POBR 2015 Day 2 Monday, wake up call just before 6am: Since some of us were up so early, I took the opportunity to catch a few pic’s of my best travel partner along with some other abstract nature settings:

 

Day One in the POBR Field, our activity took place in the Deshutes National Forest, We met with Forest Ranger Fuel Technicians Robert Newey and Nick Swagger.

Robert explained the fundamentals of firefighters camp(s). The age range of firefighters- from 16 to 18 the youths can participate in camp crews, which is basically the crew that feeds and cleans up after the firefighters; After age of 18, you can obtain a RED card, which is sort of a checklist of each person’s expertise as Mr. Swagger has showed us his copy:

As we are learning new information about fire fuels, which happens to be the debris on the ground. The amount of hours it takes to burn if wet is according to a system that relied on burn hours and the diameter of the debris. There is also a difference between dead versus what is called “green,” meaning dead is obviously going to burn at an amazing pace, where green is actually still alive, and has a protective layer we know as bark.

What was also discussed was the plant environment; how cheat grass is a weed descendant from Asia, and this is a primary source for burn fuel (a big problem) and also is a danger to our traditional feed plants for our local animals.

Other plants in the local Oregon forest consisted of: Bitter Brush, Sow Brush, and Mazeneeta:

 

We also discussed how Loggers decide on cutting down trees. Amazingly they do not rely on what a Mill wants, or needs for their sales. It is a combination of organizations to meet about each region of consideration. There are needs for a variety of organizations/people, for example: Trails for the hikers, logging for the mills, thinning of the environment to avoid potential disastrous fires, trees taking over the meadows, there is a need for all of these environments to be taken care of. If the organizations/people do not take precautions, such animals can go instinct, and certain plants needed for the cycle of life.

The amount of information shared cannot all be put into my blog, so if I missed anything please look to another participant of the People of the Big River 2015’s blog.

On another topic, we observed a set of trees, and the rangers asked, if you were to cut down any of those trees, which ones would you cut and why. The answers varied, my answer was the middle 3. To our surprise, no one really had a wrong answer. Below are the trees of concern:

Besides the trees, my wandering eye found another picture worthy seed. Actually a Pine Cone seed that had some magnificent features that resembles a blooming flower… I was in awe:

In the afternoon, we went to the United States Forest Service hub:

This place is where we learned about Seed Extractory methods, from the experts Sarah Garmin and Kayla Hurman, this was interesting information about this branch of the U.S. Forest Service. If I was to go into a position, these are the business hours I am looking for, which was traditional government hours. Meaning weekends off, holidays off, 8am to 5pm (but there is some flexibility with this environment which is a plus).

Amazingly there is 20 different species processed for organizations across the country. A 3 step process to for extracting seeds and finding the highest quality seeds to use. The season generally lasts from March to September.

Both Kayla and Sarah expressed how important Math, Biology, and Reading/Writing is, especially in High School. Kayla described how fortunate she was to take all the college level Math’s in High School. This is important because so many College students struggle with the 100 level Mathematics classes… Another important aspect is, study hard in all the science classes.

During Lunch, we sat with what I would like to refer to as the core management of the United States Forest Service. The conversations about everything from Fisheries to new Species being discovered all the time in the forest. Here are some of the highlighted random topics, although this seemed a bit awkward because the conversation occurred while we the students ate and they did not? I don't know about you but, I think it's a bit rude to try and talk with a mouthful of food. Matt did a great job at keeping them answering random questions, I chimed in every now and then. Regardless here is the great group of U.S. Forest Service Personnel we chatted with:

Their professions all different yet, focused on the same goal. Here is a list of a couple of their trades:
Fisheries

Land Surveyor(s)

Licensed aspect of the Forest Service Jobs. Overall the Forest Service jobs are some of the most flexible jobs out there (work your own hours). Go to USA.Gov to apply or search for jobs of interest.

Fire Management (A vital part of working with the Forest Service), various levels of positions throughout the field.

Volunteer while you (students) are in college, this actually works as a benefit in the summer for extra cash.

Biologist- Taking care of a rare species of plant, which only sprouts almost every other year.

Archeology

75% of the plant population are in this district.

Management

 At the end of the feast (BBQ thank you very much US Forest Service), we assisted with the clean up duties.