Anchorage Alaska College Forest Ranger

Local grad kindles a love of nature

MOSES LAKE - Most high school graduates look forward to summer break as a time to lounge around the house, but not Daniel Talbot.

The 2011 Moses Lake High School grad spent his June trailblazing through the backcountry of Alaska as a volunteer with the Student Conservation Association (SCA).

Talbot, 19, is no stranger to the outdoors, a place he said he spent most of his childhood exploring.

"I wasn't yet part of the generation where kids were raised in front of a TV. I was always outside playing with bugs and getting dirty," he said.

In high school his fascination shifted toward hiking, camping and the adrenaline rush of cliff jumping and rock climbing.

"I don't have the money for harnesses or anything, so my friends and I go bouldering," he said, a term for clambering around on 20-foot tall rocks without a rope.

An appreciation for the natural world has become even more important to him since his return from the Alaska with SCA, he said.

"It was such a humbling experience being out there and experiencing nature," Talbot said. "There aren't busy streets or parking lots full of cars. Maybe twice a week you'd see an airplane or a helicopter go over."

For more than 50 years the SCA has provided similar experiences to students aged 15 and older, giving them a hands-on opportunity to protect and restore national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks and community green spaces across the country.

About 4,000 interns and volunteers are introduced to dozens of fields every year, from science to landscaping, while providing more than 2 million hours of conservation service, according to the organization website.

"We're helping grow the next generation of conservationists as well as strong citizens," said Don Hunger, SCA's associate vice president for agency affairs. Hunger said the organization provides young people an opportunity to broaden the education they get in the classroom while gaining confidence and new skills that they can bring home to their own communities.

art and nature: Un-Rejected! Alaska here I come!

I've been wanting to write this post for a week, but I've almost been afraid to talk about it, because it's just such an amazing turn of events and rather daunting. But remember how I've been applying for years to get an artist residency in Denali National Park in Alaska and came tantalizingly close but ultimately was rejected ? And remember how I discovered a new one this year in the Ford's Terror Wilderness in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau and was rejected from that one as well? You don't? Well what luck, there's links! But seriously, a few weeks after getting a rejection letter from Tongass, while on the Bioblitz , I got a phone call from the ranger in charge of the program saying she had transferred to Prince William Sound (just south of Anchorage) and wanted to start up another program there, and ASKED ME TO BE THEIR FIRST ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE!  This residency is similar to the Tongass program   but will start out in Girdwood, AK (above) in August, where I and a Ranger from the National Forest Service will gear up for a 7-day tour of Prince William Sound, traveling by sea kayak and camping next to glaciers. The list of gear they sent me goes to 2-pages and includes wool sweaters, Xtratuf boots, waterproof pants, jacket, gloves and camera case. Did I mention it was kind of daunting? Did I mention I've only been in a kayak (and not the sea kind) a couple of times? Did I mention that I've only been camping twice in recent memory, and both times in the congenial society of the Bioblitz? Did I mention I just had knee surgery? Well, I certainly didn't bring any of that up in my application! But at least I'm grateful I've been hitting the gym pretty regular-like since January (one of those rare resolutions that stuck), and I'm going to take a sea-kayak lesson soon, and they do say "Extensive backcountry/kayaking experience is not necessary for this residency, just capability".

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