2013 Summary
For an initial pilot project, this was an awesome program! The instructors and Crew Leader were excellent and this model can be expanded to an 8 week course from the original 4 week trial. The program would also lend itself to adding a Kooskia based youth corps as year one’s Crew Leader is ideally located in Clear Creek just outside of Kooskia which lends itself to him leading the program there in 2014. Being part of the 2013 program provides him with experience and insight of the curriculum and potential for hands-on application at the project level and he can help with any expansion. Framing Our Community could then break in a new Crew Leader for the Elk City Corps and administer the program from Elk City. Everyone involved is excited and believes that after a few more tweaks this could be an excellent program that could be a national model.
The youth involved ranged from 14 – 20 years of age which presented some difficulty in learning ability due to developmental and educational levels. The younger participants were enthusiastic about the more physical aspects and capable of learning basic first aid, trail clearing, plant identification, gpsing, tree falling, stream bank revetments and tool making/repairing. The 16 – 20 year olds had a higher level of education (math/science/writing and computer skills), better focus and were better prepared for standard classroom as well as outdoor lessons and completing data transfer and reports.
If the program is continued meetings should begin with the CFLRP team in November to allow for planning and selection of useful CFLR projects that the two youth crews could work on. We could then apply training and instruction on real life projects that can benefit the Forest Service as they continue work on the Selway Middle-Fork CFLR Project. The CBC would then provide services to the Forest Service in a meaningful way and increase the youth’s knowledge base and feeling of accomplishment. Meetings could be held with the individual biologists and program managers during the winter (January – March), giving them time to prepare the program of work for each component that is developed. The challenge is connecting the Youth Corps with project leaders to coordinate work that is important to the CBC and its goals.
Susan Graves and I touched briefly on combining the two existing youth corps programs and leaving the oversight to whomever is contracted in the future. Conversations should also begin with the Natural Resource and Forestry Departments of the Universities of Idaho and Montana (Missoula) for undergraduate (2014) and graduate (might want to leave for 2015, raising the educational bar one year at a time) student participation. Participants should have an interest in natural resource related work with an eye on a career path. A thoughtful, targeted application process at the University and High School level will help find youth that will benefit from and give back to the program. We should target the College of Natural Resources at the Universities of Idaho and Montana and area High Schools. Create a mix of college and high school participants, starting at an educational level of Junior year.
In the long term Elk City may be too far away from many of the CFLR project areas to be an efficient use of time, vehicles, tools, etc. However, Elk City can be the program administrative headquarters with a Youth Corps based in the Kooskia area. Initially, there is work in 2014 and 2015 adjacent to Elk City on Iron Mt., O’Hara Saddle and along the Selway.
First Aid/CPR:
First Aid and CPR covered many of the basics in administering help in case of an emergency. Always good to have when out in the woods and not close to professional or semi-professional care.
There could have been a more comprehensive, extended class emphasizing particular issues that may come up for young adults in the Youth Corps age class. The course was way too brief for addressing such important topics that need to be covered in such a class.
First Aid – Bookwork
CPR – Practice
Recommendations:
My recommendation is to have a more in depth/full 8-10 hour day to instruct a complete CPR and First Aid course that covers all topics and involves everyone, where all students’ techniques are looked at and corrected as needed. There just was not enough one on one time. Students need to be treated as if they have never had prior courses or experience.
The Safety Program can be instructed the morning of day two and then reviewed on each segment as the application changes with the program of work.
GPS/GIS
The purpose of this training was to expose them to the field of GIS (Geo
graphical Information Systems) and provide them with data collection skills they can use in future projects and the remainder of the 2013 training sessions. By the end of two days, all of the participants were proficient in using Garmin, Montana GPS units to collect point and area data, were successful at transferring data from the GPS units to the computer and saving it using DNR Garmin and ArcGIS software, demonstrated an understanding of data collection basics, and gained experience entering data into an excel spreadsheet. Though we didn’t delve too deeply into the mapmaking process, they did have the opportunity to observe a couple of program options (Google Earth, and ArcMap) and one group was able to display their point data in ArcMap.
Day 1, they hand drew maps of local areas to use as an element of the presentation: describing points, lines, and polygons, talking about different ways information on a map can be used, and talking about quantitative vs. categorical data collection techniques. They practiced collecting points, lines, and polygons with the GPS units in town then, uploaded our data to Google Earth to take a look. This was helpful in a number of ways. Since the GPS units were new, it gave us a chance to learn about them together and provided a basis for testing what they could do. The hands on experience with data collection proved useful on Day 2 when they were out in the field doing more in depth data collection.
