Community and RMS get fired up over Flash Point

By Kim Swaney

Buster the Northern Saw-whet Owl who is nine years old perches on Kate Davis' hand. Davis founded and is the Executive Director for Raptor of the Rockies (Kim Swaney photo)

RONAN — What a novel idea: an entire community of diverse backgrounds and professions coming together for kids' sake to share their commonalities with "One Book/One Community."

The idea isn't new though. It began with Nancy Pearl of the Washington Center of The Book, at the Seattle Public Library in 1998. Ronan Middle School has been participating in the "One Book/One Community" for five years. Every year RMS chooses an age-appropriate book and distributes it to every student in the Middle School, as well as others in the community.

This year, the book selected is Sneed B. Collard, III's "Flash Point." The school recently invited Collard, Ronan Volunteer Fire Department, CS&KT Division of Fire, CS&KT Natural Resources, and Raptors of the Rockies to discuss issues and events surrounding fire.

"There's so much pride here. We have a lot of kids who are really connected to Fire Community," says Andrea Johnson, RMS Principal, of the students' families, many of who are foresters or firefighters.

"Flash Point" takes place in a fictitious small town in Montana - about the size of Bonner - called Heartwood.

Heartwood is in the middle of a fire season - one of the worst wildfire seasons in years - and wildfires nearby ignites not only trees, but emotions, too.

In the book, forestry policies are under fire by local residents as well as by state wildlife managers and environmentalists.

At the epicenter of the story is a high school student named Luther Wright who spends his time working at the veterinarian's clinic to help injured raptors. Luther befriends Alex, a new girl at the high school. Together they encounter dangers smoldering in the community that they never fathomed.

Collard skillfully kindles his fire story with real-life characterizations of Kate Davis from Raptors of the Rockies. Kate says Sneed came to her house a few years ago when he began working on "Flash Point." She provided technical advice to Sneed for his book. Sneed and Kate became and remain good friends.

Germaine White, CS&KT Natural Resources, presented an interactive DVD, "Fire on the Land," for the Middle School students. The DVD is one in a four-part project developed by CS&KT.

"The Tribes saw great benefits from fire," White says. "Fire was used to manipulate plants for people and animals' use, landscaping, cleansing, and communication," she adds.

The first part of the project featured a book of the Coyote story, "Beaver Steals Fire," which was illustrated by Char-Koosta News' assistant editor Sam Sandoval.

The second part is the book on Compact Disc, done in Salish and English. The third part of the project, the interactive DVD, contains valuable information including interviews with tribal elders and forestry managers, a hands-on experience that sparked some of the students' interests. The fourth part of the project is the web site, which is hosted by the Tribes.

Throughout the day, between Collard and White's sessions, students raced up and down the Event Center's floor, putting on fireman's gear or hauling a backpack courtesy of the Ronan Volunteer Fire Department and CS&KT Division of Fire.

"That's why you ride with the ambulance crew - you don't have to wear all that stuff," teased Principal Johnson.

Students flocked around Kate and the raptors. The students who helped carry in Kate's birds were extremely curious as they snuck peeks into a carrier holding a nine-year-old Northern Saw-whet Owl named Buster.

Kate also brought along a six-year-old Harris Hawk named Déjà and a beautiful vocal Peregrine Falcon known as Sibley. Davis founded Raptors of the Rockies in 1988 and has shown her birds of prey to more than 100,000 students and has done 1,051 raptor presentations. Kate says falcons are her absolute favorite topic.

Caring for the raptors is rewarding for Kate. All of the birds had sustained injuries preventing them from being released in the wild.

Kate casually fed the Peregrine Falcon a hindquarter from her cache as she told students about ornithology. Kate drew some squeamish sounds as she described her freezer. It's no ordinary freezer. Next to the frozen hamburger and ice cream is a raptor's smorgasbord of coyote legs, grouse, quail, chickens, hearts, and mice.

In "Flash Point," the veterinarian, "Kay," works with Luther and Alex to try and find out who is shooting the raptors.

Collard, a Missoula author, has been living in the Missoula area for approximately 11 years. He has written four books about Montana. Sneed began writing right out of college, when he was 23. It took him eight or nine years of not successfully selling his stories and another 10 or 11 years to make a living at writing. He has won numerous book awards and has a written a total of 36 books for young readers.

When the students asked Sneed what it takes to be successful, he replied, "You really have to be patient. Attitude is everything, because you'll get hundreds of rejections."