Goodbye and Thank You Atlanta [1]
Our time in Northern Georgia has all but ended. I wanted to reach out to everyone that has made our stay in the south both enjoyable and educational. Learning about the lakes and being able to spend a lot of time simply sitting by the water at all of the projects has made this summer one of the most beautiful. Sunsets and rain clouds, lightning storms and thunder, the Atlanta Survey Team has definitely experienced every type of weather in the south.
From conservation projects to surveys, we have participated in an array of activities that have allowed us to learn so much more about the area and the culture here in Northern Georgia. This is a summer to remember and we all send all of our thanks out to everyone that has made this summer such a wonderful success.
Many thanks again!
Written by Sophie Louis, Project Lead
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My Favorite Conservation Project [6]
We had the opportunity to participate in a variety of conservation projects throughoutthe summer. Of all of them, I enjoyed working on the Canebrake Restoration Project themost. Unlike the other projects, the canebrake project allowed us to actively map areas which were possible donor sites of canebrake (a plant which has been threatened in theregion by an influx of invasive species). We were able to hike around various plots of ACoE land in search of these plants, and finding them became a surprising source ofsatisfaction. It was a gratifying project in that we knew that our efforts searching would lead to the reintroduction of a plant which would otherwise remain threatened in the region.
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My Favorite Recreation Area [10]
I have two favorite sites, Northbank at Carter's and Old Federal at Lanier. Northbank is located along the dam, and its views are breathtaking. In my opinion it is the most beautiful site that we had, and I've never seen more than two people there at one time. Old Federal is also a pretty site. Even though it's at Lanier, it tends to have the feel of being at a smaller lake, and it is usually much more peaceful than the other Lanier sites. I've encountered a lot of friendly people there, and on various occasions I've seen visitors picking up litter, which shows they really care about the park. It was also one of the first sites that I surveyed, and every time after that I always looked forward to working there.
Written by Ryan.
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My Favorite Lake [16]
My favorite lake out of our three sites was Allatoona. It was practically in our backyard, and we walked to it on several occasions to go swimming, set off fireworks or watch the sun set. It was the lake that we used most often to go for our personal use, and on several occasions we traveled to some of the parks closest to us to have group barbecues/swimming outings. It is a beautiful lake that mostly locals use regularly, and you can tell that they really care about it. The rangers at Allatoona were all very friendly and accommodating, and they seemed to have a heightened sense of community involvement. I also thought the areas surrounding Allatoona were very beautiful.
Written by Mia.
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Goodbye Member Housing! [20]
As the year draws to a close, many things in member housing has to be dealt with. The first thing our crew did was clean the house and make sure there was no damaged that had gone unnoticed. This helped us ensure that the full deposit is returned to the SCA. Cleaning was done together in common areas and individually in personal space.
We also gathered our personal possessions and organized them to be packed. Doing this sooner rather than later aided in accounting for personal possessions and for packing and organizing SCA items. Packing went well because we allowed ourselves plenty of time to do so. Additionally we inventoried and packed all of the Army Corps survey equipment. It should be noted that the original boxes that all of the equipment came in was kept at the beginning of the year and this made it very easy to pack away.
We also have made sure that SCA provided food is being eaten and that none is going to waste. We have kept in mind that this was going to need to be done and planned ahead. Stopping buying perishable foods such as meats and vegetables proved to be very important. By planning ahead we have managed to avoid wasting food and this should be done in future years.
As the year wraps up it has been our preparation in the last few weeks that has been some of the most helpful and important things we have done in regard to housing throughout the season.
Written by Gabriel
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Reflections from Mia [24]
It's hard to believe we're on our last two weeks of surveys. For me, the time here has flown by. Three months ago we were five strangers, moving into a house in an unfamiliar area for a job that we didn't completely understand yet. We've come a long way since then. We've grown to know each other as roommates, coworkers, and friends, and we've worked hard to find a balance among those three roles. In addition to getting to know each other well, we also have come to know the lakes we work at. We started off only with the knowledge that we would be surveying at bunch of random sites around three lakes in north Georgia. Now we all have our favorites and least favorites, and we pretty much know what to expect from certain sites. For example, seeing a morning shift at Carter's on your schedule is always something to look forward to, since it means a laid back shift at work and leaves the rest of the day to do whatever you want. On the other hand, being scheduled to work the late shift at Lanier on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon is one of the most dreaded things that can happen to you in the survey world. Working at Allatoona is always pretty neutral in my opinion. It's close to our house, and you can usually expect a steady flow of visitors made up mostly of friendly local people.