Day 2, the group was eager to get outside and were great at staying focused with the task at hand – in this case it was mapping invasive plants. Working in pairs was great because one trainee would operate the GPS while the other recorded the data. It was also a good way to pair tech savvy students with the less proficient so they could teach each other. A big part of this lesson was how to properly record data on a data sheet or field notebook and upload their GPS data to the computer with ArcGIS and enter data into an excel spreadsheet. The goal was to use this information to make a few maps of the work we did.
Group using GPS units in the field
The new Garmin Montana 650 GPS units are very intuitive and work great! We also discovered that the older GPS units did not work very well and had limited capabilities comparatively.
GIS and GPS can be a difficult topic to cover in 2 days, but overall the instructor did well in the time allotted. The instructor was excellent in communicating with the students and was very clear on making points about the subjects. The most valuable aspect of this course was the hands- on exercise in learning how to use GPS and its use in the real world. The lesson was meaningful and well presented so that students of all ages could follow along.
Some of the material may have been too complicated, however, or beyond the skill set possessed by some of the students, particularly some definitions, computer “lingo”, and discussion on data sets, etc. Students livened up when asked to perform tasks in the field and performed well.
Jasper & Jocelyn Micah & Ashley
Recommendations:
One major change I would make for next year is to involve maps from day one. Maps should be topographic maps with UTM coordinate grids. This way Youth Corps workers can be captivated early on by relating the subject matter back to the maps as the course moves along. I recommend one additional day of instruction, mainly to have more time to take data collected in the field and transfer it to maps, Arc view/ GIS, Google Earth, and topo maps. This will also give students more time to have turns in performing these tasks at the office. Presenting topographic maps early on will aid in the instruction and help the students relate to the subject matter. The use of these maps would help to explain the UTM grid that is most widely used in modern topo maps, and they would also help to aid students in relating to some of the difficult subject matter.
Nearly all of the trainees had difficulty maintaining focus during more than 10 minutes of power point. The younger age of some participants definitely seemed to impact attention span. In the future, more activities or more extensive videos could be added. Or, perhaps a series of short projects throughout the day after each relevant portion of the presentation that lead up to a final product such as a really cool map of Elk City that the students created.
Classroom instruction on GIS and GPSing
A short lesson on working in the outdoors scheduled into early training – before any field portions. It is important the youth know about and have the basic gear they need for every day in the field: raingear, water, snacks, a backpack, sun protection, and good sturdy shoes.
Plant Identification:
The goals for this section were to:
- Introduce corps members to the basic principles of plant identification (leaf type, flower type, leaf arrangement etc.) and common botanical vocabulary
- Familiarize corps members with different types of plant identification guides and keys
- Identify trees, shrubs and forbs common to the CFLRP area and discuss their habitat preferences, propagation requirements and restoration uses. I quizzed the crew on these plants again and again over our two days together to help the crew commit them to memory. Mark has promised to continue quizzing all week.
Work began in the office, comparing and naming plant characteristics from a number of plant samples brought in. The crew was asked to describe the similarities between currant leaves and maple leaves (both are lobed). Then, they would discuss differences (alternate leaf pattern vs. opposite leaf pattern. Berry vs. samara etc.). This was done with a wide range of samples, using the “Common Identification Features” handout as an aid.
Micah was put on the spot to “name that plant”
The crew moved outside to collect samples from the area that represented as many of the different plant ID features as they could find. They looked at the samples, describing their ID features as a group. The instructor then talked for a while about the evolution of plants from spore-bearing to cone-bearing to flowering and the adaptations that happened along the way. Both exercises went well, the crew stayed active and obviously was learning and retaining the new information.
The group drove out to a camp site for the students to walk around the site, collect samples of the most common trees, shrubs and forbs and write down notes on the site characteristics (moisture, light penetration, soil, aspect etc). The crew wrote a site description as a group. It was a moderately moist, northwest facing slope with a partially closed canopy. They didn’t dig a soil pit, but they predicted that it would have a thick litter and duff layer due to the organic material dropping from all of the vegetation. There were 3 levels of vegetation, trees, shrubs and low-growing grasses and forbs. They noted that the road had no vegetation in the tire tracks, but was filling in between the tire tracks where it wasn’t compacted. They then identified some of the most common plants in the area using 4 different books and keys. Before opening the books, the students described the characteristics they were seeing. Once they identified the plants present, someone in the group would read out loud the description, including medicinal and historical information.
The crew was engaged and seemed genuinely interested in trying to figure out which plants they’d found. They were especially interested in the poisonous or medicinal plants.
The group then drove to a completed stream restoration site and went through the same exercise here: Collect the most common samples, note the site conditions. I could tell that the group enthusiasm was dwindling, although they were interested when they compared the two sites’ conditions.
Plant identification
When asked why it is hard for plants to survive in cobble, one of the crew used the work “capillary” which is a testament to Mark’s soil lesson. They also talked about weed invasion on disturbed sites.
