Resolve to save local outdoors education from the endangered list

Nothing personal, Mr. Pythagoras.

Your theorem on right triangles is great, but in my day-to-day life, calculating the length of a hypotenuse is less of a priority than measuring a nice-sized brook trout or estimating the height of the brow tine on a whitetail buck caught in my .308’s crosshairs.

Somewhere between algebra, calculus and complex sentence diagramming, students are blasted with more facts, figures and theories than could ever fit into a 20-gauge shell casing. That shotgun blast of information is meant to form a foundation that will allow students to branch off later into whatever passion they decide to pursue.

Valley schools do more than most in terms of offering an overview of outdoors-related topics. In-class trout programs, affiliations with the Envirothon movement and other hands-on learning opportunities can be found throughout our local districts.

But is it enough? For all the time spent studying the periodic table or memorizing Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” only a percentage of our students go on to kindle careers as chemists or poets.

Everyone, however, plays a part in our local ecosystem. We are surrounded by the outdoors — at one point or another, we all take hikes, go fishing, pitch a tent, ride a bike, go for a jog or come in contact with nature — whether it is planned or not.

Outdoors education is vital to everyone, and in our region, two epicenters of natural knowledge have been PPL’s Montour Preserve and the R.B. Winter State Park educational center.

The Montour Preserve’s programming has been cut drastically since Talen Energy took over. Longtime naturalist Jon Beam still offers a few programs, including a popular annual maple sugaring demonstration, but it is a far cry from what was once available.

Meanwhile, R.B. Winter outdoor educator Maryann Haladay-Bierly has recently announced that she is retiring in 2017 — leaving the future of the park’s educational facility and its many programs unclear.

Businesses such as Talen Energy — along with state agencies such as those that oversee our park system — are driven, to varying extents, by the bottom line. Financials play a part in the formula that determines if outdoor education opportunities continue.

It becomes a matter of calculating the importance of these programs in a way that show agencies undeniably that outdoor education is vital to everyone.

Unfortunately, Pythagoras never developed a theorem or formula to measure that value.

To help keep our outdoor eucation programs off the endangered list, share your support directly to R.B. Winter at 570-966-1455 or email rbwintersp@pa.gov.

For the Montour Preserve, go through the Montour Area Recreation Commission at 570-336-2060 or email Support@MontourPreserve.org.