Profile
of a Treasured Landscape
Preface
Although the region
described in this Profile has been inhabited and visited by people
for millennia, the landscape that brings magic to this place predates
humans by hundreds of millions of years. Native Americans traditionally
referred to the mountainous topography as "Miistakis,"or
"Backbone of the World."To indigenous peoples, and others
who have come to know and respect this exceptional place, there
is a spirituality to the land and an appreciation for the connection
between the mountains, plains, rivers, and the plant and animal
species that dwell in this ancient landscape.
Using a term first applied
by George Bird Grinnell in the early part of the twentieth century,
the region is today commonly referred to as the Crown of the Continent
Ecosystem. There is an increasing awareness of the ecological importance
of this area in its own right and more broadly as a critical part
of a much larger mountainous landscape extending from the Greater
Yellowstone region northwesterly into the Yukon of western Canada.
This is widely recognized as one of the premier mountain ecoregions
of the world.
While learning activities
- private and pubic, formal and informal - have gone on in a broader
sense since humans first inhabited this region, the past 20 to 30
years have seen a veritable explosion of education and interpretation.
This has mostly been devoted to the study of the cultural and natural
history of specific portions of the ecosystem - the Flathead Valley,Waterton
and Glacier national parks, the East Front, and Swan Valley, for
example. These sub-parts of the ecosystem have cried for integration,
a broader view, a bioregional perspective and understanding. From
this need arose The Crown of the Continent Ecosystem Education Consortium
- COCEEC.
COCEEC was founded in
1995 "to bring a bioregional focus to education in the Crown
of the Continent Ecosystem." The inspiration for this collaborative
organization began with my longtime involvement in natural resource
education, as a teacher of geology and geography at Flathead Valley
Community College in Kalispell, Montana, as co-founder of The Glacier
Institute, and as a participant in the Flathead Environmental Education
Core Group. As natural resource education programs developed around
the Crown of the Continent, and federal land management concepts
moved from a focus on small areas to watershed- and ecosystem-based
management and conservation, it became apparent that we, as educators,
also needed to move in that direction. The next logical step was
to present local ecological information in a broader context to
include the entire Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.
In the spring of 1994,
a group of about 20 educators and representatives of agencies and
private organizations convened at the Boone and Crockett headquarters
in Missoula, Montana. A decision was made to take an educational
and organizational leap - to pursue the formation of what was to
become the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem Education Consortium.
And so our journey began.
COCEEC has since been
active in supporting ecosystem-focused curricula, workshops, and
projects. Meeting semi-annually, the 21 Participants represent the
ecosystem from the Waterton and Castle-Crown region in southern
Alberta, Canada, to Missoula, Montana, in the United States. By
1997, COCEEC had gained enough momentum to take on its first educational
resource project, a digital landscape map of the Crown of the Continent
Ecosystem, appropriately named, "A Map Without Boundaries."
This map, designed primarily for use by educators within the ecosystem,
portrays only landforms, without political boundaries, in order
to draw attention to the ecosystem as a whole. With generous donations
from the Participant organizations and other supporters, this poster-size
map and associated artwork was published in 1998. To date, over
1,000 have been distributed at no charge.
In the spring of 2000,
The Wilburforce Foundation provided grant monies to further our
education and outreach efforts. With this all-important financial
foundation, we were able to commission this document, the Crown
of the Continent Ecosystem Profile. COCEEC Participants determined
that the Profile would be a science-based description and discussion
of the natural environment, history, and culture of the Crown, to
be used primarily as a reference for middle, high school, and entry-level
college educators, as well as interested laypersons.
This document has been
through an indepth editorial process, guided principally by the
COCEEC Editorial Committee. Drafts were reviewed by outside resource
professionals and the COCEEC Editorial and Administrative Committees.
They were also provided to all COCEEC Participants for review. Of
particular significance was the review work done by Janice Smith,
Lisa Flowers, Teresa Wenum, and John Fraley. Written by Ben Long
of Kalispell, with general editing by Barbara Grinder of Waterton,
selected editing by Judith Pressmar, illustration collection and
placement by Ashley Emerson Mason, and layout by Diane Conner, the
Profile represents the work, talents, and cooperation of many dedicated
people.
The Crown of the Continent
Ecosystem Profile is a first attempt to bring together voluminous
and widely scattered material from two Canadian provinces, one U.S.
state, and two federal governments in a useful, readable manner.
Given the scatter and often-conflicting nature of the material,
its broad geographic reach, and the difficulty of coordinating many
highly dedicated, but very busy, volunteers, Ben Long has done an
admirable job in creating this foundational document.
Let there be no mistake,
whenever three or four scientists get together, there are generally
differing opinions on factual information and its interpretation.
Ben took on the challenging task of combining these perspectives
and tried to reconcile those differences within the text of this
document, though some will always remain. We recognize that this
is an evolving document. As this First Edition is used as an educational
resource, comments and suggestions will be collected and considered
for use in subsequent editions.
It is our hope and expectation
that the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem Profile,
in conjunction with the "Map Without Boundaries", will
serve as a ready source of information about the Crown of the Continent
Ecosystem and as the basis for ecosystem-based educational activities
and projects. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of so many,
the journey continues today.
Lex Blood
COCEEC Coordinator
April, 2002
Kalispell, Montana
 NOTE:
Copies of Crown of the Continent: Profile of a Treasured Landscape can
be purchased for $17 plus shipping and handling.
or
contact: Glacier Natural History Association (GNHA)
P.O. Box 310
West Glacier, MT 59936
406-888-5756
|