The Youth Corps group was very receptive to the plant identification. There was a good discussion on how to use plant identification books and using other sources of plant information. At the 5 mile to Orogrande site, students can clearly see the changes that have taken place on this river, from a natural state, to a disturbed state, now back to a post disturbance restoration state. The instructor did well in relating some of the uses of various plants in a restoration setting.
During the hike up John’s Creek, students got a good view of a hot, dry, steep site, and what other species grow there. In contrast, they were also able to view a cooler, wetter site and see the drastic differences in vegetation. Many types of plants were identified and the students really enjoyed harvesting berries, such as the thimbleberry. The conversation also included a discussion on why plants are a good thing to know in many professions. The Youth Corps also got good a taste of what a post fire succession area looks like, and the value that things like snags can provide for habitat.
“The more you know about plants…..”
Finally, there was a brief discussion on propagating seed and different methods in doing so. This was valuable in that students could see the connection between identifying a seed source, gathering seed, growing the plants, then putting them back in the ground.
Recommendations:
I would recommend bringing some examples of potted plants that were propagated with seed or cuttings, and some of the various containers that are made just for restoration purposes. Another idea would be to bring in any other propagation, harvesting, or nursery tools to demonstrate some techniques in those fields. I would not do two back-to-back identification exercises, break them up.
Plant Communities and Plant ecology and Map drawing:
The goals for this day were to:
- Identify the characteristics that affect plant communities, comparing two adjacent but very different habitat types
- Start a list of dry-land species for steep slope stabilization work
- Practice plant identification skills
- Research and discuss propagation techniques for important regional plants
- Help the attending crew prepare to teach the missing crew what we’d learned that day
Map – drawing began in the classroom with discussions and a demonstration of reading maps. To demonstrate how altitude is designated on maps Mark Vander Meer drew elevation lines on one of the youth’s knees.
Jasper volunteered his knee
The crew practiced their map-drawing skills at a trailhead parking lot. They discussed the key elements to a map and how to translate a 3D landscape to a 2D piece of paper. With just a little bit of instruction, their drawings improved significantly in comparison to the campsite maps they had drawn the day before.
Next they took a look at the south-facing slope near the trail head where they were asked to describe the site and patterns they were observing.
They discussed the characteristics of the plants that could survive on such a difficult site and identified the major species. They began a list of dry site species that could be used for a steep-slope stabilization project.
Immediately upon reaching the north-facing slope, there was an obvious shift in habitat type. The crew identified aspect and moisture as the primary elements that differed between sites. They then began a slow hike through the forest, stopping often to identify a plant or taste an edible berry.
Looking in the book to identify plants
The crew was particularly interested in edible and medicinal plants. They identified Clintonia uniflora and discussed its use as an indicator species for this forest type. Once they reached the ridge, the habitat shifted to a dry, ponderosa forest again. They stopped and talked about why we do surveys and the different forest surveys/inventories that people are employed to perform. The instructor posed two forestry scenarios and had the crew decide what elements they would survey to answer my hypothetical questions.
They hiked fo
r about 4 hours, stopping often to talk about a new plant, quiz the crew on a plant we’d learned or discuss a shift in habitat type. The crew seemed to really enjoy being out and moving around. They stayed engaged the entire time and wanted to keep hiking when it was time to turn back. They headed back to the FOC office for the last hour and half. They reviewed what had been discussed that day and divided the lessons into sections that each student could present to the rest of the crew. They then broke up to do some plant research, one looked into good grass species for our dry-land revegetation list, while others researched plant propagation techniques for our most desirable revegetation shrubs. Overall, the day was a success. Both the crew and instructor appreciated the open format of a hiking lecture where they could talk about whatever they saw and found interesting.
This worked better than the more formal lesson, though I think the first day was necessary preparation to allow an open discussion about plant ecology.
Recommendations:
After being out in the field all day, everyone was tired and it was difficult to keep the crew focused in the classroom. In retrospect, they would have been better off if they were kept outdoors for the entire time.
Campsite Analysis:
Goals for the campsite inventories:
- Introduce the crew to the campsite impact survey
- Compare a heavy use site to a light-moderate site
- Discuss factors that affect site resiliency
Campsite analysis really involved all of the students and got them to work together as a team and use critical thinking skills to perform a campsite survey. Real world examples of why surveys are important were given to the group, and opened their eyes to some possibilities of working on surveys in the woods. They were also taught to identify possible causes of disturbance at a site, and what it means in the analysis.
