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June 11, 2004
Get outdoors – with a guide
The Coast Mountain Field Institute offers a range of nature courses.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
A Jewish British Columbia woman is helping people explore the natural
world through a new field institute that is the first of its kind
in the province.
Rebecca Porte, a 1997 graduate of the University of Victoria's geography
and environmental studies program, is the founder of Coast Mountain
Field Institute. Coast Mountain is a nonprofit organization founded
earlier this year to offer courses in the southwestern part of British
Columbia.
"Since 1996, my professional life has revolved around nature,"
said Porte, who has worked as a naturalist in Mount Robson Provincial
Park; as an ornithology field researcher, patrolling the backcountry
of Canyonlands National Park in Utah; has assisted in facilitating
a public consultation process for BC Parks; and has worked with
various wilderness leadership programs for youth.
"I have spent the past four years working in two realms,"
Porte added. "As a hiking guide/ naturalist for an alpine-based
lodge near Golden, B.C., and as an educator with Sea to Sky Outdoor
School on Keats Island. There I learned the power and possibility
that comes from amazing teamwork and creativity."
Starting from the position that there are not enough opportunities
in British Columbia for people to get out into the wild with an
informed guide, Porte founded the Coast Mountain Field Institute
and is now offering a range of courses, most of which take place
within a short drive of Vancouver's core.
Among the offerings this summer is a course examining the forests,
marshes and bogs of the Lower Mainland; another on the mysterious
world of bird migrations and bat movement; and another that takes
participants on a ramble through Manning Park's alpine wildflower
meadows. Some programs are day events, others include overnights.
They range from $85 to $575 for a three-day exploration of Cathedral
Park.
"As I looked for opportunities for me to take field-based courses
in southwestern B.C., I saw so little being offered that was long
enough or taught by people I wanted to take courses from,"
Porte said. "Then looking south of the border, I saw these
amazing field institutes, offering great field-based programs, taught
by their region's finest biologists, naturalists, educators, and
truly embraced by their regions. It occurred to me that we have
all the right ingredients here for a great field institute –
amazing natural areas, great instructors and people who are interested
in getting out into nature for new, learning experiences. So I got
to work!"
At first, her work in the outdoors held just a natural, instinctual
draw to Porte, but as she has spent more time following her bliss,
she has made connections between her life's work and her Judaism.
"I think when making choices to follow a career path in nature,
conservation and environmental education, I didn't at the time make
the connection to Judaism, or the influences of my religion [or]
culture," said Porte. "However, in recent years, I have
become much more aware of the parallels between what I am doing
and Judaism – recognizing that so many of the Jewish customs
and holidays are very bound to nature and the earth.
"I have also seen how within Judaism we are supposed to feel
a responsibility to take care of the species and biodiversity on
the planet. So although I don't know if I was directly influenced,
I definitely see that what I am doing is parallel and complimentary.
I do think these programs will offer people the opportunity to not
only have a great time in nature, but to come away with a stronger
sense of the values of nature and our relationship with it."
More information on the institute can be obtained on the Web at
www.cmfi.ca or
by calling 604-312-8145.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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