A loud crunch, branches snap underneath his foot, sound consumes the quiet forest. Omri Cahn, a 21-year-old junior studying environmental science, stood frozen under the seemingly protective canopy of trees. Silently, he stared at a running bear, praying it wouldn’t notice him, hoping he wouldn’t become the bear’s midafternoon snack. After attempting to find an off-map watering hole, Omri and a coworker became lost in the woods. While nearly escaping a bear attack, Omri not only walked away unharmed, but looks back on this experience fondly.

Having always been passionate about the outdoors, Omri desires to do everything possible to protect National Forests and preserve wild-lands. Omri’s mom, Gail, describes a family trip to Alaska as transformative for Omri. “He was truly able to see the importance of nature when witnessing his aunt and uncle surviving off the land.” Unfortunately, in Omri’s eyes, deforestation to allow for drilling oil might be the biggest threat currently faced by National Forests. Recently, debate pertaining to areas such as the Boundary Waters regarding the usage of wild-lands for drilling has arisen. “It’s very important to protect these places and their social value, such as experiences people might have,” said Omri. While signing petitions to protect wild-lands has been the extent of Omri’s current activism, far more is occurring behind the scenes.

Joining the Boy Scouts at a young age, Omri continued his grandfather’s family legacy a family of becoming Eagle Scouts, the organizations highest rank. He had wanted to not only continue this tradition, but also join an organization with an emphasis in the outdoors. While Omri observed the importance of the outdoors in Alaska, it wasn’t until age 15, on a trip to Yosemite National park, that Omri feels as if he discovered his true passion for preservation. “We crested a mountain and were faced with a sprawling valley, so much massive space, and it was absolutely beautiful.” Omri attributes this experience as a major driving factor towards achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, choosing his major, and planning his future career path.

Omri is looking at a future career where a company needing a map or data set converted into digital format, would contact him. Thusly enabling Omri to spend an abundant amount of time outdoors compiling data. After observing, he would write impact reports, comparing past cases with the current situation and environment. In preparation for this future career, Omri is taking a course teaching him how to take data points from surveying maps to understand the social and economic factors that wild-lands might encounter from events such as deforestation. Not only will Omri be compiling data on the environment, he will be compiling his past experiences to help protect wild-lands and provide future generations with amazing experiences and opportunities.