Hitch lead: Adam Martin
Member: Bri Wills
The first thing about timber is there was no work to do with timber. So for our first day Bri Wills and I went with our Forest Service Liaison Angie Hurley (who is also a public information officer) and ran the trap line. Running the trap line means going to predetermined stops and updating their bulletin boards with the most recent fire information. It also means you talk to everyone who is interested about what the fire is doing. The next day we gathered up stuff to set up a booth for the Forest Service at the Lemhi County Fair. The theme of the fair was 100 years tradition as it was the fairs 100th year. We set up some historical photos, old ranger journal quotes, old gear, a 1918 ranger uniform replica, fire information, and a ton of Smokey Bear swag.
The next four days were spent at the booth from 10 AM to 8 PM with Forest Service people covering some hours to give out the most recent fire information. We were asked a lot of fire questions as well, mostly why were we not personally out fighting the fire. We mostly dolled out Smokey Bear swag. Which is when we discovered that most kids will stand sheepishly off to the side until you tell them it is all right to take something, whereas parents will rob you blind despite two one item per person signs. The perk of working the booth is that on the first day the food vendors were having a slow day so they went to all the booths and took orders. That how we got ice cream delivered. We also got to spend lunch breaks watching the rodeo qualifiers. On Thursday we helped set up the petting zoo and the children’s play rodeo. We were also on hand during the attempted break out at the petting zoo when a calf kicked over the fence and made a run for it while the donkey tried to quietly slip out the opposite direction and the pig just generally freaked out. Luckily Bri caught the donkey. On Friday we had the privilege of escorting Smokey Bear himself around the fair and giving out stickers. The next day I donned the ranger uniform and the persona of Ora Cockrell the first ranger on the Salmon River Preserve. After taking down the booth on the last day we went to the rodeo with the Hurley Family fellow corps member Tisha and Shannon.
On Monday we went out to reinforce the u-routes crew (Magdaline, Baba, and Nick) at Mackay reservoir. The first day was pretty chill because they were still out so we took in the reservoir and grilled burgers when they got back. The next two days we learned about U-routes. I learned that most are up steep hills and are for fence maintenance. I also watched Maggie and Nick do the super fun work of moving all the Trimble data to the computers and logging/updating all the maps.
