What has RMFI been up to this summer? We’re glad you asked. For the past 12 years, a portion of RMFI's summer plans include donning our professorial hats to run a college course, called Earth Corps. Earth Corps is a for-credit field studies course where 10 undergraduate college students from universities across the country descend on the Colorado backcountry to complete critical trail and restoration projects in exchange for college credit…

This year, RMFI changed the format of the program from working at one location for one month to spending two weeks each at three sites. This change offered the students the opportunity to experience the diversity of Colorado’s ecosystems while engaging in three distinct projects addressing a variety of ecological needs. The course started in late June at the Waldo Canyon burn scar. The students learned about fire ecology while working to stabilize hillslopes and protect the Waldo Canyon Trail infrastructure. Visiting lecturers from the US Forest Service, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and Colorado College discussed restoration ethics, geomorphology, and fire history.

The middle two weeks of Earth Corps were spent breaking ground on the highly anticipated Top of the Mountain Trail at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Working out of a basecamp in a beautiful montane meadow, the crew built trail tread and staircases on the rocky, exposed, and panoramic section of the trail. Late RMFI founder Mark Hesse designed the trail, and Mark’s style shines through with steep climbing turns, natural step formations, and a flair for dramatic views. Insects and pollinators, public land management, and mountain climatology were a few of the topics lectured on by college professors during this hitch.

Willow Lake Basin (elevation 11,500 feet) in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range played host for the final two weeks of Earth Corps. The crew scratched the surface of what will be a 3-5 year project re-constructing the summit trail to Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak, two 14ers in the Sangres. Experts from the field of conservation trekked into the Basin to lecture on wilderness management and water law.

Other highlights of the program included summiting Pikes Peak, Almagre Mountain, Kit Carson, and Challenger Point, wildlife sightings of bears, big horn sheep, pine martens, and many species of birds, and developing new skills like packing mules on a pack string, learning to cook in the backcountry for 15, and building steps in the alpine. After a final meal of pizza back in Colorado Springs, the students went their separate ways back to school to resume classes this fall. We always know Earth Corps will accomplish a ton of work, and that we’ll learn a lot about the environment, land management, ecology, etc. But more than anything, it’s the personal growth and discovery that comes from spending 6 weeks in the backcountry that makes Earth Corps what it is. A big thanks to the students of Earth Corps 2014!

Robert Bishop – University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Bain Caton – University of South Florida
Jackie Curry – Denver University
Alex Curtze – Penn State University
Elaine Gallenberg – Northland College
Spencer Gould – University of British Columbia
Jamie Lay – University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Brian Lonabocker – Gettysburg University
Niveditra Rajendra – University of California at Berkeley
Taryn Schreiner – Northern Arizona University