Please click '2013 Spring Work Crew' to see our student-created posts and learn more about our program.
Showing posts with label 2013 Spring Work Crew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013 Spring Work Crew. Show all posts
Spring 2013 4-H Stewardship Program Recap
We are 12 Chimacum area teens, 2 crew chiefs, and many support staff members providing stewardship help to the U.S. Forest Service.
Please click '2013 Spring Work Crew' to see our student-created posts and learn more about our program.
Please click '2013 Spring Work Crew' to see our student-created posts and learn more about our program.
Alex Brown
Alex Brown
Port Townsend High School Student
Returning 4H Stewardship Program Member
2013 Spring Work Crew
Ropes Course:
This day there were many activities that the group engaged in. Most of them were team building exercises that were quite enjoyable. The most memorable experience was when we were doing the spider web, I was used as a stepping stone to help complete the challenge.
Seal Rock Campground:
We worked here two times during the program. The first time we cleaned up walkways and campsites. The second time we did brush clearing. During the second time one of our crew members decided that were not going to continue working as it went against their morals.
Elk Habitat:
Here we did the clearing of felled trees. As there were so many trees, a great show of teamwork happened. With the way we operated it was quite something to remember.
Lower Big Quilcene Trail:
Here we cleared the ditches on the side of the trail to help with water flow so the trails did not get washed out. It was memorable as I was introduced to a new tool. The tool was called a rhino, it was a shovel with the head flipped around and reconnected with a piece of re-bar. Another thing was when one of our crew members fell in mud and decided it a good idea to clear their backside in a small waterfall.
Quilcene Watershed:
This day we were split into group and went to different locations to clean dumping sites. The trash dumped there was quite surprising. We found a bunch of tires, an oil drum, a dog skeleton (which was pretty interesting to find), and other junk littered about.
Brinnon Watershed:
This day was quite memorable as we got to work with a couple people from back country
horsemen. We spent that day clearing noxious weeds and some trash.
Ranger Station:
This day we spent along the roadside next to the ranger station pulling a bunch of scotch broom. The memorable part of that day was the few cars that passed and honked with a thumbs up.
I think the most memorable event from this whole thing was all the experiences I encountered that made it more than just Saturday work. This program is another valuable experience to remember until I forget.
Port Townsend High School Student
Returning 4H Stewardship Program Member
2013 Spring Work Crew
Ropes Course:
This day there were many activities that the group engaged in. Most of them were team building exercises that were quite enjoyable. The most memorable experience was when we were doing the spider web, I was used as a stepping stone to help complete the challenge.
Seal Rock Campground:
We worked here two times during the program. The first time we cleaned up walkways and campsites. The second time we did brush clearing. During the second time one of our crew members decided that were not going to continue working as it went against their morals.
Elk Habitat:
Here we did the clearing of felled trees. As there were so many trees, a great show of teamwork happened. With the way we operated it was quite something to remember.
Lower Big Quilcene Trail:
Here we cleared the ditches on the side of the trail to help with water flow so the trails did not get washed out. It was memorable as I was introduced to a new tool. The tool was called a rhino, it was a shovel with the head flipped around and reconnected with a piece of re-bar. Another thing was when one of our crew members fell in mud and decided it a good idea to clear their backside in a small waterfall.
Quilcene Watershed:
This day we were split into group and went to different locations to clean dumping sites. The trash dumped there was quite surprising. We found a bunch of tires, an oil drum, a dog skeleton (which was pretty interesting to find), and other junk littered about.
Brinnon Watershed:
This day was quite memorable as we got to work with a couple people from back country
horsemen. We spent that day clearing noxious weeds and some trash.
Ranger Station:
This day we spent along the roadside next to the ranger station pulling a bunch of scotch broom. The memorable part of that day was the few cars that passed and honked with a thumbs up.
I think the most memorable event from this whole thing was all the experiences I encountered that made it more than just Saturday work. This program is another valuable experience to remember until I forget.
