The goal of the SCA/USFWS Trails Inventory program is to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service with a comprehensive and accurate inventory of all trails on USFWS sites across the country. This is certainly an ambitious project as there are over 600 USFWS sites nationwide. This project will take us to every corner of the country, to high mountains and low deserts through bayous and fjords. We are all extremely excited for this opportunity as it provides the chance to perform an important service to the USFWS, expand our own knowledge and expertise, and experience many different parts of the country for the first time.
Hitch 3- Minnesota and Wisconsin
Hitch three sent team Alpha, composed of members Alex and Stefano, to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Being natives of the midwest we were happy to be able to make it home. After traveling far and wide to new and unfamiliar places it was a different feeling to return to the familiar cities and prairies of the region.
We started in the southwestern-most corner of Minnesota and worked our way up the western border before moving inward and then northward, finishing the hitch at a fish hatchery in northern Wisconsin. We saw lots of prairies and lots of wetlands, and delt with the multitudes of ticks that introduced themselves to our legs. Both of us were surpised to encounter some unfamiliar wildlife at a few refuges. We saw river otters, a porcupine, and two black bear cubs while out on the trails. We toured the fish hatchery in Iron River, WI, learning about brook and lake trout rehabilitation in the Great Lakes region.
Durning our off-time we tried to do a hike on the North County Scenic Trail, but the mosquitoes and ticks won and it was a short hike. We both made it home to visit family and friends, reassuring our parents that we are still whole and healthy after almost four months on the road.