They did all of the measurements as a group and the crew filled out the form in pairs. The importance of filling out the whole data form, taking precise measurements etc. was reinforce. After filling out the form, they talked about how the categories on the form are weighted. Easy-to-remedy categories like trash are weighted low, while more permanent impacts like mineral soil or damaged trees are weighted higher. The crew compared pacing technique to GPS measurements.
Explaining campsite surveys and what to look for
They then returned to the campsite near the bridge where they had done plant identification and did a full campsite impact survey. The crew broke into pairs to take measurements and fill out the form. They then discussed everyone’s results and where groups had differing answers. They closed with a discussion on site resiliency based on the site conditions they had noted and also talked about which situations were appropriate to have heavy vs. light impact campsites.
The crew seemed to like doing these surveys and picked up on the material quickly. They struggled with the mapping component, but were very good at the measurements. The instructor did quite well in both relating to the kids and being clear on the main points. The style and pace of discussion really lent itself to the students being able to absorb information and focus on what the plants are and their many uses.
Recommendations:
The only recommendation may be to have a longer discussion as to what the data is used for, how, and why.
Soils and Report writing for rehabilitating stream banks and hillsides:
During the morning session (8/8) the Youth Corps was involved in creating a budget and proposal for rehabilitating a stretch of Red River and the slope at the Elk City incubator. This was one of the more valuable aspects of the pilot session thus far, primarily because it shows students where the “rubber meets the road” in report writing, analysis, and technical writing and how those skills can make all of the difference when winning contract bids. Students were shown how to make good maps of a site, create a budget, create an outline for reports (identify the problem, explain the problem, then key out the solution). This was so valuable because it tied in everything that was talked about in the field and summarized the key points so that they can be presented in a professional manner.
Everyone checking out a soil sample
Recommendations:
Only recommendations for this would be to spend a full day where all of the students get a chance to write a part of the report.
Forging, Tool Making/Maintenance:
During the afternoon (8-8), students were split-up, half went to the forge to create more tools, where the other half went with Mark to learn a few tips on pruning and tree felling. I oversaw the group creating more tools. These are the kind of real world skills that may make all of the difference in impressing future employers.
The group did well in really getting to know the importance of understanding how things work and how tools are created.
Jocelyn working hard on her tool
2nd picture she proudly displays the finished product
Recommendations:
I would expand this component which would give the youth a better understanding of how important your tools are and what to do if there is need for a repair out in the field.
Forest Stands and Tree felling:
This was a very valuable lesson for students in beginning to understand factors associated with poor forest health and good forest health. There was good conversation about soil compaction, tree selection for cutting, and what good goals for cutting a tree stand would be.
cleaning up a tree that they fell
direction using a two-man saw
The Youth Corps group also learned how to properly trim tree branches and how to fell a tree. The lesson and discussion were very valuable and pertinent, teaching two real world skills that can only help the students when trying to impress future employers.
Recommendations:
I would recommend teaching about safe fire regimes and create a stand with species diversity, using trial plots to effect treatments.
Forestry Tools: cross saws, axes, bridge building, and tree felling
When pursuing a job in the outdoors, it is always impressive when a prospective employee knows how to work with tools and create interesting things, such as a bridge in this case. Youth Corps students were given the opportunity to work with a few very useful tools that are used in many outdoor oriented forest jobs.
The cross cut saw taught kids how to work together and get a rhythm to get a task done. This is a good exercise in teamwork and unity. They also participated in using an axe to fell a tree, which taught a different method of felling trees using primitive tools.
Jasper & Micah using the saw
Cody Peeling a log
Other tools that the students were able to learn were a log peeler, choker/ setter, a Griphoist come along, and flat files (for sharpening axes).
A valuable lesson with this section was where the students learned how to build a bridge using primitive tools, keeping up with the specifications of the USFS protocol. This required patience, planning, discipline, and good old fashioned sweat labor. Students were able to see how a number of different skills can come into play, such as math, geometry, woodworking, log moving, and teamwork skills. This is problem solving on a large scale, real world application, and the students really seemed to enjoy this activity. This section welded together many skills, techniques, and concepts that will help participant’s in future outdoor jobs.
Another important lesson for all was maintaining tools and what to look for when buying tools. Youth Corps learned the correct way to sharpen axes, how to set an axe head on a handle properly (using a wood rasp to get correct size of handle head), and how to identify a good axe head and handle when purchasing.
Seth and Jasper working together on the bridge
A highlight for the Youth Corps in this section was learning how to climb trees using spurs and rope. The instructor did a good job in showing proper technique and identifying when and when not to use spurs to climb a tree. Students were then able to practice climbing trees, as each one got a chance to wear the spurs, the instructor making sure they only went a few feet off the ground.
Overall, I would rate this section highly, as it really welded together many skills, techniques, and concepts that will help students’ in future outdoor jobs.
Recommendations:
- Teach this section (forestry tools) before heading out and doing trails.