Other than switching up sites and partners every two weeks, the surveys themselves have remained pretty consistent. We've gotten our routes, site setups, and opening statements to the point where we hardly even need to think twice about them. At this point in the season visitor traffic has slowed down a lot, even on weekends. The kids are back in school, and Labor Day is less than two weeks away. According to one of the rangers at Lanier, these next couple of weeks will be hit or miss, then after Labor Day there will be practically nobody at the lakes. It's almost hard to imagine.
For me at least, this summer hasn't only been about surveys. It's also been a time to explore future career opportunities, gain networking contacts through rangers, and get to know each other and ourselves on a deeper level. The majority of us came into this internship having no idea what we were going to do afterwards. The end of summer seemed a long way off, and now here we are at the end of August. Everyone now has a plan for when they leave, whether it's moving onto other SCA positions, traveling the world, accepting a paid position, or just exploring several options and trying to decide the best place to go from here (okay, so maybe that last one is just me).
But wherever we each end up, I think we'll all be taking something with us from this summer, whether we know it or not.
Written by Mia
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Bugs and traffic get the best of us [27]
As the teams switched once again, Sophie and I looked at our schedule for the
upcoming two weeks - we were to be surveying mainly at Sidney Lanier for the next few
weeks. At this point in the season, we are fairly well established as far as surveys are
concerned and have our travel routes committed to memory. Yet despite our confidence
and experience with surveying, challenges and difficulties have a way of arising.
At the end of the first week together, Saturday July 28th, we were scheduled for late
surveying periods at Little Ridge and West Bank (2 of the busiest sites at Lake Sidney
Lanier). We started at Little Ridge at 3:10pm. It was an ordinary enough survey day,
even slow for a late Saturday at Lanier. It wasnʼt until about 15 minutes into our survey
period that we realized our challenge for this particular survey period: mosquitoes. We
had been at this site before, but for some reason there were swarms of mosquitoes this
night (to the point where sitting in one place was not a viable option). Being that we had
forgotten our bug spray, we spent the survey period smacking bugs and pacing back
and forth to keep them from landing on us (a surprisingly effective method).
Albeit irritating, the mosquito issue ranked low on the scale of possible work related
problems, and the first survey period finished up without any major issues. Having
learned a lesson in remembering the seemingly minute details (i.e. bug spray), we
packed up and headed for West Bank.
We were scheduled to start surveying at West Bank at 6:20pm. West Bank is a huge
park, and being that it was a Saturday, we were bound to catch a large amount of
people exiting the park. We began surveying and ran into our next challenge of the day
- one of our survey computers broke down. Despite turning the computer off in between
surveys and storing the computers in a cool location, one died and was showing no
signs of life. We were now down to one computer, at the busiest park on Lake Lanier, on
a weekend, when the park was emptying out. We continued surveying with one
computer, and the cars began to pile up. It seemed every time we began a survey, 10 or
12 cars would line up and we would have to pass many for back-up. As the line
emptied, Sophie would begin to survey and the cars would pile up again - it was a
constant “battle against the survey pile up”.
Eventually the survey was over, and we realized that there are some problems that
arise despite the best preparedness. Since this day, we have come to utilize paper
surveys on days that we only have one computer and may be facing high survey levels.
The take home message of the day: Be as prepared as possible (i.e. Bug spray) and
have a back up plan for problems that you canʼt control (i.e. Paper Surveys).
Written by Ryan.
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Final Phase: Setting Fish Attractors at Bolding Mill Campground [29]
Early to rise with a 7:30am take off time, Gabriel and I set out for the hour long drive to Lake Sidney Lanier to meet Natural Resources Ranger Craig Sowers for the final phase of fish attractors. We arrived on schedule at the Lake Lanier Management Office and called on Craig to join us. After hitching a small boat to the ranger truck, Gabriel and I followed about half hour to Bolding Mill Campground. Although surveys are not conducted in this area, we are familiar with the campground since monitoring both Gypsy Moth traps and Eastern Bluebird boxes has given us the opportunity to visit almost every recreation run by the Army Corps of Engineers on the shores of Lake Sidney Lanier. Craig leads us to the back of the campground where he and a colleague had dropped 14 beautifully assembled the day before, making our conservation day just that much easier. The 3 of us make several trips on a wide trail beneath shade trees to an abandoned pier and find our way down the banks to set cement filled fish attractors. The water is incredibly low due to minimal winter rainfall, end of season summer drought and below dam water release requirements. This makes our job easy since most of the fish attractors are set to be tied underneath the pier and just beyond it for the benefit of on-shore, or in this case, on-pier fishermen. Craig Sowers revs the engine of the small metal boat, myself aboard, ready to gently place each fish attractor in its assigned position. After a few rounds, Gabriel and I switch. The last of the fish attractors are placed at the end of the pier at Bolding Mill Campground.