Larry Green
Ranger Station Weed Pull
This particular day of our work experience in the 4H Stewardship Program happened to be our last of the actual work days on (5/25/13) but it was one of my favorite days. This is because on this day I worked really well and efficiently. An example of this would be how another member of our crew (Samuel Allen) and I had gone ahead of the groups many times and cleared out areas that it took some other groups to do in double the time that it took us. So yeah, this is basically how the work day went and I believe it went well. Also this day I had quite an interesting talk with a random person.
My "River Teeth"
One thing that sticks out in my mind from my experiences here is the van breaking down (4/13/13). I find this significant because I never really expected it to happen, but it did and it just made our experience for that day more interesting. I also thought it was kind of nice because we got to stay out and hang out with our friends among the crew. However, I disliked the fact of it happening because I and I'm sure everyone else was ready to hurry up and get out of there and go home. So yeah, this is one of my "river teeth."
Another one of my memories from my experience in this would be lunch time on (5/25/13) because Sam (mentioned earlier) and I where approached by a random old man and he told me he liked the music I had on and that he knew the band (Megadeth, song Holy Wars a punishment due). We had such a strange talk with him. We talked about music to start with then we moved the talk to drugs and why states outlaw them when they have medical use and then to why companies ban products that are cheaper to use because they don't want to loose money. Then we talked about government corruption and made a sudden turn to video games and why we like certain ones. All in all it was interesting and I will remember this for a long time.
Lastly what sticks out in my mind was something that happened during our two week break from the program was me getting in a car crash. Okay so what happened was I was at a friends house and we were on the rally track in her backyard and we had a few bonfires set up along it and the car had no brakes and we ended up hitting a tree and putting the car on top of it and ended up with a stuck car. Nobody was hurt but it stuck out in my mind. Along with this on the other hand tho is that on the same day my friends house had burned down so this day is something I will remember.
Our Work Days
3/30 Seal Rock-cleanup
4/6 Sequim-wildlife habitat
4/13 Lower Big Quil-trail work
4/20 Quilcene Watershed-cleanup
5/11 Seal Rock-brush clearing
5/18 Watershed (Brinnon)-clean up
5/25 Rtanger Station- weed pulling
Annaliese Chamberlin-Holt
You can always depend on the Stewardship program to keep you busy, but sacrificing saturdays isn't all that bad, and the good part is that it's always worth it in the end. If you like hanging out with other awesome people your age but don't like going to parties, this activity is for you. If you also like that warm burn in your muscles without overworking yourself, this program might be one you'd enjoy.This spring was one full of laughter and accomplishment. I also learned about and worked on a couple trails that I would like to explore further.
April13- Trail work (Gray Wolf Trail)
This is one of the trails, that I said earlier, as one in which I would like to explore more. I'm really afraid of heights and there were cliffs all over, I wasn't much afraid because all the beauty around me, I remember how the morning dew clung to the limbs of the shrubs and the bridge over the waterfall... you had to be there. On this foot path we cleaned and dug fairly long ditches to current rain water off the trail for hikers, this involved being very aware of your surroundings. One girl that I work with ended up falling backside first into the mud, she got rid of this problem by placing herself under a waterfall, it took care of the mud but then she was soaked. This day was also the day that the 4-H van broke down. This happened when the trail work was over and a few team mates had to stay behind as the limited seat, blue van shipped us home.
March 23- challenge course
That day was pretty fun and it foreshadowed basically the the rest of the workdays, meaning how the people acted and how they worked with each other. One highlight that I will never forget was when we were participating in the spider web challenge course and one person had to use someone else's knee for a stepping stool to get out of the web, this resulted in the first person getting out of the web but my other team mate was thrown backwards into the center of the web, thankfully he was okay. =)
March 30- Seal Rock Campground
On this day we did mostly campground trail maintenance that involves racking and sweeping the many leaves that covered the looping trail, it reminded me of shaving a giant beast. I loved all the jokes a couple teammates and I made while working, and it was the first evidence with our group that we can have fun and talk while "gettin it done".
