Rosebud Conservation District, PO Box 1200,
270 S Prospect, Forsyth, MT  59327
Email: laurie.kelley@mt.nacdnet.net
(406) 346-7479
Rosebud Conservation District
Conservation Days 2007-Day 1-Crazy Head Springs
On May 8, 9 and 10th, Rosebud Conservation District sponsored
Conservation Days.  
Day 1 was held at Crazy
Head Springs.  

Students and staff from
Ashland Public School and
St. Labre visited six stations
where they learned about
various conservation issues.
Over 120 4 & 5th grade students and adults from schools in Ashland,
Colstrip, Rosebud, Hysham and Forsyth participated in the outdoor
classrooms.  The students learned about various subjects including soils,
range, wetlands, archeology, surveying, wildlife, water quality and
forestry.
Steve Van Fossen, NRCS,
conducted two sessions.

One on soils, shown here,
and another on wetlands.
Steve's talk on soils was
very interesting to students
and staff alike.  

It seems everyone likes to
get their hands dirty!
Kathy Knobloch, Lame
Deer NRCS, covered the
range station.

Her discussion of the
various range grasses and
plant life was very
interesting.  
Larry Fox, Forsyth NRCS,
gave a demonstration of
surveying and told the
group how it can be used
for conservation purposes.
The kids really enjoyed
learning how to use the
instruments.
One of the students looks
for "bugs" during the water
quality session, conducted
by Rocky Schwagler,
Forsyth NRCS.  
In this photo, Michelle Gorder,
Forsyth NRCS,  is coring a tree.  
This apparatus is drilled into the
tree and when it is removed a
small core sample comes with it.
The rings in the core are counted
and the core is put back in so as
not to damage the tree.
Here the children look at a
section of a 315 year old
tree.

The rings have markings on
them identifying how large
the tree was during
important events in history,
like the Civil War and the
travels of Lewis and Clark.
This is a leopard frog. The
species is on the verge of
being put on the
endangered list.  

This one was discovered
during Steve Van Fossen's
wetland class.