The peaceful grandeur contrasted against the wild beauty here in the Seeley-Swan Valley is enough to convert a visitor into a full-blown Montanan. Seeing my first elk, identifying the numerous birds that call the valley their home, meeting friendly locals, hunting for wild morels and playing in the colorful wildflowers have all been highlights of my time spent here so far.
Deciding to move to Montana was one of the easiest decisions of my life. Living nearly twenty-one of my twenty-four years in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, I felt the plainness of a simple Ohio life creeping in around me, and I knew I wanted to explore more than just what my home state had to offer. I took the train from Ohio to Oregon two weeks after graduating college in 2015 and have lived out west ever since.
Over the past few years, I’ve adventured quite a bit, including completing a solo cross-country road trip and backpacking abroad for five months with my partner. Still, where I am now is the most untamed place I’ve ever set foot and that’s saying a lot after spending a month in Morocco. From a young age, I’ve been lucky enough to have the understanding that travel and exploration are a huge part of self-development and becoming a well-rounded, independent person.
My name is Cassie and I was chosen to be a Montana State Parks AmeriCorps member in April. I am now serving three beautiful state parks: Salmon Lake, Placid Lake and Beavertail Hill. Some of my responsibilities are to enhance park land, enrich educational opportunities, increase volunteerism and improve community outreach in my parks.
I knew AmeriCorps would be a good fit for me as it provides me an opportunity to put my creativity to action and bring my ideas to life. I am constantly learning new skills, making new connections and using my talents for the greater good. I am thrilled to be a part of this amazing organization and part of the change we are trying to bring to the communities.
AmeriCorps was founded in 1993. Since then more than one million Americans across the country have participated in AmeriCorps projects and more than 80,000 individuals serve annually. AmeriCorps members are matched with local and national organizations to address critical community needs related to disaster services, economic opportunities, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures and the support of veterans and military families.
The Montana State Parks AmeriCorps partnership began in 2012. Since then members have served more than 120,000 hours and improved more than 2,000 acres of park land with projects such as weed mitigation, habitat restoration, trail work and facilities maintenance. Montana State Parks AmeriCorps has 16 members currently, all serving state parks around the state, from Makoshika to Bannack to Flathead Lake!
Recently, many of the Montana State Park AmeriCorps members, including myself, attended an informal training day where we learned about trail maintenance. We imparted our new knowledge to contour a trail for better water drainage at Milltown State Park, which is having a grand opening celebration on June 23! Sometimes I will travel as needed to help out with other park events as well - I will be performing trail work and noxious weed pulling on Wild Horse Island for National Trails Day. I will also be lending a hand at Paddle Fest at Frenchtown Pond June 30, as we all work together to make great things happen for the community.
So far this season I have been scheduling the interpretive programs but I am also working on creating an interpretive trail at Beavertail Hill State Park (near Clinton, MT) which will spur off of the main trail and then loop back around.
In other news, we have published our summer interpretive campfire program schedule. This year we have some notable programs that are bound to make for a memorable trip to the parks! We are offering a program that will show a first-hand look and behind-the-scenes footage into the life of a musher, and yes, he’s bringing his sled dogs for the attendees to meet!
Other unique offerings are the educational fishing clinics which we will host at both Salmon Lake and Placid Lake in July—we have all of the equipment, all you need to bring is yourself!
For the younger audience, we have kid-oriented programs such as Montana Natural History Center’s “Art in Nature” hands-on art-making event for children and the highly anticipated Animal Wonders interactive presentation with live rescue animals! Just a friendly reminder: all of our programs are FREE and open to the public.
Two of our programs are sponsored by Humanities Montana, a non-profit organization that sponsors programs throughout the state of Montana and both events feature a professional presenter. The first is titled “Home, Home on the Ranch: A Snapshot into the American West,” which is comprised of folk songs and stories of the railroad, heroes and outlaws, put on by former folklore - he calls it “illiterature” - professor, Bill Rossiter.
Secondly, we have Jenny Bevill, an artist and educator, passionate about creating shared experiences with art for everyone, leading us through a creative, nature-inspired watercolor drawing and reflection. If you are under the age of 10, you will need to be supervised by a parent or guardian. For Jenny’s watercolor program ONLY, you must sign up in advance online - volunteersignup.org/TLJM3 - however, for ALL of the other programs you are welcome to just show up!
If anyone has any questions, comments, or ideas about any of the campfire programs or parks, please feel free to reach out to us by phone or e-mail. Thank you for reading along and I hope to see you in the parks this summer!
The local office phone number is 406-677-6804. My work e-mail: Cassandra.corridoni@mt.gov
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