April6- Elk Habitat
When we went out on that day, it was the wettest saturday that we would ever have this spring. In two big groups we separated and built titanic animal habitats out of big slices of trees and branches. Not only was this job good for the animals but it also cleared the forest for new baby trees to grow with space (those were cute little trees). There was only one point of that day that was annoying was when I stepped in a deep patch of mud and my shoe popped off my foot, although it sucked, every one can agree with me that it was funny. Because of this I had to work with one foot cold and squishy, while the other foot was snuggly and warm. Over all we created a lot of habitats and improved the space where new trees could grow.
April13- Trail work (Gray Wolf Trail)
This is one of the trails, that I said earlier, as one in which I would like to explore more. I'm really afraid of heights and there were cliffs all over, I wasn't much afraid because all the beauty around me, I remember how the morning dew clung to the limbs of the shrubs and the bridge over the waterfall... you had to be there. On this foot path we cleaned and dug fairly long ditches to current rain water off the trail for hikers, this involved being very aware of your surroundings. One girl that I work with ended up falling backside first into the mud, she got rid of this problem by placing herself under a waterfall, it took care of the mud but then she was soaked. This day was also the day that the 4-H van broke down. This happened when the trail work was over and a few team mates had to stay behind as the limited seat, blue van shipped us home.
May25- Ranger Station Clean Up
Sadly, our last work day I discovered that pulling scotch broom was easier than I first thought, then again we had the giant weed pullers. After the main road side work was over the scene was amazing. We pulled about a half-mile of the invasive plant and even though it's almost everywhere in washington, and the overall impact might be small, the right-hand side going to the Quilcene Ranger Station went from scotch broom choking death to the natural plant growth. The public liked what we did so much they honked and waved as they drove by. There was also a couple of people with a pickup truck who began to pull Scotchbroom on the road opposite of us. It was cool that we made an impact on the environment as well as the public.
Like I've previously stated, this spring was so much fun I really enjoyed working and meeting new friends. The scenery on all the workdays was truly beautiful (even if it rained) and I highly recommend this program to others.
Kale Gonzalez
Watershed clean up
On 4/20 we did watershed clean up where we pick up spent bullet shells, beer cans, soda cans, tires, and oil barrels filled with bullet holes. We were spilt up into four groups going into different areas. One group went to pick invasive weeds. Two groups went to pick up trash and bullets. One went to clear rocks, drain pipes, and what people dump in the woods like grills and other heavy things that we had to drag out up really steep slopes. Rangers that we worked with were Jennifer Fujji , Eric Fosse, Stephanie Neil, Kurt Aluzas, Lynn Kindred.
River teeth: One group found whole clay pigeons, an arrow, a whole dog skull and skeleton, and a wheel chair. But what sticks with me most is a hide-a -bed couch that we had been trying to get out for two season because it was stuck with wire into the ground.
Sam Allen
This day was 5/25 we worked on removing invasive plants from around the quilcene ranger station.
The work crew pulled weeds around the quilcene ranger station. While doing so, we discovered that the scot's broom had grown to an extremely large size. We split into groups, the groups were four, four, and two. My friend Lary and I were the group of two. We used each others strengths to pull the scot's broom plants that one of us couldn't get alone.
During lunch we met an old man who talked about his ideals which I personally agree with. Some being about politics, religion, games, music, and pretty much every subject that people have ideals on.
the break between work day 4/20 and 5/11
During the break it was a rather bad time because on 4/28 my house burned down causing me to be without proper work boots. But thanks to sport townsend I was able to get boots for work.
work day 5/18
We worked with my uncle del on this day, he had broght his horses out to do clean up on the trail.
The work crew pulled weeds around the quilcene ranger station. While doing so, we discovered that the scot's broom had grown to an extremely large size. We split into groups, the groups were four, four, and two. My friend Lary and I were the group of two. We used each others strengths to pull the scot's broom plants that one of us couldn't get alone.