The fish attractors had been donated as a mitigation tool some years ago after a set of power lines were installed and parts of the nearby forest had to be clear cut. The assemblage, setting and benefit of the fish attractors had been long anticipated by local fishermen ad well as Rangers throughout the Project. Due to other natural resources obligations at Lake Sidney Lanier, fish attractors had been pushed to the back burner until the SCAs Atlanta Survey Team stepped up to the plate. Job well done.
Written by Sophie.
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Setting Fish Attractors at Sardis Creek Day Use [36]
On the week of August 12th teams were split into two tasks. Mia and Ryan checked bluebird boxes on one team following the same procedures as before and yielding similar results. Meanwhile Sophie, Angela, and I deployed some of the fish attractors that we had constructed earlier in the season. With the Assistance of Park Rangers Mark Jennings and Craig Sours we took the fish attractors from the Sydney Lanier vehicle yard to Sardis Day use at the northern end of Lake Sydney Lanier. About half of the fish attractors were deployed on foot at the water’s edge, as the lake level was about 8 feet low and will rise to cover them. The rest were deployed using a small ranger boat operated by Mark Jennings while team members, one on the boat at a time, dropped the fish attractors in the lake. We finished without any problems and have one more day of deploying fish attractors next week at another site.
Written by Gabriel
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Eastern Bluebird Box Monitoring, round 2 [44]
On the week of August 5th 2012, on our conservation day, we checked bluebird boxes at various sites around Lake Sidney Lanier. Using a screw driver we opened each box and checked for the presence of a nest, the type of nest, and for the presence of eggs and hatchlings. Most of the boxes had bluebird nests, while some had the nests of other species of birds, and yet others had no nests at all. While some nests had no change other nests that had eggs before now had baby birds that had hatched in the previous weeks. Other nests had baby birds that had grown significantly since the previous week. All data was carefully recorded in data sheets in a three ring binder. Everything went smoothly and all teams completed all sites promptly.
Written by Gabriel.
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Eastern Bluebird Box Monitoring [49]
If you keep a keen eye out throughout the parks at Lake Sidney Lanier, you may be able to spy a few small wooden boxes meant to be home for the Eastern Bluebirds of Georgia. The boxes are no bigger than a shoe box, with a slanted roof and a small hole for entry, the bluebird boxes are easy to miss. Attached to trees, posts and even fences, it seems there are few places the native species has chosen to avoid. If you look closely, you may spot several blue bird boxes on the blistering trail along the levee at Buford Dam Park and hung from shady trees at Lower Pool Day Use. Park Attendants warn we are unlikely to find young this late in the season, but after a short walk from their trailers, i.e. home sweet summer home, the Atlanta Survey Team finds nests with life. Tap tap tap on the small wooden roof as to not scare mama blue bird. Is anyone home? We listen. On the side of the box, a screw lightly locks the wall of the tiny home in place. A few rotations of the wrist with a screwdriver and the wall hinges open.
Eastern blue birds have a distinct set of items they use when creating their nests and a unique style of building as well. Usually their nests are between 1 and 4 inches in height, containing fine grasses or pine needles and in the Georgia area, it is not uncommon to find brightly colored mosses, green and hazy grey/blue. In combination with the baby blue eggs, the tiny nursery belonging to the Eastern Bluebird is beautiful! On occasion, after the familiar tap tap tap followed by silent seconds of listening, faint sounds of tiny chirps can be heard. The wall comes up, letting light in. A tiny pile of fluff-less baby birds reach their heads to the sky and open their tiny beaks, waiting for mama to drop nourishment. The young are, of course, gushed over and then counted. In fact, the box and its contents (type of nest, number of eggs, number of young and relevant site notes) are recorded in code in the field binder. The light is shut out as the wooden wall is put back into place and the screw inserted as if to quietly lock the door behind us. Which box next? Maps, binders and small tools follow us back to the SCA stamped vehicle.
