The Lolo Pass Visitor Center straddles the border of northern Idaho and western Montana. It’s in a mountainous and remote place full of wildlife, and campgrounds filled with cedar, pine and spruce trees.
Dozens of ground squirrels live in burrows around the center’s sprawling green lawn. After people started asking about them, Sacha Wells, an interpretive ranger for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, started taking photos of the furry residents.
She created a fictional high school called “Columbianus High,” the scientific name for the residential rodents, complete with posters for squirrel classes like tunnel engineering and a lunch menu with fruit and nuts.
For three years now, Wells has made “Ground Squirrel High School” an annual summer exhibit. Last year’s theme was prom. This summer, it’s spirit week.
At the center, two spirited ground squirrels are painted on the wall. One has a football and a letterman jacket, and one has pigtails and pompoms.
People of all ages have been taking photos in front of the mural, Wells said.
“ It’s been a delight. I took a group photo of four elderly people in there the other day, so people like it,” Wells said. “There was a kid that went in there and was like, ‘Hmm, what does a ground squirrel do? Oh, I know.’ And then he posed like a little squirrel. It was really amazing.”
Creating exhibits where people can learn about the forest and wildlife in a fun way is the main part of her job as an interpretive ranger, she said.
People who visit the fictional high school will be greeted by a wall of photos of the actual ground squirrels who live on the property, and can vote for superlatives, dubbed “squirrelatives” by Wells.
“We have some classics, you know, ‘Best smile,’ Class clown,’ ‘Best style,’ ‘School heartthrob,’” she said. “A new one we have been doing is ‘Cringiest TikTok videos,’ you know, to get the kids involved.”
Other categories include “Most likely to survive the Hunger Games” and “Most likely to drop their phone in the toilet.”
“Those boxes are crammed full of votes, so I’m going to be spending a lot of time counting them in August,” she said.
But it’s been harder at the center with fewer staff this year.
“I was let go in February and then rehired, so I’m glad the squirrels are happening at all,” Wells said. In March, she was offered her job back as part of a legal action brought against the USDA.
“Some folks, after they were laid off, were asked to return and declined to come back,” she said. “We lost a lot of people.”
Their recreation team was hit the hardest, Wells said.
“Last year, we had six people to do all the bathrooms and take care of the reservations and all that stuff,” she said. “This year, we have one.”
The rest of the staff have been helping clean bathrooms and take campground reservations because there aren’t enough people to help, Wells said.
The number of visitors plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Wells said more people have been coming every year since. July is an especially busy month, she said.
Columbianus High will be on display through the end of the month. August is bat month, where visitors will be able to accompany Wells on an interactive tour with special detectors. Those detectors can pick up the ultrasonic sounds of bats that fly out in the evening around the visitor center.