During lunch we met an old man who talked about his ideals which I personally agree with. Some being about politics, religion, games, music, and pretty much every subject that people have ideals on.
the break between work day 4/20 and 5/11
During the break it was a rather bad time because on 4/28 my house burned down causing me to be without proper work boots. But thanks to sport townsend I was able to get boots for work.
work day 5/18
We worked with my uncle del on this day, he had broght his horses out to do clean up on the trail.
Anna Brown
Anna Brown
Chimacum High School
4-H Stewardship Program Member
2013 Spring Season Work Crew
Two Year’s in Stewardship Program
Camp Ground Maintenance at Seal Rock-
On March 30th, our work crew for Spring 2013 had
returned to Seal Rock for some unfinished business concerning campground
maintaining. We spent a good chunk of time raking and spoofing up the
campgrounds, making sure branches and pathways were clear and safe to walk on.
Having over 20 different sized campgrounds and just a bit of walking to get to
each one, really made me and my crewmates work hard, all the way to the last
hour of cleaning. For the whole day, the guys and girls had seemed to branch
off and go in their own groups, like they knew who they wanted to work with the
whole time they were there. It seemed like no one wanted to get to know some
one new, and even though they all worked hard and finished the job, it reminded
me of high school, with the different clicks and social groups.
For the whole time at Seal Rock, every one showed their best and
even though some groups lacked the effort skills of cleaning a walk way
correctly, they made up for it by working extra hard on other things.
Elk Habitat
Enhancement With Kurt Aluzas-
The date was April 6th, It was raining on and off and
though the sun was shining, a breeze was traceable, this day the work crew was
working on building homes for animals, making snags, and removing old debris
from the site. We all worked very hard on this project, rotating each job we
had to give each other a change to try something new. Some of us used Saw’s,
Girdles, and even our own hands in this job site. Although scraps and minor
cuts were found after this workday, it just showed how hard we had worked. A
small group lead by Kurt Aluzas, hiked far into the trees and up hill’s to take
care of some out of reach problems such as removing branches and some more
Girdling. It was a job well done,
and even know getting back was troubling and some what confusing, it was fun
none the less.
Trail Work With Grey Wolf Trail builders Group-
April 13th, We hiked far and worked on cleaning out
leaves from drainage ditches, while removing branches and trees from the path
way. With feet hurting and cloth’s being all wet, we powered through the day
and even know the trail we worked on lead us to a very beautiful waterfall,
every one just wanted to leave and get back the van. All day, with the help of
the Grey Wolf Trail Volunteers, we were able to reach our destination and do a
great job with cleaning that job site. There was mud and water every where on
this day, and not surprisingly one of my crew members had fallen into the mud
and gotten her pants all dirty. I also found out that day on the hike back that
every once has a different walking speed in our group, and although I was one
of the last people back, I enjoyed the scenery and the job well done from our
group.
Quilcene watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii-
On the date of April 20th, Our work group returned to
the watershed’s and spilt up into different groups, so I can only tell you my
experience from the small group I was in. High up above the clouds, my
crewmates and I worked on cleaning out culverts, removing rocks from the road
and finding garbage. Although it wasn’t sunny up there, it was not raining,
only what my friend called a ‘Zombie Fog’ was hanging about where we worked.
Finding many interesting things, such as a doll’s ballerina shoe among other
stuff, my group was very energetic and happy to work.
Weed Removal at Seal Rock-
It was May now, the 11th to be exact, And my work mates
had just gotten news we will be returning to Seal Rock for the last time, even
know we had thought March 30th was our last day. The group this time
was more organized and I felt that we made more of an effort to branch out and
work with new people. Working with the Saw’s, which always seemed to fall into
the male gender’s hands, we cut trees and removed more debris so that the
campers in Seal Rock could have more of a view. I think we worked very hard
this time around and a lot of us had thorn scratches to show for it. We pulled
out many invasive species and cleared out tall trees.
Brinnon watershead clean-up with Marc McHenry-
May 18th with another watershed clean up day…that I do
not correctly remember. But I know we worked hard.
