Crew Leader: Dana
Member: Dain
The Moyer wildlife crew embarked upon the continuation of the White Bark Pine survey where not only did Dain and Dana complete the rest of the known White Bark Pine stands within the survey, but Dain also perfected his Clarks Nutcracker call. The first week of hitch was spent near Baldy Peak, an area characterized by numerous White Bark Pines and Clarks Nutcrackers (a bird that feeds on White Bark seeds and caches seeds in areas conducive to White Bark Pine growth). By the end of the first week, Dain and Dana completed the remaining 44 plots in the established White Bark Pine stands. The second week of hitch brought the wildlife crew back to the ridge road between William’s Summit and Wallace Lake where they began chipping away at a new set of 235 plots. These plots were not in designated White Bark Pine stands, but the goal was to discover if these areas could be typed for White Bark Pine. The first two days of the week took the crew through a jungle gym of dead, fallen trees as they scrambled about from plot to plot where little White Bark Pine was found. The next two days brought more hopeful prospects as the crew went to two different areas and found a good amount of White Bark Pine and saw a few Clarks Nutcrackers. The hitch was an overall success, highlighted by an appropriate celebration of 2paco Tuesday, a taco dinner enjoyed with the music of 2pac, and Dana struggling to use the copier at the Salmon-Cobalt office as it jammed multiple times.
