stewardship

A Day In The Life: Trail Crew

beep beep beep — It’s 0445 and time to start the day. I wake up, slide out of my sleeping bag into the chilly morning air of my tent. Shoving everything to the foot of the tent, I grab my work pants and wiggle into them trying to keep the dirt from the day before out of my sleeping area. I throw on a jacket and beanie and force myself out into the fresh morning air.

Walking over to the kitchen area, I’m delighted to see that our crew lead already has a fire started - what would we do without him? Oatmeal for breakfast and a safety meeting as the crew finally gathers together on our log seats. Today, we’ll be building a retaining wall around a culvert. Safety meeting subject: Moving rocks.

0600 and we gather our gear to hike out. I sling my pack over my shoulder which is dirty with bar oil from the previous days, but holds my most valuable items: PBJ and an apple. We begin our hike down the road to the trail while my boot is already rubbing on my blister. I look over into the meadow and am greeted by the familiar sight of Mr. Moose browsing in the meadow. Sometimes being out here feels like a dream.

0730 we make it to our project site. I throw my pack on the ground, walk over to the place I was yesterday, and begin my time of crushing rock to make fill for the wall. wack wack wack — the monotonous sounds drown out my thoughts. Crew mates are moving rocks and carefully placing them like puzzle pieces in the hole we’ve made. Rocks need to be about 100 lbs to be a good candidate, so this can get clunky.

0900 I whip out my apple for a snack. It’s already starting to warm up and I’ve shed my extra layers. It’ll be another smoky, hot summer day. 0915 back to work. We switch it up and I begin hauling in dirt to top off the finished side of the wall.

1200 I almost dropped a rock on my toe earlier, but I moved out of the way just in time… thinking back on it, I almost wish it dropped on my boot… maybe it wouldn’t have broken in half if I cushioned its fall. Eh, well, that just means I have to go find another rock to drag and shimmy back to our work space.

1430 I’m thinking back to those days at the beginning of the season, wishing it would stop raining or snowing for just 30 minutes. Now I’m looking up at the sky during my afternoon break pleading to find just a single cloud offering a little bit of shade. No such luck today. And my sunscreen spilled all over inside my backpack. At least my PBJ survived the mess. I don’t know if my arms can even pick up one more rock.

1500 The culvert is finished! The feeling of pounding that last bit of dirt on top of the culvert is indescribable. This was such a big project, and there were so many times when I was losing hope or just wanted to sit and rest for a while. But look at it! Isn’t it amazing?

1630 We made it back to camp. My turn to cook tonight, but at least that means I don’t have to do dishes! I wash my hands with the bucket water and begin preparing the meal. We’re having burritos tonight. With cheese - lots of cheese. Each night during dinner, we have a question of the day. Today’s question was a mindbender - “Which ice cream flavor do you think should NOT exist?”

 

1830 We sit in a circle around our empty fire ring. We’re at Stage II fire restrictions this week. Journal time, reading time, or joking time. Each night it varies.

2100 I always stay up the latest. Tonight, it’s just me and the stars. I look up for a bit, but the smoke and clouds cover most of the view. Getting up, I grab my journal and make my way back to my tent. Outside the tent, I shed the work pants and climb in. I wrap myself up in the sleeping bag and reach over to set my little alarm “0445.” I can’t wait for another day in the field. What a life this is.

GBCA Welcomes New Stewardship Coordinator

When I was on a trail crew, someone once told me, “You know Joelle, all of us have our lives during work, and then at the end of the week we go home and live our city life. But you, you just live the same life all the time.”

So hey, I’m Joelle and I spent most of my time in the forest. I grew up on a tree farm where I began to learn how to care for the natural areas and be a steward of the land. My dad inspired my love for all of the relations around me and helped to grow me into who I am today. I hope to spread his gentle and caring touch on the land to those in the Great Burn area.

If you don’t spot me among the trees, then I’m probably in the water. I recently graduated from Northern Michigan University which is right on the shores of Lake Superior, so whenever I needed a study break, I would go for a swim (yes spring, summer, fall, and winter)! My favorite places to hike are along rivers or to an alpine lake, so watch out, I’m known to jump in at any moment!

Those that are crazy enough, bundle up and surf the waves of the Lake in the winter.

I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s in Ecology and minor in Native American Studies. I published a regional field guide on Midwestern flora and fauna and I am in the works of a Northwestern wildflower guide. I believe that education is a huge part of caring for the land. When it comes down to it, most people aren’t trying to destroy the ecosystem, they just don’t know how to properly care for it.