Jasper showing his skills
Trail maintenance:
The Youth Corps joined members of the Dust Devils ATV organization (Elk city, ID) at Limber Luke campsite to perform maintenance of the Anderson Butte National Recreation Trail on Monday August 12th through Wednesday August 14th. The group maintained, cleared, and installed water bars on approximately 15 miles of trail.
The trail project was a good chance for the students to get into the field and get a good taste of what working in the woods is like. Basic needs such as adequate food, water, and tools were discussed and reinforced to remind the students the importance of being prepared when in the woods.
A big benefit of the trail work was the physical exercise, which is proving to be a necessary component of health in young adults. Some students really seemed to liven up and relish the chance at physical work. One thing that being on a crew in the forest can bring is the sense of group unity and cohesiveness where bonding can occur. Where some students fell behind in an instructional setting, they improved on the trail work.
Youth install water bars on the trail
Training included the correct way to install water bars to Forest Service specifications and clever ways to remove logs and debris from the trail. Another good aspect of the trail work was learning to work with other entities, in this case the Dust Devils, to complete a project, coordinate times and meeting places, and organize the group so that the work flow made sense.
The youth crew rode with ATV Club members or (if licensed/certified) drove their own ATV’s to Boundary and the 505 Trail. Youth worked alongside their instructor, crew leader and Dust Devil Club members to clear and repair a segment of the future North South Route.
The kids learned some different trail techniques. The main thing they encountered on the 505 trail was issues with water on the trail so they spent a lot of time discussing different ways to manage this.
They also encountered logs on the trail so the kids learned clever ways to deal with that. Tuesday and Wednesday we did more of the same but at this point the kids knew what was going on and we focused more on getting work done. They cleared about 15 miles of trail.
Later in the week they focused on a lot of different scenarios that you encounter doing trail work that we didn’t cover or experience out on the trail. They talked about and the kids practiced using a crosscut saw, axes, draw knives, and a specialized winch called the griphoist which is common in trail work. They also cut down some trees at Elk Creek Cabins using the crosscut saws. With all the tools described above and the trees they cut down the kids built a 12′ bridge. Some of the tools had loose heads so the kids were taught how to re-handle tools and how to sharpen them as well.
Ashley works on water bars
Recommendations:
- Have a clearer plan of attack with the Dust Devils or other recreational organizations so that all are aware of who needs an ATV, who can drive and who cannot, and what is expected on the trail, rather than discussing all details and scrambling around the morning of the project. A little more planning would have cleared up some of the smaller details and made a much smoother first morning. Another recommendation would be to have the forestry tools training first, rather than heading out on the trails first. However, things came together and worked out fine. If the program is expanded, work with ATV clubs in Elk City and Kooskia and consider adding the Back Country Horsemen.
Invasive Species, Road Decommissioning and Soil Science:
Over the three days of instruction, the three most common watershed restoration problems in the Clearwater Sub-basin were discussed and demonstrated. These included invasive plants, encroachment into high value resource lands, decommissioning roads now surplus to current management need, and culvert replacement. Along with the scheduled lessons, David found time for the Corps to learn and practice basic map and compass skills. Some of the students even found time to collect Pacific Yew Wood to use for a traditional bow making class taught by a local community member. A breakdown of each day’s lessons and key activities are below.
Invasive plants:
– Definition of a weed
– What does invasive mean?
– Why should we care?
– Ecology of weeds
– Costs of invasives: ecological, economic
– Basic plant identification
– Local weeds
– Management strategies and control options
– The case for awareness at a local level
In addition to invasive plants and the problems they can cause, the instructor also gave a short history of the Nez Perce Tribe and how they came to be managing resources along with the Forest Service. He also tried to keep all his discussions tied to local issues and conditions.
Field visits to completed and in-progress sites adjacent to the Wagon Road and Limber Luke clear-cuts were conducted. Together with the Corps Leader, Nat, they finished the afternoon with map and compass basics.
Map and compass:
– How a compass works
– Declination, or why north isn’t really north
– Reading a topo map
– Taking a compass bearing
– Using triangulation to find your location
– Navigation Practice
Road Decommisioning:
What is road decommissioning and why do we do it?
– How are roads built?
– Types of resource roads
– Road/water interaction
– Reasons for road decommissioning vs. stabilization
– The planning process
– Methods and Levels of road decommissioning
– Road surveying basics (assessing the field condition)
– Kinds of problems and how we fix them
– Revegetation and restoring a sustainable native plant community
– What is restoration vs. abandoning a road?