Nests are common, although not every nest is exactly what were are looking for. Among the imposters include House Wrens, Tree Swallows, Carolina Chickadees, House Sparrows, and even native flying squirrels. Sometimes you'll find a bug infestation or the beginnings of a hornets nest. Not unlike human beings, it turns out even birds will avoid some real estate with pest problems. Wearing blue rubber gloves, the Atlanta Survey Team acts as pest control, removing insects and clearing the box in hope an Eastern Bluebird may return home.
This conservation project has earned a 10 in cuteness factor.
Written by Sophie.
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My name is Kevin [54]
My name is Kevin Garza and I am from New Mexico. I was born and raised in a small town and had a thirst for education. I recently graduated with a degree in history. I choose this major because history excites me and the lessons and things we can learn from history are ever lasting. Studying history has given me me the skills to critically think and analyze complex situations. These are skills that I will take with me forever. I am an extremely hard and dedicated worker and I feel confident in giving my all for the SCA.
I became intersted with the SCA because of thier morals and mission objective. Studying history I feel I spent enough time in the past and it is now time to make my own mark and became part of history myself. The SCA provides me with the characther building discplines that will further my growth in academia as well as my own personal growth as a young man.
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Fish Attractor Assembly Part Deux [58]
7/24/12: Fish Attractor Assembly Part Deux
Today we split up into three teams of two and dispersed ourselves around Lake Lanier. One team was checking bluebird boxes, another was checking gypsy moth traps, and my team was continuing to put together the fish attractors that we started a couple of weeks ago. The fish attractors, made of PVC pipe, are meant to be submerged into the lake to create a manmade habitat for fish. Natural habitats such as logs, brush, and stumps degrade over time, so having these non-biodegradable structures helps to create a stable environment for the fish. Since the attractors were already assembled from the other week, all we had to do today was fill them with concrete so that they will sink more easily when we put them in the lake. The next step will be going out on a boat to actually submerge them, which is the part everyone is looking forward to.
Written by Mia.
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Sweetwater Creek State Park [63]
7/15/12: Visit to Sweetwater Creek State Park
Sweetwater Creek State Park is a 2,549 acre park located in Lithia Springs, GA, just 15 miles from downtown Atlanta. This park is particularly interesting because of the historical value it holds, in addition to just being a beautiful natural setting. In 1838, federal troops began forcing the native Cherokee tribes out of Georgia via the Trail of Tears. Their land was then divided into 40 acre lots and distributed through a public lottery. In 1845, the 40 acres of land that is now part of Sweetwater Creek State Park was sold for $500 to former GA Governor Charles J. McDonald and Colonel James Rodgers. The following year, these men began building a five story, water-powered mill along Sweetwater Creek and in 1849 the mill was open for business making cotton, yard, and fabric. McDonald and Rodgers named their business the Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, later changed to the New Manchester Manufacturing Company after the center of the British textile industry in Manchester, England. By 1860, the mill had produced 700 pounds of cotton which was turned into 120 bunches of yarn per day. In 1861, the American Civil War began, and three years later two divisions of Union Calvary approached the factory and ordered it to be shut down and arrested all of the employees inside. The ruins of the brick building that was once the New Manchester Manufacturing Company still stand in the park today. The hiking trails that run through the park allow visitors to see the ruins as well as old roads and land that use to be a town where factory workers resided. And, of course, Sweetwater Creek itself.
In addition to its history, another interesting aspect of Sweetwater Creek State Park is its sustainably designed Visitor’s Center. Completed in 2006 at a cost of $1.5 million, this 9,000 square foot establishment is the first of its kind in the Southeast and twentieth in the world to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certified, meaning that the building’s design, construction, and operations maintain a high level of sustainability. These sustainable design features include 10.5 kilowatt solar panels; a 10,000 gallon cistern that harvests rainwater; a 2,800 square foot rooftop garden; composting toilet system; high efficiency HVAC with heat recovery; clerestory windows which let in a larger amount of natural light; and low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints, adhesives, and sealants. The reduced environmental impacts resulting from these features are a 77% decrease in water use; 51% reduction in electricity use; 83% of natural daylight in interior spaces; and keeping 80% of construction waste from going into a landfill.
Written by Mia.
