Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
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Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Elk Merge on Dropped Hay
Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Preparing to Push the Bale
Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Elk Fed, Riding Back
Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Thoughts to Paper
Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Documenting the Experience
Hardware Ranch
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, PhotographerIn 2008, Hardware Education Director Marni Lee and I established a service-learning partnership. Since then, I have ventured up northern Utah’s Blacksmith Fork Canyon with about a thousand 5th and 6th graders—a half-dozen students at a time—to spend the day with DWR biologists and managers. Each morning, we feed roughly 5,000 pounds of hay to wintering elk (about ten pounds of hay per head) and we learn first-hand the details of how biologists monitor and manage wildlife and wildlife habitat.
We typically see bulls sparring or cows boxing over who gets first dibs on the freshly tossed hay. We often observe bald eagles and sometimes golden eagles. We’ve discovered flattened dried-out snakes in the hay bales who were scooped up into the baler the previous summer. We’ve helped relocate wild turkeys. We’ve examined an elk fetus after a cow elk was hit by a vehicle and miscarried on the road. We’ve seen coyote and cougar tracks. We’ve encountered moose, porcupines, beaver, ermine weasels, and snowshoe hares. Many impromptu anatomy lessons have occurred upon discovering deer carcasses—something that always fascinates students. We’ve watched biologists tranquilize wildlife, helped them humanely trap elk so they can test them for disease, measure back fat, and attach GPS tracking collars—all of which enable them to gather data that informs wildlife management decisions.
Throughout the day (and back in the classroom), math, science, and language arts curriculum standards are woven into the experience. This is my kind of school. “Mister Nool’s Schewell,” as one student wrote with a giggle.
Depending on conditions, after lunch we hike, snowshoe, or cross-country ski to various overlooks where students sit down, pull out their field journals, and write. I never check their notebooks for writing conventions—there is plenty of time to polish spelling and grammar in the classroom. The goal here is to capture the magic of mountains.
Here are few recent samples of Edith Bowen Laboratory School 5th graders’ writings recorded in the wild, with the wind in background:
“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be sitting on the top of a mountain with the sun smiling warmly up above on your face and the birds ‘chirpling’ happily with the polka-dotty mountains?”
Macey:
“Hardware Ranch Hike: As I write, I bathe in the sun. I hear the pages turning and I see the lime-green rock and the evergreen trees battling the white snow. As the birds chirp, the breeze makes my hair flow. The light sprinkle of snow gets rushed by the wind. I get a little chilly but the view makes up for it. The gentle curves of the mountain covered in the snow, the dark green mountains surrounding me, and the moss-coved rocks that feel like a pillow.”
Boston:
“Today we went to Hardware Ranch. We went on a great hike to the top of a mountain. I am writing these words on the top of that mountain. The wind up here is whooshing through my ears. On this hike I have collected two things. A hawk feather and an elk tooth.
This fieldtrip to Hardware Ranch was a really great fieldtrip. I hope you get to come here too.”
Mike:
“I have experienced breathtaking views before and I have seen phenomenal creatures, but I’ve never seen so many different kinds on the same day. I could live here. It’s so peaceful. The wind is paralyzing. If you haven’t come here yet, you have to do it now. This place is for wildlife lovers, nature lovers, and if you’re like me, love both. Either way this place is spectacular. I wish that I could stay.”
I do too.
I am Eric Newell,
I am Harper Famer,
I am Macey Hill,
I am Boston Winn,
I am Mike Brandley,
and we are wild about writing in the wild country.
Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer. Used with permission of the photographer, students and parents
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Kevin Colver https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/, Courtesy & © Friend Weller, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-weller, Courtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, Wakeman
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell
Additional Reading
Wild About Utah Pieces by Eric Newell
Link to Hardware WMA website and information about sleigh rides:
Haviland’s Old West Adventures will offer horse-drawn sleigh and wagon rides* through the elk herd on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Dec. 6 through Feb. 9. Rides start at 10 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. each day. Each ride lasts about 40 minutes. Follow the link for more information, including rates:
https://wildlife.utah.gov/hardware-visit.html
Anderson, Michael, DWR, USU partner to get fifth-graders excited about science, writing, KSL-TV, January 15, 2016, https://www.ksl.com/article/38150310/dwr-usu-partner-to-get-fifth-graders-excited-about-science-writing
Hardware Ranch field experience video (2008), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x46T5jt-CDI
Edith Bowen Laboratory School, edithbowen.usu.edu
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook:
@edithbowenlaboratoryschool
Facebook, Edith Bowen Laboratory School
Mount Logan Middle School Discovery Program (2008-2016), MountLoganDiscovery.org
What is Brucellosis? https://wildlife.utah.gov/brucellosis.html
Gurrister, Tom, Utah elk test clean of brucellosis, unlike Idaho and Wyoming, Gephardt Daily, March 15, 2024, https://gephardtdaily.com/local/utah-elk-test-clean-of-brucellosis-unlike-idaho-and-wyoming-2/