– Monitoring results; short term and long term
Youth look at a road being decommissioned
Field visits to two roads occurred; one that has been surveyed and is about to be decommissioned, and one that is in the process of being decommissioned to the highest level, i.e. re-contoured. While there, they met Phyllis Heath, who works as a road surveyor and road decommissioning contract inspector for the Nez Perce Tribe. They also discussed culvert replacement, both as part of road decommissioning and as part of watershed restoration and aquatic species passage. They visited some roads done in 2008 to see how they had revegetated in the 4 years. They also saw a culvert surveyed for replacement to improve fish passage, and a culvert in the process of being replaced with a larger pipe.
Cutting Slash for Stream Bank Stabilization:
Young fir trees were harvested from the adjacent tree line in preparation for the next day’s lessons on Bio-engineering to repair badly eroded stream banks by installing revetments.
YC members taking slash to stream bank for next day’s project:
The crew traveled to a site along Elk Creek road to cut branches and small trees to create enough slash for a streambank stabilization project. Because of the site and the trees, the instructor also took the opportunity to explain how to use a clinometer to measure percent slope and take the height of trees. Everyone got to practice.
Practicing with the clinometer
Bio-engineering:
On a collapsing bank on Big Elk Creek, students learned to design and build anchored brush bundles and in-stream grade control structures. The anchored brush bundles are an innovative bio-engineering technique meant to be applied one year; allow some mass wasting in the following several years while a stable bench forms behind the bundles. The bench is well connected with the capillary fringe, increasing the revegetation potential of the bench. The bench should be planted as soon as it can be (flat and stable land form). This technique provides immediate fish habitat. Our work also included several “brushy barbs” designed to push high energy flood water away from vulnerable weak banks.
Students stabilized 230 feet of streambank and placed 5 grade control structures.
Team work is the best work! It’s wet and they loved it!
The Youth Corps group was able to take part in creating revetments for problem areas on the west fork of Big Elk Creek. This exercise was both valuable in terms of education and in terms of getting some work done. When the group is put to work physically, it seems to bond and help create a team work atmosphere. We were able to have good discussions on why revetments and in-stream structures can be important in problem areas, how they are put together, and the materials used to create them. In my opinion, this was one of the most valuable exercises, as we were able to incorporate work and education. The team feels good when they are sweating and actually getting things done.
Before revetments
Revetments installed
The revetment construction tied in well with the topic of fish habitat. The group was taken out to sections of Red River, Big Elk, and Elk Creek to learn the components of performing a habitat survey. The group enjoyed being out in the water and learning about the complexities of habitat and hydrology. There was good discussion on how habitat surveys can be different with different agencies, and why they may be different (depending on species, area, etc.). They were also able to tie in a discussion on fisheries and what different habitat types can provide for different life stages of fish, i.e. pools for rearing, riffles and gravel for spawning, etc.
Recommendations:
- Tie this training to multiyear projects so the youth can observe the effectiveness of the treatments.
PACFISH and Fish Habitat Surveys:
The factors related to fish habitat requirements studied were population dynamics, geo-morphology and climate and the flow regime. In addition, the importance of the quality and quantity of riparian and in-stream habitat for anadromous fish, particularly with regard to temperature, dissolved oxygen, sediment and pollutants. On their trip the group was able to see two adult males, a female, and one jack Chinook salmon and active redd fish spawning. This really helped the crew see the importance of good habitat, what spawning habitat looks like, and that indeed salmon can get up this far. This observation made “believers” out of the kids, which in many ways was a perfect ending to the Youth Corps, highlighting why we are trying to improve habitat and why we are trying to be smarter on our forest management practices.
1) They started on the Red River at the section where the Youth Corps group did a restoration plan. They went through the basic R1/R4 protocol. The protocol collects many measurements that in total give a picture of the habitat condition and health of a stream for fish. They concluded that this area has unstable banks and not much hiding cover for fish. The kids were pretty quick to pick up on the measurements and they talked about how the different measurements relate to quality fish habitat. They also talked about how habitat typing (riffle, glide, run, pool, cascade, etc.) can be rather subjective but the important thing is to paint the picture of overall habitat health. Nat’s fisheries background was a big help.
2) Next they went upstream to the section of Red River where restoration (channel armoring) occurred in the past. Here they discussed a plan for revegetating the river here and had a great conversation about fish spawning habitat – they saw Chinook salmon and found redds.
3) They went to a fish weir lower down on the Red River. Had lunch at the pull out before walking down to the weir. Nat described how the weir works and they practiced the fish habitat protocol more in a different stream type – confined channel with pools. Some of the waders were leaking, two of the youth didn’t have waders and one wasn’t very sure footed in the water (he fell once) so this was a bit challenging here with larger cobble and faster moving water.