Invasive Weed Removal on Highway 101 at Quilcene
Still May, the 25th and our last work day! We spent it
cleaning up around the ranger station, pulling out scotch broom. This last day
working with the Stewardship conservation program was so much fun, I doubt I’ll
forget it any time soon. I now know how strong people in my work group are, and
it was nice when I had to give in and ask one of my other crew mates to help or
to just completely pull out a scotch broom for me. We work so hard on this day,
knowing it was our last, and we were able to make not just 10 but around 15
piles of scotch broom forest service. It was so fun working with every one, and
we all did our best, I remember every one congratulating each other for the
efforts and great jobs we did. It was a day like no other and I was happy to
work with every one for that last time.
WORK DAYS:
March 30 – Campground Maintenance at Seal Rock
April 6 – Elk
Habitat enhancement with Kurt Aluzas
April 13 –Trail work with Grey Wolf Trail builders group
April 20 – Quilcene watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii
May 11 – Weed Removal at Seal Rock
May 18 – Brinnon watershed clean-up with Marc McHenry
May 25 – Invasive Weed Removal on Highway 101- Quilcene
4-H Stewardship Program 2013 Spring Work Crew Program Details
We are 12 Chimacum area teens, 2 crew chiefs, and many support
staff members providing stewardship help to the U.S. Forest Service.WORK DAYS:
March 23- Portable Challenge training
March 30 – campground or trails work
April 6– wildlife habitat enhancement with Kurt Aluzas
April 13 –trail work with Grey Wolf Trail builders group
April 20 – Quilcene watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii
May 11 – campground work
May 18 – Brinnon watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii
May 25 – trails work
June 1- Evaluations & Computer work
March 30 – campground or trails work
April 6– wildlife habitat enhancement with Kurt Aluzas
April 13 –trail work with Grey Wolf Trail builders group
April 20 – Quilcene watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii
May 11 – campground work
May 18 – Brinnon watershed clean-up with Jennifer Fujii
May 25 – trails work
June 1- Evaluations & Computer work
CLOTHING: Please wear layers so you can stay warm and you MUST have shoes or boots that come up to protect your ankles. TENNIS SHOES ARE NOT ALLOWED. Water bottles are also necessary as well as lunches. We provide rain gear, tools, gloves and hard hats.
We will have one USFS scientist attend on each of these work days to coordinate projects such as riparian plantings, campground cleanups, watershed cleanups, salmon carcass returns to riparian zones, plantings on decommissioned roads, and picnic table restorations.
WATERSHED CLEANUP DAY: We will host the Watershed Cleanup Day on April 20th in honor of Earth Day. HELP US RECRUIT COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS TO JOIN US THAT DAY - REFER THEIR NAMES AND CONTACT INFORMATION TO SUE HAY.
WSU 4-H STAFF:
Sue Hay, 4-H Coordinator
Wk: 360-379-5610 ext. 208
Hm: 360-385-4614
Cell: 360-774-1569
Marcelle Thimgan, 4-H Crew Chief
Andi Niesen, 4-H Crew Chief
USFS STAFF:
Jennifer Fujii, USFS Recreation Director
765-2251
jfujii@fs.fed.us
Stephanie Neil, Recreation Manager - Hood Canal RD
Forest Archaeologist - Olympic NF
sneil@fs.fed.us
360-877-1046 ext. 1046
Becca Hammargren
Presidential Management Fellow
Recreation Manager (detail)
Hood Canal Ranger District
Olympic National Forest
Phone: (360) 765-2219
E-mail: rhammargren@fs.fed.us
SKILLS CENTER NATURAL RESOURCES STAFF:
Dan Lieberman
Natural Resources Teacher
North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center
360-565-1892, dlieberman@portangelesschools.org
www.nopsc.org/naturalresources (click 'Natural Resources 2 Class Website' and then '4-H Stewardship Program OR click 'School Credit' from the menu on this page)
4-H STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
4-H Stewardship Outside Volunteer Minor – Release Parent Guardian
4-H Stewardship Outside Adult Volunteer Emergency Medical Release
4-H Stewardship Outside Adult Volunteer Adult Risk and Reliabilty Release
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