Wrangell Institute For Science and Environment
WISE provides science and environmental education to all age groups, resources for learning, and support for scientific research
WRANGELL INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT - COPPER CENTER, ALASKA
PHONE: 907-822-3575 OFFICE (CELL) 907-259-3575 OR 907-822-3282 Contact Us
2012 Wounded Warriors
Project
BLM, WISE and Project Healing Waters Partnered for this three day event at Tangle Lakes
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Now is the time to help WISE prepare for the 2013 Education
Program Season
Current Events Summer Calendar click here
WISE Address Change: New Address is HC60 Box 338A, Copper Center. AK 99573
It is with a heavy heart that I write this. WISE has lost a dear friend and family member. Bruce James lost his long courageous battle with cancer on June 8, 2013. He spent his last days at his wilderness home in Chokosna surrounded and embraced by his beloved wife, Kayane, daughter Julie, son Brian, daughter-in-law Nicole, three grandchildren Brennen, Chase, Emily, and faithful dog Mack – or Macaroni as Bruce would playfully call him.
Bruce lived for and with the wild. It was the essence of his being. In his last days he watched the birds in his yard, he watched the river rise and fall, he watched as the leaves of the trees and other plants unfolded in their springtime greenness, he breathed in the wilderness air, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it shone on the snow capped mountains above him, he listened to stories old and new and re-lived earlier times with family.
In his three short years with WISE Bruce did a life time of dedicated work teaching youth and adults about the wilderness deeply embedded in his heart. He didn’t need a teaching degree to do this. His knowledge came with life experience. Teaching isn’t just about conveying knowledge. It’s about sharing it in a fun and interactive way. For Bruce it was being outdoors, getting your hands dirty, rowing a boat in circles until teamwork took hold, showing the art of casting a line, dissecting a fish, picking berries and making jams, filleting a salmon, fine tuning survival skills, instilling a sense of love and place in the hearts of those he touched. True teaching is dedication and comes from the heart. Bruce was all of this and although it may feel like a hole is left in our hearts, the hole is really filled with Bruce and the knowledge he so generously and joyfully gave to everyone to keep forever. This we celebrate and give thanks.
As Bruce's soul began his next journey an ermine came to his door and excitedly wanted in, gray jays came to his window, a lone loon made a single call on Silver Lake, and a wild turkey came to the porch of a friend he used to hunt wild turkeys with. Sometime after he left, a peaceful smile formed on his face and it looked as if he was saying it's OK, I'm at peace, I'm one with the wild.
Janelle Eklund
President WISE
In memory of Bruce James 1953 to 2013
