One more road trip before I start working

I'm hanging out at a coffee shop in Boulder while Truck is getting recall work done. I've just signed myself up for a couple volunteer trails projects with the Colorado 14ers Initiative, finished my taxes, and just generally tying up loose ends before my busy season at the park begins. I'm so excited to start working on the 16th! I've run into my new boss and coworkers and it seems that it's big news that I left hazard tree and moved on to special projects! Everybody thinks I made the right decision. In fact, I just found out this morning that Cisco, who worked haz tree with me last year, just told our boss that he is not coming back either! That's what happens when hard work, dedication and innitiative are ignored - you lose good employees! I'm sure our old boss is ticked off, since he really didn't know what/where/how/who was going on at any given time and he really wanted both of us back because we know what's going on (and the new crewleader has NO idea). We kept casual records of what we did (which we weren't really asked to do but figured it would be a good idea) but they're gonna have a hard time getting up to speed with everything we did last year.

Oh well! I'm gonna have a good season, and that's all that counts. ;)  I guess the first part of my job is going to be demolition! Hell yeah! Getting paid for destruction!

I am leaving either Wednesday or Thursday for New Mexico to hang out with Tim for the weekend at Bandelier National Monument. Looking forward to those hot springs again! That's the last time I'll see Tim until the end of April. I'll be back here by the 12th to pick Jenna up from Denver, and she leaves on the 14th. Logan and I start doggie obedience training the 16th (as well as it being my first day of work). My birthday is the 18th! So much stuff going on!

I forgot to mention in my last entry that Chris Thile is playing in Ann Arbor, MI at the Ark on June 8th, if any of you folks are interested. Looks like it's $25 and trust me, it's worth it!

And I'd like to mention that if anybody out there is interested in volunteering for Rocky Mountain for a certain number of hours a week, for at least a couple weeks (think of it as a vacation), you do get free housing for some jobs. I don't know specifics, but it's a way to live in the park and have fun outside! In fact, most national parks have volunteer programs like that. Heck, you can even do it in Hawaii at Haleakala, or the Virgin Islands! So if you or anybody you know wants to volunteer - from trails, to wildlife, to ranger programs, or campground hosts - you should check it out! Even if there aren't "current openings" here, you can always contact the volunteer coordinator, or contact me and I'll put you in touch with people in charge of resource managment, or trails, or whatever, and maybe you can set up something else that isn't posted.

About 2 or 3 days ago, the wind was howling worse than I've seen in months. It literally made my truck rock back and forth in the driveway; I thought my roof was going to fly off! The clouds were low and tight around Long's Peak and I have never seen them move that quickly - it was probably hurricane strength up there at 14,000 ft! The weather goes from warm and sunny, to snowing, to windy, to warm, to snowing again... in a matter of HOURS. We've only had one good thunderstorm so far, and once we had a thunder snowstorm. The trees and bushes here in Boulder are already sporting some little leaves; the pasque flowers are JUST starting to bloom up in Estes, and definitely no leaves for another couple weeks at least!

There's quite a buzz going on still about the Park's proposal to cull the elk herd; the debate is getting quite heated, on top of that. I just read this article stating that our "harsh winter" killed off quite a few elk and there may not be "as much of a need" for culling, at the least in the short term. In fact, this whole "hunting elk" in Rocky is sparking off a national debate and proposals to congress regarding hunting in any and ALL National Parks. Beyond the debate of whether elk should be culled at all, is the huge debate on whether park sharpshooters, restricted hunters, or a totally open, public hunt should be used to accomplish the task. I'm totally against an open hunt to any and all public; I mean seriously, you let the public go in there, do you think they will kill the weak or nasty elk?? They'll go for the ones with big racks that look nice; this is NOT the purpose culling. The state just wants it because they want more revenue.(I have little faith in the general public as a whole on any issue... hence, we had George W. in office for 2 terms!) And, I'm very against any legislative measures that can open up ALL national parks to hunting; the possible implications and consequence of doing that are just too wide-reaching. For example, now that grizzleys are delisted in Yellowstone, does that mean they'll start hunting those again? I just don't trust it, not yet at least. There's still plenty of people/government officials out there that think we shouldn't have brought grizzleys or wolves back in the first place. Any excuse to kill them and some of them would see them all killed again!

The one thing I really got a kick out of from that article about Rocky Mountain is this: "Beetle infestation: Baker said the mountain pine beetle epidemic has had a significant impact on the park's trees, especially on the western side. He said biologists are spraying "high-value" trees in areas where visitors are more plentiful, but he described the larger battle against the rapacious insect "kind of like sticking a thumb in a dike." "You can't stop the beetle, so what we are doing is dealing with the aftermath," he said."

Know why that's funny? Because the "biologists" spraying high value trees means Cisco and myself; mere seasonal bio techs. We determined what WE thought were high value; marked all those trees; and supervised the sprayer company ourselves. Our "biologist" boss had very little to do with it. And know who was dealing with the aftermath? Yes, Cisco and I. Two measley little seasons with so much responsibility... and we got no credit; I didn't even get an interview for the crewleader job; Cisco wasn't even CONSIDERED. It still cracks me up that scientists in offices say "beetles only hit x number of feet up a tree" and "they only hit trees bigger than x inches diamter" and "they only fly for a small period of time in x month"... So often this summer, what we saw in the field was so different than what we were told as "fact". But alas, our knowledge and experience apparently count for nothing. Ok, so I'm still a little bitter... ;)

Another thing I just read about the Fish and Wildlife Service... looks like my old place of employment, Red Rock Lakes NWR in Montana, and other refuges I detailed out on fire - Charles M. Russell, probably Bison Range, Fish Springs, Browns Park, etc etc - are all getting even less funding. Those places were already working with a skeleton crew! Our poor public lands... so much demand, but so little resources/money to staff/protect/manage them!

That's all for now that I can remember. Busy busy busy! Gearing up for another great season in the mountains! VISIT ME!