Rocks, Boulders Serve As Mighty Memorial

A recent copy of The Spokesman-Review brought the news that Tom Rogers had died.

Many Valleyites knew him as the moving force behind the acquisition and preservation of the Dishman Hills Natural Area.

I, too, knew of him in that capacity and respected his work.

I also knew him as a classroom teacher.

Most educators must be satisfied with memorials which live only in the hearts of their students.

But Tom Rogers - environmental educator to the entire region - has 530 acres of tombstones. They are the rocks and boulders of the Dishman Hills Natural Area, a fitting honor to a humble, intelligent and committed man.

Mr. Rogers tried to teach me biology when I was 15 years old. I didn’t realize what I could learn from this dedicated naturalist. That was my loss.

An unmotivated student, I did well enough in the courses toward which I was inclined, such as English and history.

I didn’t put forth much effort in math and science.

With sports, the school newspaper and church activities, there didn’t seem to be enough time to study subjects that were difficult.

As a sophomore at Central Valley High school in the late 1950s, I was far too involved in adjusting to high school to focus on anything as seemingly mundane a biology.

The study of how life goes on in the natural world did not resound in my poetic soul.

In Mr. Rogers’ class, I was an indifferent student.

I managed to get a C and missed a significant opportunity to learn.

It took several summers working for the Forest Service in the Priest Lake, Idaho, area for me to get a sense of what I had missed. Men on the crew who had lived in the woods all their lives taught me about trees, bushes and flowers that thrived in the ecology of the Selkirk Mountains.

I quickly learned the names and characteristics of the plants and why they grew where they did.

Piling brush, fighting fires and maintaining trails, the country around Priest Lake became my place - not because I owned property there, but because I knew about the land, plants and animals that lived there.

I saw how they depended on one another and how our actions affected their survival.

After the experience of working in the woods, I was finally ready to learn from Mr. Rogers.

He and a group of fellow preservationists had begun a campaign to save the Dishman Hills area as early as 1966.

Over the years, I followed his efforts as he and others raised money, bought the natural preserve, and made it available as a retreat and classroom.

I read his words in the paper and heard them on television as he alerted people in the Valley and throughout the Spokane area to issues of environmental concern.

Having learned that I could love and understand nature, I took his words seriously.

Observing his 40-year effort to preserve natural ecology in the midst of human development, I witnessed a heroic example of a life dedicated to values.

When I saw the article announcing his death, I realized that Mr. Rogers was an educator who wasn’t content to teach within the four walls of his biology classrooms at Central Valley and later University high schools. Fifteen-year-old high school sophomores weren’t the only recipients of his extensive knowledge. Fortunately, for this community, he taught us all.

True to form, Tom Rogers left a memorial in which, if we simply pay the Dishman Hills Natural Area a visit, he can continue to teach us.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

Tom Rogers, who died last month at the age of 85, was a member of the Valley Voice Council of Contributors and occasionally wrote for The Front Porch. His family has asked that memorial contributions be sent to the Dishman Hills Natural Area Association, 10820 E. Maxwell, Spokane, WA 99206.