Featured Event

Dance Performance Teaches Students about Fire Science, Forest Ecology and American Indian Use of Fire

Jerry Wolcott, Plum Creek Resource Manager, presents funds to support Fire Speaks the Land performances in Ravalli County to Janeen Curtis, Healthy Kids Healthy Forests Coordinator and Becki Koon, Bitter Root RC&D Executive Director.

HAMILTON, Mont. – Grant funding from the Plum Creek Foundation and the Rapp Family Foundation will help bring “Fire Speaks the Land” to students in Ravalli County to teach them about the role that wildfire plays in Montana’s forests and history.

The lively, interactive 50-minute performance uses dance to educate students about fire science, forest ecology and native cultural values. Developed by Karen Kaufmann, artistic director of the CoMotion Dance Project in The University of Montana College of Visual and Performing Arts, “Fire Speaks the Land” is being celebrated nationally as an example for arts integration in schools. 

Through a partnership with the Bitter Root RC&D’s Healthy Kids Healthy Forests Program, the Bitterroot Performing Arts Council and the Hamilton School District, the grant funds will help bring the performance to students in forth through sixth grade from Ravalli County schools at 10:30 am and 1:00 pm performances on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at Hamilton High School’s Performing Arts Center.

“CoMotion Dance Project’s approach to fire education is creative and innovative, integrating the arts, ecology and science in an interdisciplinary performance,” says Janeen Curtis, coordinator, Healthy Kids-Healthy Forests. “This project speaks to our mission to empower youth to become better stewards of Montana’s public lands.”

The mission of Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development Area (RC&D) is to promote conscientious development of the area's natural and human resources while maintaining or improving the quality of life in Mineral, Missoula and Ravalli counties. The nonprofit organization is very active in educating children and adults about living in fire-prone landscapes.

Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 6.6 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. In Montana, Plum Creek practices sustainable forestry on all of its 889,000 acres throughout the western part of the state. For more information on Plum Creek in Montana, visit www.plumcreek.com/montana.

The Rapp Family Foundation has been formed to support non-profit organizations in Ravalli County.  The guiding philosophy of the Rapp Family Foundation is to support organizations utilizing volunteer-based services and those requiring matching funds to address a community need. For more information on the Rapp Family Foundation, contact Diane Thomas-Rupert; invest@montana.com

Current News

Bitter Root RC&D is happy to announce a new way to donate funds to support the good work that RC&D does for the community.  While we are sad that our long-standing President James (Jim) H. Freeman passed away this summer, his legacy of giving to the RC&D will live on in the newly

Jim Freeman with the Bitter Root RC&D’s 2010 Outstanding Council of the Year Award  from Western RC&D Association.

established Bitter Root RC&D Endowment Fund. This fund was established in honor of Jim and his strong conviction to the success of the Bitter Root RC&D and the community that the RC&D serves.  We appreciate Jim for the more than 20 years of service to us and his family for supporting his legacy in this way.

Make checks payable to: Bitter Root RC&D Endowment Fund or donate online and make sure to note that you would like your donation to go to the Bitter Root RC&D Endowment Fund.