noah Price, Outdoor Recreation Management, 18, Bonners Ferry, also note that the program is like a community.

It’s a community Price said he hopes to expand on. He is currently on the Inter-Club Council’s agenda for the October 12 meeting as a co-founder of the Outdoors Club, which will be voted on for inauguration then.

Outdoor Pursuits first-timer Dana Hemmingmoore, General Studies, 24, Spokane, already advocates the strength of the program.

“More people should show up. It’s fun to get outdoors and not enough people do these days,” Hemmingmoore said. “I think it’s kind of ridiculous because we live in such a beautiful area.”

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T.J. Gossard is The Sentinel student newspaper's Features assistant editor, and is also the president of NIC Film Club and NIC's Phi Theta Kappa Delta Kappa Chapter. Gossard intends to become a film director and is currently practicing skills of communication and multitasking by taking on club duties and pursuing an A.A. in Communications at North Idaho College.

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