craigdailypress.com

Earth Day came to Craig on Friday with the sound of shovels moving dirt and children playing in the green grass.

From the fresh cut lawn of Craig Intermediate School, to the new row of trees in back of Moffat County High School, the science classes learned about ecology and conservation.

At CIS, the children alternated between sessions taught by Colorado Division of Wildlife officers and wild horse advocates speaking on the plight of the mustangs.

Pat Mosbey and his wife Patty traded off telling the fifth graders about the history of the horses living wild since the Spanish released them hundreds of years ago.

At a discussion on habitat taught by the Division of Wildlife, children were broken into groups of deer and habitat. They quickly learned that as the deer herd grows, the habitat becomes over-grazed, and soon it is used up.

"I'm living up to the deer reputation," sixth-grader Annie Sadvar said. "I couldn't find lunch today either."

As a group of children headed off to look at plant life "down by the river," (Fortification Creek), math and science teacher DeeDee Ghiradelli rotated the next class into the playground.

"The fifth-graders have been doing Earth Day projects all day," Ghiradelli said. "We started at 9 this morning."

At Moffat County High School, the presentation on reclamation by Henry Austin from the government's Office of Surface Mining concluded and the tree planting begins.

Heaping shovels of dirt around the five new Colorado blue spruce trees, were about 50 -- mostly seniors -- on a mission.

"Today is Arbor day in Colorado," said Allen Klein, Regional Director with the U.S. Department of the Interior. "Our agency is working hard to promote reforestation on mined land, and while I know this isn't a mine, it's a mining community."

Trees bought by the Depart--ment of the Interior line the parking lot behind the high school.

"My tree is straighter," one senior called out.

"We want all these trees to grow straight and live long," said Graham Roberts from The Trap--per Mine. "This is a good day."

Dan Olsen can be reached at 824-7031, ext.207, or dolsen@craigdailypress.com