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Conservation Project: Gypsy Moths and assembling Fish(ermen) Attractors [69]
Our conservation project was to be spent checking moth-catching traps for any the presence of the Gypsy Moth. Gypsy Moths are an invasive species that feed on the foliage of various trees. Over the past several years these moths have been responsible for the defoliation and death of significant levels of a wide variety of trees in the U.S. The traps we were monitoring were put in place as a means of ensuring that Gypsy Moths were not present in parks managed by the Army Corps of Engineers or the surrounding ecosystems. These traps were small green boxes which contained both a pheromone to attract nearby Gypsy Moths, and a sticky glue like substance on the inside to trap the moths once they had entered. Our task was to split into groups of two and travel to several locations where these traps had been placed and check to see if any Gypsy Moths had been captured. If a trap contained a Gypsy Moth, our instructions were to return the trap to the Army Corps of Engineers for further investigation. We were given maps of the areas which we were traveling to, a short instructional packet regarding Gypsy Moths, and several pictures of these moths at various stages of their development. We spent the first half of the day driving to different parks, and hiking to the different locations containing the moth traps. Shortly after 1:00pm, all teams had finished and we were happy to report no presence of the Gypsy Moth in any of the traps.
Being that the day was only half over, we returned to the ACoE equipment storage area where we began assembling “fish-attractors” which were to be used in Lake Sidney Lanier. These devices are “spike” shaped balls, made of 2 foot pieces of PVC which attach to a central ball which has several holes drilled into it. When complete, these attractors will provide hiding places for smaller fish, and give algae and other plant life a place to take hold and grow. After meticulously assembling 30 fish attractors, the teams stacked the assembled attractors in the equipment shelter, took a few pictures, and headed home.
Written by Ryan.
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Team switches and tips [76]
On Team A I worked with Angela Nguyen at two sites each at Carters Lake, Lake Allatoona, and Lake Sidney Lanier. Setup at all sites is simple and no problems have been encountered. When surveying at Carters Lake lunches should be packed, as there is nowhere to buy meals nearby. While surveying Buford Dam Park and Lanier Park at Lake Sidney Lanier two computers will be very useful as these sites can be very busy. This is also true for Victoria Landing and Payne Boat Ramp at Lake Allatoona.
After two weeks on Team A, I switched to Team B to work with Mia Corona. This transition was very smooth. Having one member of a team stay behind when team members move to another site works very well, as it allows on person on each team to have experience setting up and surveying sites. On Team B I again worked two sites at each of the lakes.
During surveys it is important to be assertive when stopping traffic. Keeping shoulders square to the vehicle, extending arm fully, and making eye contact work well for getting vehicle to stop. Opening with “Hello. How are you Doing?” seems to help in getting visitors to take the survey. Sometimes it can be unclear what someone means and other times someone will give an answer that doesn't seem right. It's important to repeat the question or get them to clarify the answer, as it is often different than how you might mark it if you didn't get a clarification.
These two weeks have been fairly smooth.
Written by Gabriel.
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Happy 4th of July! [79]
• July 4, 2012 – Happy 4th of July! Today, my team was the only team to work July 4th. The first site we were at was Van Pugh North, which is a larger day use area comprised of many picnic tables with grills. Considering it was July 4th the park began to fill up quickly with families looking to cookout and swim. Van Pugh North site is a day use area that is primarily used for swimming, eating, and site seeing recreation. It’s also a site in which racial demographics are largely represented by Spanish speaking people and Eastern Europeans. The site that is paired with Van Pugh is called Burton Mill. It is a relatively smaller day use area with a small boating area and a smaller beach. This site was not filling up as rapid as a larger site like Van Pugh but considering it was the 4th of July the incoming traffic was indeed consistent. On this day there was a higher consensus of people leaving the park to pick up food and other luxury items and returning back to the park. However, compared to other morning survey shifts there was a higher ratio of surveys completed. Normally the early survey periods that take place on the weekdays are generally slower. Typically you’ll only get 1-15 and that of course depends on which site, weather conditions, boating/no boating, events, etc.
Written by Kevin.
