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On a bright spring day on the Valley Floor, more than 100 students from kindergarten through second grade explored wetlands, wildlife and local history as part of the annual Valley Floor Education Day.

“We just love providing them the opportunity to come and explore our beautiful, vibrant areas of nature, teeming with life and science lessons,” said Sarah Holbrook, executive director of the Pinhead Institute, a local STEM education nonprofit.

Throughout the day, students rotated through hands-on learning stations spread across the Valley Floor.

“This year we have a lesson on beavers, a lesson on the pH of the river, a lesson on owl pellets, which is so fun — you get to find the bones inside, basically owl vomit,” Holbrook said. “And then the historical museum is doing a lesson on the early settlers of this area.”

The Pinhead Institute hosted the event in collaboration with Sheep Mountain Alliance, the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, EcoAction Partners and the Telluride Historical Museum.

“Every year we love coming to Valley Floor Day because it’s so cool to see the kids out experiencing the landscapes that we’re working behind the scenes to protect,” said Ruthie Boyd, executive director of Sheep Mountain Alliance.

At the pond station, Boyd taught students about beavers and wetlands.

“We’re going over the Valley Floor and what it might have looked like if there weren’t people here,” Boyd said. “What it might have looked like if there were more beavers. If there were more beavers, it would have been even more of a wetland. We’re talking about what that is and why it matters that there are wetlands.”

Kendra Held of EcoAction Partners said the lessons also highlighted how beavers can help mitigate wildfire risk.

“Many adults that I’ve been speaking to are very concerned about the drought that we’re experiencing, and one of the driest and warmest winters we’ve had on record, and what that means for wildfire,” Held said. “I think for kids to understand what our strengths are, what we can do to support our ecosystems, is really important. To think about what tools we have in our toolkit — and beavers are one of them.”

That message resonated with first grader Reid Reynolds.

“[My favorite part was] learning about beavers,” Reynolds said. “That they help forest fires not happen.”

First grader Palmer Watenpaugh said he especially enjoyed learning about owls.

“I got to listen to different sounds of owls,” Palmer said. “One sounded like a ping pong ball going up and down.”

Palmer’s mother, Natalie Watenpaugh, joined the field trip and said she hopes the experience encourages environmental stewardship.

“I think especially as the world evolves, preserving these special places and educating kids on why it’s so important is crucial because they’re going to be the future generation that is going to be protecting places like this,” Watenpaugh said. “So if we can educate them this young about why they’re important, how we can enjoy them, what other animals live here, then we have a better chance of preserving places like this for our future.”

Held said she hopes the event also gives students a sense of optimism amid growing climate concerns.

“Even though, yes, there are still these big challenges that we have in our world, I think it’s important for young people to see and experience examples of collective community action and healthy ecosystems functioning in a beautiful way to weather the storms that come,” Held said.

The Valley Floor is approximately 570 acres at the entrance to Telluride. In 2009, the town purchased the land through a major community fundraising effort and placed it under a conservation easement to permanently protect it as open space.