Abi

Forest health is important to all generations. This summer, working for the CBMT crew, I have taken surveys and collected data to share with numerous organizations. I hope that this information will be studied to inform Forest Service leaders on how to properly maintain the local forests. This summer I have learned how to monitor LCRI’s Firemon, Aspen, and Invasive sites. At each site I have become familiar with the various protocols and their functions including point and line, tree boring, vegetation, fuels, canopy mapping, scanning the area for invasive species and more. 

This crew has been more than a summer job. I have met new people and made new friends. The crew has had a lot of fun together from movie nights to mochas bet for things like wearing a watermelon rind on our heads for the entirety of a day, kissing a giant toad, jumping in a water trough, eating a spit bug, and drinking hot sauce. We’ve hugged trees to measure and track their growth over the years. It has been enjoyable to spend time in the sun and local forests. There have also been lessons given by some of the older crew members about statics, aspens, energy types, white-barked pine, and control burns and their effects. Throughout each day's work of completing the protocol, I have learned how to identify many plants, along with their scientific and common names. I have learned about Conifer growth and how it is measured. I have done previous summer jobs for the Forest Service but this program was set apart by the amount of knowledge I’ve gained and the positive upbeat environment.