WOLFEBORO, NH -- Feb. 19, 2002 -- Jack Mountain Bushcraft
this week began its Earth Skills Semester Program (ESSP), a
twelve-week residential course on the traditional skills of
living and traveling in the wilderness. Based on a small
farm in Brunswick, Maine, and co-instructed by registered
Maine guide Tim Smith, M.Ed., and lobsterman Dan Fisher, the
ESSP focuses on teaching students to live in harmony with
the natural world.
Unlike other outdoor programs, the ESSP teaches that people
are a part of the environment, and that their actions can
have a positive impact on the land around them. With this
in mind, students learn how to take care of the land so it
becomes a healthier environment for plants, animals, and
people. Students live in a shelter made from natural
materials and heated by a handmade stone and clay woodstove.
They are mentored in shelter building, making fire without
matches, finding wild foods and medicines, tracking,
canoeing, snowshoeing, making baskets, pottery, clothing,
musical instruments, soap, and anything else required to
live well.
"At its most basic level, the ESSP teaches students to live
on the earth like it is their home, which it is," said Mr.
Smith, founder of Jack Mountain Bushcraft. Students agree.
"The ESSP is a unique opportunity to learn survival skills
and attitudes that promote an intimate understanding of
nature with wonderfully skilled and humorous teachers," said
Kathy Chen, a former student currently attending Duke
University. "I wish that everyone had the opportunity to
take part in this experience."
In addition to time spent at the farm, the program includes
numerous expeditions that utilize the skills students are
learning. From a ten day snowshoe and toboggan trip in
northern Maine, to canoeing through Florida's Everglades
National Park, to a north woods walkabout and solo survival
experience, students constantly refine their knowledge and
expand their understanding of what is possible. The course
culminates with the Earth Skills Symposium where students
present what they have learned and report on a research
topic of their choice.
The ESSP is limited to 10 students per semester. More
information is available online at
http://www.jackmountainbushcraft.com.
About Jack Mountain Bushcraft
Jack Mountain Bushcraft teaches courses in wilderness
living, primitive skills, and survival, and guides canoe and
snowshoe trips. Founded by Registered Maine Guide Tim Smith,
Jack Mountain Bushcraft is based in the Lakes Region of New
Hampshire.
Posted by Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Staff