Volunteers working to save Clair Tappaan Lodge

Jane and Jerry Risk promote environmental education - and Lodge finances

Jane and Jerry Risk see Clair Tappaan Lodge, the Sierra Club's historic lodge in Norden near Donner Summit in the Sierra, as the heart of the Club. The lodge is a wonderful resource both for recreation (have you been there yet?) and for teaching people about the Sierra environment. After going there for more than 20 years, the Risks were upset to find out that its finances are shaky and that the Club might need to sell it off.

They responded by joining the Lodge Committee, a dedicated group of volunteers working to ensure the Lodge's survival.

Environmental education

As retired teachers, Jane and Jerry have focused on the lodge's educational program. Jane used to bring her class to the lodge every winter, and so she approached schools in the Bay Area about conducting field trips to the lodge. She arranged for Peter Mayfield, director of the Truckee non-profit Gateway Mountain Center, to make presentations to the educators about activities and course work that the Center can offer at the lodge. Peter and Jane are requesting special funding from the Sierra Club Foundation to help defray the schools' costs.

Environmental education is a required part of California's student curriculum, and Donner Summit is a natural laboratory for exciting hands-on learning. Programs at Clair Tappaan also fit the state's curriculum standards in science, mathematics, history and social science, physical geography, and physical education. Topics include biology, ecology, rocks, and geologic formations, along with petroglyphs, Native-American history and culture, the immigrant experience, and the contributions of Chinese immigrant laborers. Students can learn map, compass, and global-positioning-system navigation skills. Just the opportunity to explore the outdoors and enjoy nature is of tremendous value to today's city-bound children. Encountering snow for the first time, walking through pine forests and wildflower-filled meadows, stargazing at 7,000 feet, away from light pollution - all of these are amazing learning experiences for city dwellers.

ElderHostel

Jane also worked together with volunteer Andrea Brewer-Thompson to establish a connection with the national ElderHostel program, which sponsors educational trips for groups of seniors. Andrea initiated the arrangements with ElderHostel. Then Jane, with the help of Dave Simon, the Sierra Club's director of outdoor activities, completed the extensive paperwork to make these programs a reality. Together they arranged for two weeks of ElderHostel programs at the lodge this coming September. The theme is "Treks and Trails, Tunes and Tales of the High Sierra". We are very fortunate to have experienced Elderhostel program coordinator Patricia Northrop as program leader.

WhatYouCanDo

Join Jane and Jerry, and the other Lodge Committee members and other lovers of Clair Tappaan, in working to keep the lodge alive and vital.

Offering these educational programs is a valuable extension of the Club's mission "to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment" - and the financial boost of bringing groups to the lodge is likely to make the difference in balancing the books. Don't you know a group - a school, a youth organization, a church perhaps, that could benefit from a visit to Clair Tappaan? By making the suggestion to a school or group and helping set up the connection, you can join with Jane and Jerry - and numerous others - who are working to preserve the lodge and to bring Sierra Club activities to your community.

For more information about the lodge, including the ElderHostel trip, check the lodge web site or call (800) 679-6775.

For information about bringing groups to the lodge or making presentations to interested schools, contact Jane Risk at (415) 586-4549 or email j.risk -at- sbcglobal.net

Ernie Malamud, chair, Clair Tappaan Lodge Committee