4) Two final stops in the afternoon. One to the location on Elk Creek where the students had done stream work on Thursday and finally to the creek at the water plant. At Elk Creek we talked about future potential for good fish habitat here due to prior treatments and how interesting it will be to keep coming back to the same location to see changes, especially once some willow cuttings can be placed. At the water plant we walked the creek through thick willow and discussed how the willow provides good bank strength as well as shade for fish. This is the kind of habitat we want to see at Big Elk Creek.
Recommendations:
- Expand this component, as much of the work on the forest is impacted by federal regulations, cultural aspects and recreational economies within the basin. Anadromous fish habitat and water quality are important to the quality of life and health of wildlife and those who live within the Basin.
- Teach this material to an older group
- It was a bit challenging to work with six kids on the protocol – normally 2 to 3 people work as a team on this protocol. Stay with small groups, even 6 was too many
- Group likes working on an actual project, If we could get some actual fish habitat assessment work, I believe the older ones could get into it and do well.
Volunteer Service Components:
Outreach needs to be part of the CBC Youth Corps program, and the youth involved in trail, community and forest projects is a great way to give back. The Elk City ATV Club was really appreciative of the extra hands for clearing, building water bars, and repairing motorized trails. They even mentioned hiring the youth corps to help on next year’s trail clearing program. This would be great match, build awareness of the CBC and its program, and connect kids to their environment. Seven miles of trail was cleared and had water bars constructed during the volunteer trail clearing time.
The pilot project took a baby step in announcing the CBC – FOC program to the public during Elk City Days by designing and constructing a float for the Elk City Days parade. The youth designed and made banners that said Clearwater Basin Collaborative Youth Corps. Skills learned and tools used were demonstrated on the float by the corps. This included GPS units and maps, a correctly formed slash pile, crosscut saws, pole saws and pulaskis.
One of the corps members could not work on Saturday for the volunteer component due to religious reasons, so she researched interruptive signage designs and drew layouts for the Elk City Trailhead site. She established her hours by working at the FOC office before and after regular corps hours.
Tools and Equipment:
Learning and ordering the tools needed was definitely a work in progress, so the equipment funds were applied under the adaptive management rule, modifying as the curriculum and instructors evolved. Attached is a list of the tools and equipment purchased by the CBC, all items have been marked for identification and stored in a CBC tool box built by the assistant crew leader. CBC tools are being stored in FOC’s storage room. Below is a recommended list for purchase to round out the training should the CBC decide to expand and continue with the program.
Instructor Evaluations & Recommendations:
Youth Corps Crew Leader – Nat Davis has a Bachelor of Science, Conservation and Social Science, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho (U of I), Moscow, ID. with a minor in wildlife and fisheries. He graduated in December, 2000. Study Emphasis: Fish, Wildlife and Resource Recreation Management, Land Management, Environmental Science and Writing. Educated as a certified arborist, January 2009. Nat has lived and worked in the Clearwater Basin since his graduation and proved to be well versed on multiple subjects and proved to be an excellent crew leader. He met daily with the Program Manager and provided good insight to the effectiveness of the curriculum, the quality of the instructors, and future improvements.
Defensive Driving – Dennis Talbert: Was a good instructor and actually made this course effective and interesting.
First Aid & CPR – Delise Denham: Is competent and can teach to all age levels. Delise is the President of the Elk City Ambulance Service and is the lead Advanced EMT.
GIS & Mapping – Joelle Marier: Joelle was effective in connecting with the kids and making some pretty difficult subject matter palatable. Her background in interpretation and guiding came through; she had a positive attitude, and was a good communicator with the crew leader. Easy to work with, some of the material that was trying to be relayed (ARC View/ GIS) was not suited for the age or interest level of the audience. The kids, however, were very interested and engaged when it came to using a GPS, plotting data points, and creating the maps on the computer. We could have used another day to finish the mapping and reports.
Forest Ecology, Tools, Tool Repairing, Hydrology and Soils Assessment/Stream and Riparian Restoration – Mark Vander Meer: Effective in relating to entire group, very knowledgeable and easy to communicate with. Lots of ideas to share, creative, innovative, prepared. The kids really enjoyed time with Mark as he has a good knowledge base on the subject matter and can relate to kids. He is very accessible and has some great ideas. Blacksmithing got voted the favorite activity of Youth Corps.
Native Plant Identification and Uses – Christine Brissette: Very knowledgeable, good communicator, enthusiastic, easy going with the kids, had good ideas, and was clear. Some of the subject matter was difficult for the group but she made it palatable to the age and interest level of the group. The kids really loved the hike she took them on.
