Wild Work Wins Tribute

Lori Adams of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game took the top honor June 3 as the national Project WILD Coordinator of the Year at the annual Project WILD conference in New Orleans. "Lori's initiative should be bottled and sold nationwide," the nominating letter said. Adams, who has been with Fish and Game five years, was recognized for her innovative ideas and outstanding leadership by Project WILD, an international program designed to teach about wildlife through science, math, social studies and reading in classrooms. "When I see the work of folks like Lori Adams, it renews my enthusiasm and gives me great hope for a nation effectively educated about our work in natural resource management," Fish and Game Director Steve Huffaker said. The idea behind Project WILD is to present university credited workshops that offer training, lesson plans and activities to teachers, providing them the tools they need to incorporate wildlife into their classrooms. In Idaho, more than 12,000 teachers have gone through the program. "They definitely leave the workshop with a renewed appreciation of wildlife and how they're going to share that with the kids in the classroom," Adams said. "It's going to happen because they are so excited." Adams has marketed several new versions of WILD workshops. "WILD about Birds of Prey," in partnership with Idaho's World Center for Birds of Prey, and "WILD about Refuges," in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and "WILD about Salmon," are innovative ways to attract new educators to WILD workshops. She also initiated a new workshop that emphasized reading entitled "Focus on Literature with Project WET, Project WILD, and Project Learning Tree." Adams is also providing national leadership by creating an early childhood version of Project WILD and has recently 1 an activity guide called WILD about Early Learners. "My hope is that the guide will inspire early childhood teachers, parents and scout leaders to share with children a love of nature and all that is has to offer," she said. "Showing children how much nature means to each of us is of utmost importance." This summer Adams will pilot yet one more new program, a four-day WILD field seminar entitled "Fast Food In A WILD World: A Look At Predator-Prey Relationships." For more information on workshops or to register go to: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov