National Outdoor Leadership School - Index

National Outdoor Leadership School - Nols - Index

12
WILDERNESS
Top left: An extended expedition means you'll fully experience the wilderness. Bottom left: From Alaska's caribou to New Zealand's kea, the wildlife you encounter will remind you that
humans are just visitors in these wild places. Right and far right: Learning about the ecology of your wilderness classroom is a part of every NOLS course.
MAGNIFICENCE OF TREES
When I think about my NOLS experience, I remember the density
and lushness of the Olympic National Forest, the magnitude of the
land, the stately grandeur of the mountain peaks. I also remember
becoming aware of my own comparative insignificance in the grand
scheme of things (that's a good thing!). It was my first true encounter
with deep wilderness. I was just a kid from Massachusetts...and
nothing could have prepared me for the size of those trees.
THE CORE OF NOLS
At age 17, I was one of the youngest members on our NOLS expedition.
Looking back, this was a period in which I discovered a lot
about myself as a leader. It was also a time when I recognized that
humans are not at the center of the universe and that nature has an
order and power all its own.
The environment is many things to many people. For some, it's
backcountry isolation and old-growth forests. To others, it is the
community in which they live and work-the trees, green spaces,
Fredrik Norrsell
Bryan Palmintier
NOLS EXPLORES REMOTE WILDERNESS
ON EXTENDED EXPEDITIONS.
NOLS wilderness by Chip Giller, Pacific Northwest Wilderness '88, Founder and CEO of Grist.org
and air that surrounds them. To others still, it is the lack of green
space where they live, brought into focus by a poorly-sited power
plant, or landfill, or freeway. Only a small number of people will
ever experience wilderness as I did for the first time in the Olympics.
FINDING MY PLACE
Today, as the founder and CEO of Grist.org, an online environmental
news and information community touching nearly one million
folks worldwide, I bring the knowledge I gained during NOLS
to work with me each day. It's the realization that if we look outside
of our narrow self-interests, we make the world a safer, cleaner,
healthier place to live. Together we can be a force.
So, while NOLS offers the transformative experience of connecting
people to the wild, Grist reaches many others who may
never visit the wilderness. Two different paths. But the end result
is the same: an ever-growing group of folks who understand what's
at stake and are willing to take action-on behalf of themselves
and the planet.
Ashley Wise