Over the years, I have worked on four trail crews in Colorado, Michigan, and Idaho. I built mountain bike trails in Michigan, worked on desert trails in Colorado, and maintained miles of trails in Idaho. Last year, I was employed by the GBCA as part of their seasonal crew on the North Fork RD of the Clearwater National Forest. This will be my third year in this area and I just keep coming back for more!

I am very excited to be your new Stewardship Coordinator. I feel as though I will be able to combine my passion for backpacking, education, fauna and flora knowledge, my photography skills, and my excitement of sharing stories with others. This year, you will be able to find me in the backcountry doing patrols, wildlife inventories, scouting for weed problem areas, leading volunteer trips, and assisting on some trail crews.

Cheers and Happy Trails!

Joelle

MCC Fellow End of Term Reflection

In 2022, GBCA hosted it’s first Montana Conservation Corps Fellow. The position was in place from May-September, and helped organize and lead many of GBCA’s volunteer stewardship trips. Here are some final reflections from a successful first season.

Hi again! I cannot believe it is already the end of September! As my Montana Conservation Corps term comes to an end, I wanted to share some of my experiences and what I have learned from my work at GBCA with you all.

Right from the start, I was welcomed with open arms onto the GBCA team. At GBCA, I worked closely alongside Hayley, who taught me so much about how to organize and coordinate stewardship projects at a nonprofit, and Rory, who co-led volunteer trips with me and shared his immeasurable knowledge about the Great Burn.

I was also able to get to know other members of the GBCA team, including Skye, Laura, Matthew, and some of our board members, particularly Bert Lindler, Elise Watts, and Daphne Herling. I learned valuable skills from these people that I will carry with me into my career as a conservationist.

As I focused on outreach in Missoula and Mineral counties, I met lots of people from western Montana communities that use the Great Burn or are involved with the management of the land in one way or another. I often tabled at farmers markets in Missoula, Frenchtown, and Alberton, where I interacted with locals who ranged from never having heard about GBCA before to those who were Great Burn regulars and long time supporters of the work that we do.

Photo by Bert Lindler!

Missoula Farmer’s Market Setup!

And through attending natural resource-oriented meetings in Missoula, Superior, and in the Great Burn, I was able to learn about how GBCA values partners and stakeholders in conversations and collaboration.

My favorite part of this job was getting out into the place we work for with our volunteer groups. The Great Burn, as anyone who has experienced it knows, is remote and stunning. And each one of our volunteer trips attracted a collection of unique and inspiring individuals. In addition to working alongside amazing volunteers, I also learned how to do and teach various types of conservation projects, such as trail brushing, campsite naturalization, and noxious weed management. I have such a heightened appreciation for the strenuous work that goes into maintaining beautiful trails and clean campsites now!

The Heart Lake basin is a popular and special place in the Burn, and I had the pleasure of going there many times to work with different teams on various projects. Coming from Pomona College, understanding and mitigating human-wildlife interactions was one of my biggest passions. At Heart Lake, I had the opportunity to experience how human use of this area often results in close-up encounters with mountain goats.

The potentially dangerous outcomes of these encounters is something GBCA, US Forest Service, and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks take very seriously, and our implementation of the Heart Lake Ambassador program aims to reduce negative interactions and improve our understanding of how increased human activity is impacting this native herd. I loved contributing to this program as well as installing new signage, brushing the trail with a Superior-based youth crew, and conducting wildlife surveys.

Can you spot the goat in the background?

Although I am sad to be leaving GBCA, I am so grateful for my time here and how it has prepared me for my next steps. Going forward, I want to continue to advocate for wildlife habitat, landscape connectivity, human access and recreation, and social, economic, and environmental impacts of conservation policy on rural communities. In the spring I will start my Masters of Science at WSU Pullman, where I will research climate and fire resiliency in the PNW. My work at GBCA has emphasized how different dimensions of conservation work (including science, policy, and on the ground stewardship) are necessary to make the best and most informed conservation decisions that benefit human communities and the environment. I hope to stay involved with GBCA, and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in the coming years!

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GBCA welcomes Montana Conservation Corps Fellow

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Hello, my name is Kat, and I am just finishing up my first week as a Montana Conservation Corps Fellow at the Great Burn Conservation Alliance! I am participating in the MCC Individual Placement Program, one of MCC’s four signature programs that partners Americorps members with nonprofits and other community-based conservation organizations. I chose this program because I want to expand my knowledge of conservation beyond scientific research, which was my main focus as an undergrad. I hope to use this opportunity to not only learn about the ecology of the Great Burn, but also to learn about the stewardship and policy dimensions of conservation work by surrounding myself with passionate people and large national forests. This is my first term serving as an Americorps member, and I feel excited to be working with both MCC and GBCA for the next four months!

