Bald Mountain Meadow Participant Enrollment Form

Alaska is often hailed as one of the world’s last true wildernesses, a landscape more than twice the size of Texas characterized by pristine natural ecosystems. The land of mountains, orcas, brown bears, salmon, glaciers, and moose. It’s also a place of complex human interactions with the natural world, a place that lends itself to conversations about wildness, climate change, indigeneity, the impact of human behavior on the land, and the necessity to protect and conserve these places for future generations. This interdisciplinary, place-based learning expedition for educators will take you into one of the remotest regions of Alaska to experience true wilderness firsthand and to provide opportunities for connection and conversation with Alaska’s people and places. Fly in a bush plane to Becharof Lake National Wildlife Refuge with professional Alaskan guide Tia Shoemaker to flyfish the sockeye salmon run and watch the world’s largest brown bears; meet with famed Alaskan writers to discuss their work on Alaska and conservation; travel to an indigenous fish camp and engage in conversation with native Alaskans about subsistence and indigeneity. Take a deep dive into a case study on the Pebble Mine extraction project currently threatening the Bristol Bay ecosystem and speak with various issue stakeholders as you contemplate the fraught balance between development and preservation. These are just some of the remarkable experiences you’ll have that will help you think more deeply about the complex challenges facing wild places in Alaska and about what you and your students can do to advocate for them. In the end, you will leave with a deep connection to Alaska, with a nuanced understanding of this remarkable place, and with the comfort and confidence to enhance your interdisciplinary, place-based pedagogy.

This trip will run from June 26th to July 6th, 2026

Bald Mountain Meadow seeks teachers who are motivated to enhance their place-based teaching practices and who are socially responsible and in good health both physically and emotionally. Bald Mountain Meadow is not an appropriate choice for individuals dealing with behavioral, motivational, or rehabilitation issues. We will deny admission to anyone we believe to be unable to meet the physical, mental, social or safety demands of our courses.

Bald Mountain Meadow will expel any participant who exhibits behavior that is unsafe or disrupts or distracts from the educational mission of one of our learning expeditions. Harassment, use of drugs and alcohol, theft or misuse of property, low motivation and disregarding instructions are examples of behavior that will lead to expulsion. If a participant is expelled, there will be no refund.

Prior to the course, each participant will be required to complete required agreements, such as: a Liability Waiver and a health screening document confirming that each participant attending the trip is in good physical and psychological condition to engage in the learning expedition.

TUITION for Searching for Wildness in Alaska’s Bristol Bay Watershed is $6,500. Tuition includes all programming, instruction, gear, food, and transportation once students arrive in Alaska, including round trip commercial airfare to King Salmon and the round trip bush flight into Becheroff Lake Wildlife Refuge. Participants are responsible for their own Health Insurance, round trip airfare to Anchorage, and a non-resident fishing license.

We will issue an invoice through our Quickbooks platform once we receive this completed Participant Enrollment Form. 50% of the tuition is non-refundable. Payment may be made by  check made out to Bald Mountain Meadow, LLC and mailed to: Bald Mountain Meadow/Care of Jason BreMiller at 649 Walnut Hill Road, North Yarmouth, ME 04097. You may also pay via ACH or ZELLE.

For cancellations not caused by Bald Mountain Meadow less than 45 days before the course start date, Bald Mountain Meadow will retain 100% of tuition.