Dave Spies: Educator, firefighter and champion for wildfire education
By Rachel Friederich, Serve Washington communications
ENTIAT--Dave Spies is being recognized for his role with the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center in Entiat. The interpretive center's mission is to inform people of the historic impacts and ecological role of wildland fire, how it interacts with human culture, the roles of wildland agencies in fire management and how people can mitigate the impact of wildfires. The Center is a completely all-volunteer, non-profit foundation.
Spies, who is an educator and former wildland firefighter, spent 35 years as a middle school teacher and librarian. He has been volunteering at the interpretive center since 2002. He currently serves as the center's board president.
He also plays an active role with the center's youth programs. Last year, Spies, in partnership with the Cascadia Conservation District, hosted environmental and wildland fire education activities for more than 2,000 local students. During these events, students learn about wildfire ecology in North Central Washington through hands-on experiences like climbing to the top of a fire lookout, exploring and studying shrub-steppe/ponderosa pine ecosystems, building models to learn about fire behavior, and learning about wildland fire careers from wildland firefighters. He also helps local school districts with their environmental leaning field experiences. In the wintertime, Spies helps Cascadia Conservation District with the Wenatchee School District's snow school at Squilchuck State Park. When he is not assisting with youth activities, Spies helps with maintenance projects at the fire center. He also recruits other volunteers and spends time helping the organization cultivate relationships with other community organizations.
Spies says what he enjoys best about volunteering is "Getting kids outdoors and get them excited enough to come out and learn something and be excited enough to come to visit again and get their parents outside." He believes the youth of today need to be immersed in the environment so that they can make wise decisions about that environment in the future.
To get involved with the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center
Learn more about the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center. If you're interested in volunteering, send an email to dave_spies@columbiabreakswildfire.com
