Grassroots Conservation of Biological Diversity in the United States Page: 15
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The sole purpose of the Land Trust Exchange
is to improve the effectiveness of a segment of
the grassroots conservation community. The
organization's framework is designed so it can
be nationally representative, but locally ori
ented. By providing technical conservation
skills and information to local and regional land
trusts, it allows organizations that lack inter
nal expertise to develop their programs in eco
system conservation efficiently.
Wildlife Education Program
for a Living Future
Environmental education is a component of
most grassroots activities described in this back
ground paper, but for some groups education
is the major thrust of their efforts. Environ
mental education has been described as:
. the process of recognizing values and
clarifying concepts in order to develop skills
and attitudes necessary to understand and ap
preciate the interrelatedness among man, his
culture, and his biophysical surrounding (71).
The Environmental Education Act of 1970 was
passed by Congress to provide funding in sup
port of environmental education, and repre
sented a national commitment to its importance.
Supporting these efforts are a large number of
grassroots groups who focus, to varying degrees,
on the importance of maintaining biological
diversity.
One individual who has taken an active and
innovative approach to environmental educa
tion is Karlyn Atkinson Berg, co founder of the
Wildlife Education Program for a Living Future
(WE PLF). Karlyn Atkinson Berg has long been
interested in the timber (grey) wolves of north
ern Minnesota. She created WEPLF in 1973 to
bring her knowledge and insights to people of
all ages who might not ordinarily be exposed
to human wildlife interactions. Her programs
cover not only wolves and wildlife, but also envi
ronmental ethics of man's impact on the natu
ral environment.
One of her objectives is to dispel popular
myths about predators, particularly the wolf,
so her programs demonstrate how predators arean integral part of the natural environment and
explain the interrelationships of all species. The
programs also explore historic and contem
porary attitudes towards nature and discuss
how nature is an integral part of our lives.
Ms. Atkinson Berg uses a wide range of tech
niques to bring an ecological message to the gen
eral public. At one time, she visited schools with
a wolf born and raised in captivity to capture
the attention of the students. She later stopped
this practice, concerned that it detracted from
the ecologic content of the program by en
couraging her audience to view the wolf as a
pet. Presentations with live wolves now are only
held at the WEPLF premises in a "wolf woods
compound" which does not encourage visitors
to view the wolf as a pet. These presentations
commonly are accompanied by field trips into
the woods for howling and tracking events.
WEPLF also converted a bookmobile into a
traveling museum of exhibits and presentations.
In addition to an extensive display on the his
tory of the wolf, the museum houses bird nests;
animal pelts; skulls, bird, and mammal speci
mens; and illustrations of ecological cycles in
nature. The mobile museum visits schools; civic,
social, and service organizations; and even in
terested individuals. Films, workshops, and
slide presentations on wolves, human attitudes,
or animal communication are also available.
Ms. Atkinson Berg works with teachers
throughout Minnesota to develop appropriate
curricula on nature. She has developed a widely
circulated educational packet on the coexis
tence, competition, and conflict between wolves
and humans which she promotes at National
Science Teachers Conventions and Environ
mental Educators Conventions. Ms. Atkinson
Berg feels that this educational package has
made an important contribution in presenting
a well rounded picture of the wolf to the pub
lic, Rather than designing separate programs,
she encourages teachers to integrate consider
ation of the natural environment and man's in
teractions with it into other lessons. Through
her efforts, information on biological and eco
logical principles has been incorporated into
everyday learning.
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United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Grassroots Conservation of Biological Diversity in the United States, report, February 1986; [Washington D.C.]. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc39608/m1/19/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.