Forest Explorers is a multi-year after school forest ecology education program for 4th through 8th grade students in rural Skamania County.  Through a partnership with ESD112 and Skamania County, Northwest Service Academy AmeriCorps deliver programs to upper elementary and middle school students at rural, underserved schools of Cape Horn-Skye, Canyon Creek, Skamania, Mill A, and Mt. Pleasant.  Students in grades 5-8 participate in the 5 day afterschool program for 1 week each in the spring and fall each. In addition, these students get to participate in a 5 day/4 night residential summer camp at USFS Camp Mt. Adams Center.  CGEI is in the process of expanding the program into The Dalles, where students will have the opportunity to become "Gorge Explorers."

These two-hour science enrichment units for students build on the materials presented in the school programs with hands-on activities focused on strengthening science concepts, leadership development, and experiential stewardship opportunities.

The after-school programs complement the science inquiry component of the academic SECRETS of Our Forest Home programs while also giving upper-elementary school students the opportunity to increase their academic achievement, providing extracurricular opportunities for underserved youth, and building a local stewardship and restoration ethic for public lands among our youth.