2022 People of the Big River Field Class

 We slept in until 7:15 AM, I got all my stuff together and had coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. We got to the Big Obsidian flow around 9 AM. We climbed to a sight seeing spot at the top, very nice. Obsidian was beautiful. We also seen Lichen growing on the Obsidian which was cool to see. Once we left there we headed to the High Desert Museum and looked though all the exhibits and seen all the animals. They has Trout, Foxes, Owls, snakes and Otters there as well. They has an exhibit telling about the different Tribes in the area including the Yakama Tribe, where I grew up. We also seen bead work and clothing and pictures from way back when which was very interesting. Once we left the museum we headed to the public library in Bend Oregon so we could upload our blogs.  

  I woke up early this morning around 5:20 AM and started gathering my stuff. By this time, we got down into a standard routine of getting the breakfast and lunch stuff out. I was still eating oatmeal for breakfast which I was still happy about. We went to the Lava Tube Cave Tours where we met some amazing guide who told us about how unique this cave ecosystem is including how important the bats that lived in them were. We descended into the cave first by stairs until we were walking along the tube floor. As we descended the temperature dropped from 80 degrees to around 43 degrees Celsius. We had to be careful were we walked because of the rocks and uneven ground. Occasionally, I would shine my light on the ceiling and look up at the wall of the caves. Once we got out of the caves, we headed up by bus and saw the nearby crater. Very beautiful. After that tour we went on a half mile walk to see the falls nearby also very beautiful. Once we got back to camp, we ate breakfast for dinn...

  The woke up at 6 am, ate breakfast and got ready for the day. We met with Marlow Fisher lead Botanist for Forest service, Sarah Garvin who oversaw the Natural Resources, Anthony Lanouza intern for Americorp. We all introduced ourselves and they told us we were there to help them do a survey for Pumice Moonwart, a small fern-like plant. Marlow and her team were conducting a study to figure out why the Pumice Moonwart firn plant species was struggling to survive in an area it once densely populated. They thought lodge pole pine was outcompeting the Moonwart. So her team cleared out lodge pole pine from an area where Pumice Moonwart once grew densely.   We grabbed flags and water containers, spread out 10 feet apart and walked slowly looking for Pumice Moonwart. We did this until lunchtime and took a break under a tree for shade. Then after lunch we finished our survey and counted our planted flags. Total flags counted was 756, without doing the data analysis they believe clear...

  For the last day in Kalispel, we woke up to rain. It was an early day of packing and chores. We needed to get on the road because we needed to drive from Kalispel to Bend Oregon which was around an 8-hour drive. So, I showered and packed my personal belongings. I ate maple and brown sugar oatmeal for my breakfast instead of the usual cold cereal. We got on the road around 9 AM to start our journey. I rode with Monet Becenti, Agnes Meninick, and Robert Onley in the black van and really enjoyed their company. At the stop in Biggs Oregon, Roberts brother was fishing on the Columbia River near by, so his Brother brought him smoked Salmon. Me and Agnes pitched in and bought some. We stopped about six times for gas, bathroom breaks, and lunch. Again, we traveled in a convoy, black van, truck and RV in the middle and white van in the back. We managed to stay together for the most part. Due to time constraints we had to get food from a restaurant, so we ate at Panda Express, very delicio...

  After another pleasant 6 AM wake up call, we all got ready for the day, I had cold cereal and coffee. We arrived at the Kalispel Fisheries after 8AM and was greeted Michael Polk, he is the manager of the Kalispel Fish Hatchery and has worked in fisheries for 15 years. He showed us the tanks they were cultivating cutthroat trout and spoke of nonnative fish species outcompeting native species due to climate change. After we left fisheries, we headed to the Kalispel Camas Center. This center had a basketball court, 2 conference rooms, clinic, gym, pool and early learning program. We met some wonderful kids and mentors who were working on positive mental wellness with the children. We played 9 square with them that was really fun. Then we all went back into one of the conference rooms and I sewed a medicine pouch, and I gave it to Dr. Black as a thank you for all the help she has given me. While there we listened to a motivational speaker who was a professional basketball player Bran...

  I woke up at 5:30 AM and showered in the very nice shower at the Indian Creek Community Forest building.   We ate breakfast and got our lunches ready for the day. Ray Entz the director of Wildlife Terrestrial Resources. He told us about how Kalispel Tribe Natural Resources Department was created in 1992. Although Ray was not enrolled member of Kalispel, he had a lot of useful information about Kalispel Natural Resources and some history. He also informed us how the Grizzly bear was a native species for this area but now are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act and Endangered in Washington State. After we got done talking to Ray, we were shown their tree nursery which is one of their many projects the tribe is working on to increase number of native tree species. We pulled out weeds from the tree buckets to help the young trees grow without competition. After 11 AM we regathered around our camp site and packed our backpacks with water and lunches then...