Trail work and Traditional Skills – Lucas McIver: Good ideas, hard worker, good relationship with the kids, prepared, interesting information. The Corps loved the trail maintenance and did a good job. The tree climbing, felling, and wood cutting were some of their favorite activities. Lucas has the kind of easy going personality that kids generally enjoy being around as a teacher. He was very good at listening to ideas and incorporating them into the lessons. He was able to relate the subject matter in an effective way and keep the kids attention. The kind of material Lucas presented was ideal for this age group and interest level, ie tree felling and woodworking, building bridges, using and maintaining tools, etc.
Road Decommissioning and Invasive Species – Dave Forestieri: Very knowledgeable, clear, and professional. The kids loved doing the orienteering with David, and proved to be one of the favorite activities by the Corps. David had a hard time relating with the kids, either because he was not prepared for the audience, or was not used to this age group. The material he presented was very interesting, but too much time was spent on “chasing roads” to look at.
PAC FISH and Fresh Water Fish Habitat – Marnie Crile: Although the crew only spent one day with Marnie, she was great to work with and got along well with the kids. The subject matter (habitat surveys) was pertinent and related well. I think we need to spend more time with her as the Basin, National Forests, and ESA are important parts of all activities on federal lands.
Public Outreach and Awareness – As the program grows it might be good to hear from local business people that also work in the natural resource arena and find a way to develop internships with them. This would include ranchers, loggers, and miners. We can also incorporate discussions on what “responsible” stewardship means, how all the natural resources are related, and how things have changed in light of knowledge about our impact on the land. One thought is to offer restoration services to landowners seeking to rehabilitate forest or waterways within the CBC area. We can use community events in the Basin for outreach and public awareness; parades, informational booths and work days would all fit. Also reaching out to motorized and non-motorized organizations to help clear trails and assist with club projects.
Looking to the Future:
Curriculum improvement:
Overall the curriculum was pertinent to not only the CBC interests, but the projects taking place in the region. The educational component really needs to be tailored to the age group. The group expressed that they overwhelmingly enjoyed the blacksmithing/tool making the most, along with knot tying. I believe these two things incorporated a “learn as you work” approach. Most people learn best when they are observing, hearing and performing the task they are learning. This approach is the ideal scenario for young adults in this age class. Find a way to incorporate these learned skills with actual on the ground work with an educational component that ranges from 20-40% and a work/labor component of 60-80% incorporating ways to learn as they work.
With more advance planning we can teach basic field working skills, like mapping and compass, GPS, basic data collection and so on with a curriculum that builds on each lesson and is tied to CFLR projects.
Fisheries should be a major topic of discussion. The Tribe, Forest Service, and State devote a lot of time and money to fisheries and habitat improvements. In many ways, all of Forest Service timber sales and projects are tied to fisheries and fish habitat.
Invasive species management and restoration of decommissioned road areas could be expanded as they are types of work that will continue to grow and are relevant.
We need to also make sure to address safety, first aid, and orienteering in the first week. An additional day of wilderness safety training would also be valuable for work situations that require camping and trail work and there are a lot of scenarios that could occur that are not discussed in a typical first aid course.
Program Recommendations:
Project based learning – we all know this. As you can imagine, this will take advanced coordination with the USFS. Finding meaningful projects might be tough. More time to prepare a curriculum and coordinate with local resource management professionals to create opportunities to learn from actual projects. If we run a full 8-week course, I would consider staggering the start dates so our instructors can move from one location (Kooskia) to the other (EC) seamlessly. Add a day to finish the mapping and reports components.
Long-Term Youth Program Outline for full scale summer youth program
- First Aid/ CPR/Wilderness Safety & General Training
- Tool maintenance, Blacksmithing & Tool making
- GIS Introduction and Application
- Provide students with basic tools needed to transfer field data to useful maps and information layers
- Introduction to the Forest Ecosystem
- Forest Ecology
- Forest Hydrology
- Forest Soil Assessments
- Elk Habitat and Population Response Monitoring
- Assist collaborative partners with on-going monitoring work
- PACFISH and Fish Habitat Monitoring, Assessment, Restoration
- Stream/ Riparian Restoration
- Identify issues
- Perform assessment
- Provide restoration plan and design
- Implement portions of the project
- Trail Maintenance
- Learn traditional skills use for trail work
- Tool use and maintenance
- Trail specifications
- Safety training
- Clear and repair trails
- Fire Safe Training & Application
- Students can offer these services to the community
- Promote and provide local expertise, credibility & employment
- Bridge Building with Timbers
- Learn traditional building techniques and provide a bridge
- Rapid Assessment Monitoring
- Use existing protocol for forest restoration effectiveness monitoring
- Data useful for public/student interactions
- Road Decommissioning
- Problem road identification
- Assess road/water interactions and effects
- Provide recommendations
- Effectiveness monitoring using existing road monitoring protocol
- Invasives Monitoring and Mapping
- Find, assess and map exotic invasions
- Provide recommendations
- Use GIS to impart information