This week has already been packed with meeting a lot of new people, diving into the intricacies of nonprofit conservation work, and seeing the Great Burn for the first time. My experiences so far have revealed how busy and awesome the rest of the summer will be!

Over the next several months, I will be working closely with Hayley and Skye, the two co-executive directors of the Great Burn. Hayley has been providing me with copious amounts of resources to help me understand the mission of GBCA and its partner organizations, get connected with community members, and get oriented in Missoula (this is my first time in Montana ever - so far I am loving it!).

On Tuesday, I attended Skye’s wilderness policy lecture for Professor Eva Maggi’s Wilderness Policy and Packing course offered through University of Montana, where I also heard a lecture by the executive director of the Blackfoot Challenge, Seth Wilson. Throughout my undergrad (I just finished my degree in Biology and Music less than two weeks ago!), I have become interested in human-wildlife interactions and using science to mitigate negative interactions. I loved learning about how GBCA’s mission relates to habitat connectivity and about another organization that develops and tests mitigating solutions for grizzly bear-human conflict. 

I also met GBCA staff Rory, Chris, Jory, a few GBCA board members, and the seasonal backcountry staff members at our GBCA orientation. On Thursday, Rory (and his dog Kelly) took me out to see the Montana side of the Great Burn Proposed Wilderness, specifically Fish Creek. Later this summer, we will be co-leading volunteer trips in the Great Burn, and part of our preparation for these trips will include visiting the trails in advance to check on conditions and for me to get my bearings in the area. These volunteer trips are what I am most looking forward to this summer! My first trip will be the “Clearwater Crossing Biodiversity Blitz” on the second weekend of July. I hope to see some of you there!

Until July, I will be working around Missoula and starting to get out on day hikes in the Great Burn. I feel lucky to be working with MCC and GBCA this summer, and I can’t wait to share my experiences with you!

Season wrap up from Rory O'Connor, Great Burn Conservation Alliance Backcountry Ranger

By Rory O’Connor

This was my first year working as a full-time seasonal employee for the GBCA. I started in May, and I am now getting things wrapped up in the third week of November. Working for the GBCA in a part time capacity over the last 13 years, my capabilities were limited by time. This year I moved to a full time seasonal position with GBCA, which gave me the opportunity to expand my ability to get more involved with our organization and members, Forest Service partners and other partner groups.

Two major duties I added this season were facilitating volunteer projects and serving as a liaison for the Forest Service and the Idaho Conservation Corps (ICC). Myself, along with staff member Jory Biddick, organized two fairly involved volunteer projects including a pit-toilet install at Heart Lake and a weed pull in the West Fork of Indian Creek. This was a great learning experience for both of us. Both trips presented unexpected logistical challenges giving us the opportunity to fix things on the fly, and we ended up with two successful trips with satisfied volunteers.

My time serving as a liaison for the ICC crew was cut short this season due to the fires. I completed one nine-day hitch with two ICC crews on Black Mountain trail 396 in the Mallard Larkins roadless area. It is planned that I will work with the ICC crews next field year doing similar work. The liaison aspect will be something I will be getting more experience with next season. The one hitch with the ICC crews this year was a good trial for me working with younger folks who did not have much trail work experience.

In addition to my liaison role with the ICC this year, I had the opportunity to shadow the USFS Pierce trail crew for 12 days, and complete a four-day-training hitch with our Kelly Creek weed crew. Having the time and ability to train and work with the field crews this year was a new aspect of my position, and I felt it was very beneficial.

My time serving as a liaison for the ICC crew was cut short this season due to the fires. I completed one nine-day hitch with two ICC crews on Black Mountain trail 396 in Mallard Larkins. It is planned that I will work with the ICC crews next field year doing similar work. The liaison aspect will be something I will be getting more experience with next season. The one hitch with the ICC crews this year was a good trial for me working with younger folks who did not have much trail work experience. In addition to my liaison role with the ICC this year, I had the opportunity to shadow the Pierce trail crew for 12 days, and complete as a four-day-training hitch with our weed crew. Having the time and ability to train and work with the field crews this year was a new aspect of my position, and I felt it was very beneficial.

Half of my time on the Clearwater was spent in the Great Burn. The other half was spent in three other roadless areas including Meadow Creek, Bighorn-Weitas and the Mallard Larkins. Overall, the 2021 field year was a good preliminary run in an effort to gain insight on how we can operate a more full-time roving ranger position. Given my greater capacity this season I had the ability to work on GBCA goals of strengthening our relationship with our Forest Service partners and to use the backcountry ranger position as an outreach tool with other conservation organizations and youth corps. The ground work I was able to accomplish this year served as an effective means to achieve these goals.