POBR - Crane Prairie Creek Campground - Day 10

 

People of The Big River

Location: Crane Prairie Creek Campgrounds

Day 9

 

Today we got to spend the day with some members of the Sisters ranger district. We met Alex Enna who mentioned that he has worked in many different things from nonprofits to fighting fire. He studied biology during his undergrad and also got a masters in in forestry. He’s been working with the forest service for a long time. We also got to meet Christine Mayor who has also worked for the forest service for some time, and she has done a ton of different things. Like being in charge of volunteer groups, youth groups, and habitat restorations. She mentioned how she’s been working in some kind outdoor career for over 19 years. She also told us that she went to school for forestry but really liked learning about botany and soil science so she found her way to a career where she could do a bit of everything. The last person we got to meet was Liz Day; she went to school at the university of Delaware for her undergraduate degree in wildlife. She said that after her degree she worked as a fish tech for 4 years and that she has been working at the ranger district for two years. All of them seem to really adore their jobs and they talked about them with a lot of excitement.

After introductions Liz went into a lot of detail about the project, we were going to help them with. Which was another set of beaver dam analogs, this time it was a completely different system and with different materials since it was a different area and group of people making/fixing the dams. We didn’t build any we just help add more material to fix them up. We used loppers to cut down willow branches which we fed through the wall of the dam to try and slow the flow of the water. We hiked into the site, and it didn’t take super long but the grass was tall, and we crossed the creek, and I fell in, it felt so nice though and most of us had waders, so I didn’t get wet. The water was very chilly, and I think it went into my boots but luckily the waders did their job, and I was mostly dry besides the fact that I was sweating a ton. We saw a ton of pretty flowers, a few caterpillars, and some really nice trees. Also, in the area there is a ranch that does horseback riding and there were some people going through when we first got there.

I got to cut down some willow branches and actually put them into the dam, it was so cool to be out there. I was talking to Liz on the way back about her job and she gave me tips so that I could make the most of my time in undergrad. I’d love to go to grad school in the future and after that working for a group that dabbles in all kinds of different work. Getting to experience things like that is so amazing to me because I never really saw it growing up. My interests have always led me in the right way so that I can find a job in a related field. However, it makes me wonder about all of the other people who are also interested in stuff like this and never get to hear about it. I am very appreciative of Jessica and Monet who are working to change that within our community because it can really make a difference in someone’s life, from working somewhere you don’t care so much for to doing something that brings you joy. I am very grateful we get to be out here and learn about the wide variety of jobs out there. Christine had also mentioned that she did something with interpretation within her work and I think that’s something I would also really love to do.

P.s. Congrats to Dr. Schuster for passing a really important exam for his master’s program!! I’ve heard how hard he works, and I hope he is able to do so much more in his field and through/with his students.

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