Fiscal Year 2011 was an incredible year of service to the field for the Carhart Center. We conducted eight classroom courses and workshops attended by nearly 300 employees; launched three entirely new Courses of Study in natural, cultural, and paleontological resource management in wilderness, totaling 18 individual courses; pilot-tested the instructor-led Minimum Requirements Analysis on-line course; posted eight new Toolboxes; expanded Wilderness Connect; launched the Outdoor Explorers Mentoring Program; pilot-tested the Wilderness Investigations Teacher Workshops; and, said, "Goodbye," to Tom Carlson (Forest Service Representative)and Jennifer Lutman (Student Conservation Association Intern), and, "Welcome!," to Ken Straley (Forest Service Representative) and Steve Archibald (Wilderness Education & Outreach Specialist). Here's what the field had to say:

• "This course promotes professionalism and conveys a powerful sense of mission to carry out the promise of the Wilderness Act." (BLM course participant)
• "The field trip ... allowed an emersion we wouldn't get in a large group or at a facility. Well done!" (FWS course participant)

• "Overall, this trip was a great capstone to the class work. The trip provided the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the Wilderness Act, implications and ramifications of FS decisions related to the Act, and the impact of these decisions on a local community...    Hubris must not stand in the way of compliance with this act. Its spirit and intent, if we truly recognize the intrinsic value of these areas; our legal and moral responsibilities, to ourselves, our agencies and the American public, is to reach the most correct decisions that benefit these areas and follow the intent of the law. Thank you for the opportunity to explore the meaning of this legislation at a personal and stewardship level." (FS course participant)
• "This course helped me better understand why we do what we do. As someone who makes endless visitor contacts, this course will help me better explain NPS rules and regulations." (NPS course participant)
• "Because my little had minimal exposure to the outdoors, she was always hesitant to try outdoor activities. She has really blossomed and become much more open minded about the outdoors after the summer experiences with the Outdoor Explorers program. It was a great gift to have this opportunity." (Outdoor Explorers Mentoring Program participant)
• "What a pleasure it is to read and discover new aspects about our nation's wilderness. That's what happened for me as I reviewed Wilderness Investigations. I loved the Wilderness Profiles, the Wilderness Heroes, and the Wilderness What's Up (note to parents) that are included in each investigation. Nice job you folks at Carhart have done." (Wilderness Investigations Workshop participant)

It appears we are making a difference for wilderness, one program and one participant at a time. Know that you too are making a difference. Keep up the great work!

What's Next?

Fiscal year 2012 presents new realities and opportunities. Faced with the realities that travel and training budgets and ceilings continue to decline; justification for travel is required at ever higher levels; vacant positions are not being filled; and, wilderness is not at the top list of priorities, what's next? In light of these realities, how do we continue to meet the very real needs of the field? Here's what we've come up with:

• Refine and redeploy the instructor-led MRA course
• Use webinar technology to explore the application of wilderness character to management, planning, and monitoring;
• Identify courses needed to round out self-paced Courses of Study in special provisions, managing fire in wilderness, and wilderness stewardship fundamentals;
• Expand Wilderness.net and Wilderness Connect to facilitate connection, communication, and camaraderie among wilderness professionals;
• Capitalize on the opportunity presented by our new realities!

The way we see it, now more than ever, our new realities will force the agencies to look hard at how to forge an integrated and collaborative system across the four wilderness management agencies as called for in the report to the agencies by the Pinchot Institute in 2001.  This recommendation was validated by America's Great Outdoors Goal 10 to,  "Improve federal government performance as a conservation partner, which specifically calls for better collaboration among federal agencies, support of existing programs and innovative approaches, ... and, ... requires commitment and resources from more than just one agency or organization."

In FY 12, the Carhart Center will advance conversations that help forge a more integrated System because it is the right thing to do for wilderness and the right thing to do on behalf of  those who have entrusted this global resource into our care.