  We had a pleasant 6:30 AM wake up call. I am usually waking up around 5:30 AM so I can get to the showers and get myself together. We ate breakfast and did our chores at a quicker pace this Sunday morning because we needed to pack up our camp and go to the Kalispel Tribal Reservation. After we packed everything, we hit the road around 11 AM we stopped off at a laundromat in Airways heights. While waiting for our laundry to wash me and my friend Agnes ate and nice Chinese restaurant in the same building. We split a chicken teriyaki plate with pot stickers. We all finished our laundry after about an hour and half. We left the laundromat and headed to Walmart which was about a mile down the road. We restocked on ice, groceries and any personal items. I bought more travel size shampoo, conditioner and body wash. We got back on the road and arrived at Indian Creek Community Forest of the Kalispel Tribe. While we were unloading and setting up our tents Monet cooked us dinner, we had ta...

  We were able to sleep in a little bit longer this Saturday morning and the lovely Monet Becenti cooked us an amazing breakfast that consisted of pancakes, eggs and bacon. After breakfast we paired off to complete tasks like washing dishes, putting stuff away, getting out the lunch food. So, we took turns making our lunches and packing our snacks for the day. This was an exceptionally exciting day because we were going to Two Rivers to swim. The drive down to Two Rivers was beautiful with lots of trees and hills. On our way back we saw a white tale deer. Once we were back at the camp site Monet cooked us dinner, we ate and cleaned up. Then Dr. Shuster passed out our Bio paddles Agar Slides which contained Cottonwood bacteria samples, that has been incubating for 31 hours. I did see some bacterial growth on my slide, which was exciting to see. Finally, we set up the small portable projector and watched a scary movie called Antlers.

  After a pleasant 6 AM wake up call, we quickly showered, ate breakfast and packed lunches so we could make it to the Spokane Tribes, Department of Natural Resources at 8 AM. We were greeted by Forestry Technician and Firefighter George Teters. George is an enrolled member of the Spokane Tribe and a dedicated and knowledgeable worker of Department of Natural Resources for over twenty years. We loaded back into the big passenger van and followed behind George as he led us to a twenty-year clear-cut site. He taught us about native species of trees that grow there and when the trees needed to be cut or kept. He showed us Diameter Breast Plate measurement method when measuring trees, using a measuring tape. We drove further down from the twenty-year-clear-cute site and located the Cottonwood Creek. At this creek we took water samples for Dr. Shusters bacteria class. So, we cleaned described the area where we were collecting the water from. We sterilized our hands, put blue medical glo...

  We arrived at the Spokane Fish Hatchery after 10 AM and met three very nice fish hatchery experts. First, we were greeted by Tim Peone the Fish Hatchery Manager. Then we circled up as a group and were introduced to Water and Fish Project Manager Casey Flanagan, she earned her BS in biology at Eastern Washington University. Then we met the Water Resource Specialist Calvin Fisher, he earned his BS in biology at a University in Arkansas. Tim took time and explained one of his major missions is to see Salmon return to Spokane. Grand Coulee dam has hindered Salmon’s ability to travel as far as they once had. So, this team focuses on checking water quality, creating drought resiliency plans and troubleshooting parasites, diseases and invasive species to ready the water ways and call the salmon home. Later in the afternoon the entire group along with the Casey and Calvin did fish counts using electroshock device they were hoping to see Red Band Trout which was a native species of fish t...

  I arrived at Heritage University at 9 AM. As we were unloading the sleeping bags from Dr. Corbin Shuster’s car it started to rain lightly. We picked out our sleeping bags and beds that looked cozy. Dr. Black arrived around 10 AM with the RV. We loaded the coolers filled with food, camping gear, personal duffle bags, and lab equipment into the vans and RV. We took a break and Dr. Shuster showed us how to test water for bacteria. We set our Bio Paddle Agar Slide into an incubator. It took about 4 hours to get all gear packed and by this time the sun finally came out, temperature was 83 degrees. We departed from HU in a caravan with Dr. Black van in front, truck pulling the RV in the middle and the white van pulling up the rear. There was quite a bit of traffic all the way until we hit Reardan. We arrived at the camp site around 6 PM, unloaded and set up our tents. I personally had a bit of trouble assembling my tent because it looked like a sad Teepee, Agnes and Jaime helped it loo...