Great Stories
Montana Campus Corps:
College Students Meeting Critical Community Needs
Learning by Samantha Sheble

When I first started volunteering for the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP), I didn’t know much about the science or the ongoing restoration of the Clark Fork Watershed. I was aware that past mining and smelting activities in the Butte area had damaged the surrounding environment, but I was not aware of all of the work being done to clean up and restore the environment.

There is a lot of physical restoration going on, but CFWEP opened my eyes to a different component of the restoration process, education. How are we to learn from past mistakes? How are we to know how to treat our environment in the future? Educating youth of the community about how the Clark Fork was damaged, what caused this damage, and how they can get involved to help fix and prevent environmental damage are critical to ensuring a beautiful and healthy watershed in the future. Taking kids out of the classroom and engaging them in hands-on activities on the river is a fun and effective way of teaching them. As I followed the kids around on watershed fieldtrips, I was amazed by how much I learned about watershed health. I got to dig through pails of river water for macroinvertebrates, identify vegetation, and test water samples to determine the health of the watershed.

After one of the fieldtrips I heard one girl say, “I’ve never learned this much in my life!” Thanks to CFWEP and my time volunteering for the youth of Butte, I can also say that I have never learned so much in my life. I have learned the importance of environmental education, community involvement, and always being open to learn about new things.

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