The Environmental Education Advocate - Summer 1996
The following information is provided to you as a service of the National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP). We encourage you to use it and please credit the National Environmental Education Advancement Project where appropriate.
Delegates to NEEAP's 1996 Spring Leadership Clinic came from 40 states (from Alaska to Florida to Hawaii to Maine) and one Canadian province (Manitoba) and used a variety of travel methods to attend, but according to state delegates the setting was worth the journey there.
Treehaven was a great site to hold the inaugural Clinic. Its billing as a North Woods retreat was fulfilled with numerous natural events inspiring clinic-goers and allowing them to focus on sessions, materials, and each other's expertise and experience. The 10 inches of snow that greeted first arrival Colleen Murakami after an all-night flight from Hawaii was an example of "The Winter That Wouldn't Quit" in Wisconsin but provided a crisp backdrop to opening sessions and activities.
As the week warmed up and the snow retreated, small groups took advantage of Treehaven's easy access to the outdoors to hold meetings at picnic tables on the center's sunny south slopes overlooking a valley. Sandhill cranes winging through at sunset, bald eagles rising on thermals, deer ghosting through the pines, and manic chipmunks dashing for shelter were all common sights during the Conference.
The last few departures on Sunday mirrored Murakami's initial arrival. As the final planes departed Rhinelander wet snow and hail was pelting down, giving evidence of Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education's Executive Director John Strickler's comment, "I was also impressed with the Treehaven facility and all the hospitality that was shown us, right down to providing the full range of weather that northern Wisconsin has to offer in spring--snow, rain, sunshine, freezing temperatures, sixty plus degrees--very impressive."
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