To wrap up the season in style, the team traveled to the lovely land of Escalante. Surrounded by an amazing landscape, the team enjoyed relatively “easy” plots after the arduous hikes of Twitchell Canyon. With all the team plot work for the season complete, they took the long way home along Hell’s Backbone road for some truly spectacular views. On Friday Doug and Anna were joined in the field by international Dixie NF volunteer, Carolina Barros Godinho. They headed to wrap up plots in the Sunset North burn area which were truly the last plots of the season. Although the weather was pleasant albeit a bit cold in the morning, they were all surprised to find themselves walking through snow! It melts much slower on those north facing slopes in the high country. But they trucked on, counting the last of the Utah Junipers and Pinyon Pines for the year. With plot work complete, they headed to the office to focus on site closeout. Tasks for the last week of work included: ensuring all data is entered correctly and thoroughly, ensuring all photos are uploaded and properly named, and composing a final report summarizing the season. In addition, the team is grateful for the opportunity to be attending the Interior West Fire Ecology Conference November 11-14 in Snowbird Utah. This provides not only a great opportunity to network with ecologists from many different agencies but also a chance to promote SCA fire programs. The team has been working hard on a poster to showcase the work accomplished in Dixie and Fishlake. For more information about the conference visit: http://humboldt.edu/iwfire/
