If the old adage, “Once you’ve studied something long
enough, you become it,” holds true, the Glacier Institute has a
grizzly bear, a glacier and a wildflower or two on staff. For 15
years, the nonprofit educational organization has recruited
wildlife experts and artists to take students of all ages traipsing
about Glacier National Park in northern Montana. College students
come to pick up extra credits, teachers come to earn certification
points, and all manner of others arrive from around the country to
get an inside look at Glacier’s high country. The summer schedule
includes a class on Montana’s mushrooms (a frying pan and butter
are recommended equipment for collecting outside the park), courses
on orchids, medicinal herbs and watercolor painting, and plenty of
opportunities to learn from the experts about glaciers and
grizzlies. Contact the Glacier Institute at 137 Main Street, P.O.
Box 7457, Kalispell, MT 59904, call 406/755-1211, e-mail
glacinst@digisys.net, or find it on the World Wide Web at
www.digisys.net/glacinst.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Grizzlies on staff.
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