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Conservation Project: Cane [81]
Our next conservation project did not have as much information as the first. We met Park Ranger Shea at an Army Corps site as she drove up with a truck. “Look! I got water!” she said. We were all eternally grateful for that. There was a heat wave coming to Georgia. I had brought along a friend to help and with that, we drove off. The area was used for bow hunting and big sections of trees were cut down to let the hunters shoot. It looked like wide plains of wild grass to me. She stopped at a corner of the field and let us out. “Now we have to go across this creek so everyone will have to cross this bridge.” She said. I looked that the bridge. It was a pipe with concrete enforcements. We walked across and then Shea told us about our project. The river cane is a plant that is endangered in the state of Georgia. It used to be all around the fields but have since died off. The conservation project is to track all river cane that we see via GPS, note the shape, density, and size of the area, and write down any extra notes. Then, they will cut parts off of the mother plant and transplant them so that they will grow. Lynn and I walked along the left side of the field seeing nothing. “Is that it?” I asked. “No,” said Lynn. This kept going on for a while. We finally got closer towards the creek and then a plethora of cane popped out at us. “River cane! It is by the water!” We should have known better. We walked along the creek and spotted river cane after river cane. When we met up with everyone we noted that there are a bunch all along the creek side. We all walked along some trails with each other and just saw river cane all along the area. Shea noted that we probably don’t have to take separate GPS tracking, but that there will be plenty of them to cut plants off of. We walked around some more around trails and called it a day. Overall the day was very pleasant strolling around the area looking for an endangered plant that was abundant enough to spot.
Written by Angela.
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Conservation Project: American Chestnut Restoration [86]
We woke up early in anticipation of our conservation day. Earlier in the month we were notified that our conservation project at Allatoona Lake was going to be TOP SECRET. We were working with hybrid chestnuts at **LOCATION REMOVED** and pretty much tending to them. The hybrid chestnuts are a backcross of Chinese and American Chestnuts. Before the 1900’s American chestnuts were a main part of the hardwoods in the eastern United States. Chinese chestnuts were brought from Asia for landscaping purposes and brought with them a fungus that would eventually kill off most of the American chestnuts in the Eastern U.S. While American chestnuts used to be upwards to 60-100 feet tall, they are now small shrubs that end up dying off before producing fruit. The chestnut blight has since been on the run and the American chestnut foundation has been looking for solutions to the problem. They have since created these hybrids. The newest hybrid is located at Allatoona Lake at **LOCATION REMOVED** and is the only orchard in the U.S. The trees are the product of decades of hard work and the Army Corps along with the American Chestnut Foundation are monitoring them in hopes of them producing fruit and nuts which then can be transferred into the forests. Our job is to water about 300 of these plants, weed the surrounding areas, and record data about their status. The day started off early and we met around 9 with Park ranger Shea to start our work. I came out with my camera and snapped pictures of blue tubes with tiny plants. We started weeding with weed whackers and recording data while the sun came up. The area was tall with weeds and it took eight hours to get the job done. By three, we were all hot and exhausted. This work is hard especially under the summer sun. The finished product was happy trees and a clean area.
Written by Angela
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From the Field [91]
After having a week of site visits, navigation and general preparation after training, this week our team officially began our surveys. The six of us are split up into three groups: A, B, and C. Each pair is responsible for six locations (two parks at three different lakes). After two weeks we will rotate so that everyone has a chance to work with each other at least once.
This week, my partner and I worked at Carter’s Lake and Lake Sidney Lanier. Both are gorgeous areas, but also completely different from each other. Carter’s is pretty remote and a lot farther north than our other two lakes, which are closer to the Atlanta metropolitan area. On our first day we had the early shift at Carter’s. We didn’t get anyone for the first session, and less than ten people for the second. It was a good way to ease into the surveys since it was our first official day on the job. Our second day at Sidney Lanier wasn’t extremely busy, but we had a steady traffic flow at both locations.
Even though it’s only been two days on the job, I was surprised at how many people were willing to take the survey. There were a select few who were reluctant to stop and said that they were in a hurry, but the vast majority agreed to it and even provided their email addresses to participate in a more in depth survey at home.
Another thing I noticed from the first couple of days was that the local people absolutely love these lakes. Most people stated that they visit regularly, even several times in one week. They definitely have a strong feeling of connectedness with the area, which is probably why a lot of them are so open to taking the survey. I found that even people who originally said they were not interested in participating ended up having a lot to say after the first question.
It’s going to be an exciting summer, and I’m sure there’s going to be no shortage of interesting stories from the large volumes of people we will be communicating with. During the late shift at Lake Lanier this week, my teammate and I were watching the sun set over the lake as we waited for someone to drive up. As we were taking in our surroundings we both had the same thought: Is this really a job? Awesome.
Written by Mia.
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