2023 People of the Big River Field Class

 July 21st Location: Wellpinit, Dry Falls, Heritage University   We woke up at 6:00 am for breakfast and to start packing everything away. We started heading home at around 9:30 and had our lunch at Dry Falls. The geological history and view at this site were truly something to marvel at. There is no other place in the world like it. After arriving back on campus, we unloaded and put away whatever was loaned from the University. I came across Dr. Miller in his office and we had a great conversation. Being back on campus, there was a strange nostalgic feeling of being at home and I cannot wait to come back once classes begin. Seeing almost everyone be picked up by their family members or spouses and the smiles that came across their faces the moment they saw them was heartwarming. I needed to step out of my comfort zone and this adventure really gave me the right push in the right direction to continue doing just that.

 July 20th Location: Tshimikain creek, Sand creek   Today is the last day of our trip. We had an amazing field day today and met many people while doing work with the Spokane’s Tribes Natural Resource Department. We worked today with three people specifically, Calvin, Lars, and Donovan. Calvin has been doing this type of work since 2017 and started at a specialist fishery for endangered species and is now a water resource specialist. Lars is a veteran in the field and shared lots of his information with us. Unfortunately, today was one of the days that it was difficult to take notes while out in the field but for me is one of the more memorable days. Donovan is working with the department for the summer through the Spokane Youth Program for Tribal Members. Which I think is just amazing to be able to see these programs being in place and be able to make an impact on the younger generation to help them discover new passions and future career opportunities. We started off at one of th

 July 19th Location: Wellpinit, Washington   It was our last day at the Harris Park location. I woke up at 6:00 am to start packing and to help with cooking breakfast. We left before 9:00 am this morning to head over to our last campsite. Around 4:00 pm we arrived and set up camp and got to work on our blogs. 

 July 18th Location: Tribal Native Plant Nursery and Tamástslikt Cultural Institute   We met Gail at the nursery today. The Nursery was opened in 1994 and was originally for non-profit… but due to personnel changes had become a “for-profit” and was not very successful, so they are working on making it only for restoration work once again. The organization has been partnered with the Wildlife Program since 2004. A lot of the information being given to us during this trip I already knew of or had learned from my parents but there were some things that they do that I had not heard of. She mentioned using snow cover for insulating plants which I thought was interesting. My mom in her garden insulates her plants for the winter but we would cover them in fallen leaves or other natural plant debris so they would make it through the winter. I also learned that some seeds require rough treatment in order to mimic nature by grinding them up against sandpaper. One of the plants they grow ther

 July 17th Location: Walla Walla Hatchery   We revisited the South Fork Walla Walla River this morning to get our final measurement from this site. Flow Meter Device 1: 0.6 m/s m/s 15.7 MAX MAX 14.2 Degrees C Degrees C   Flow Meter Device 2: 0.47 m/s Today we visited the Walla Walla Hatchery’s restoration sites and their facility. Our tour guides for the facility and restoration site were, John, Tela and Jason. The restoration work they have done is impressive considering how much work they had to do for there to be more meandering in the channel. Previously it was relatively straight and had been moved by farmers and other landowners. I thought it was great that whenever there are any disturbances while they are working, they plant native species, which is great as it provides a more balanced ecosystem for everything in and surrounding the river. At the site we essentially had two different ecosystems m

 July 16th Location: Harris Park Campground   This morning we took samples just down the road from our campsite. Following that we did starch hydrolysis testing on the samples taken from Strawberry Lake and Keyes Creek.   Site 3 -           South Fork Walla Walla River Date: July 16 th , 2023 Time: 10:36 am Coordinates: N 44 Degrees 33.969’, W 120 Degrees 08.767 Elevation: 606m Samples: 4 samples taken (1 Maria, 1 Jordon, 1 Angelique, 1 Zach) Site Description: -           There were light patches of algae present in the water with cobble to boulder sized rocks in the water. There is not much vegetation present at the site and the width of the river is around 6.6m and a depth of about 1/3m. The banks of the river cut down steeply. We believe that the South side of the bank is fortified because the North side is eroding. There is cotton wood like trees and the cliffside North to us is made up of Columbia River Basalt. The area from which we collected water is not

 July 15 Location: Bend, Oregon   Today was our last day in the Deschutes National Forest and we are travelling to Harris Park Campground. We stopped by the library to work on and upload our blogs. This was one of our longer travel days and I was pretty worn out by the time we got to our campsite. I got to talk to my mom today and tell her about what we have been doing and how things are going for me.

 July 13 Locations: Glaze Meadow, Metolius Basin, Wizard Falls Hatchery   We met up with Alex at the Sisters Ranger Station in the Deschutes National Forest. He has been working in the Deschutes for 12 years, his background is in fire management which he did for 20 years and he has worked for the federal government around 24 years. Currently his work is in Managing Partnership Programs, working with the local tribes who are willing to get involved with the work they are doing, non-profit organizations and volunteer groups. Lauren, the Environmental Coordinator, works with the NEPA process, interdisciplinary teams, and public engagement. She explained that most of the work she does with NEPA is in the lower two categories. John was our Wildlife Biologist tour guide through Glaze Meadow. Ian is the District Manager for the Sisters Ranger Station, and Andrew, the Fire Management Officer, joined us at the Metolius Basin. Finally, we met Rain who works at the Fishery. Glaze Meadow is

 July 14 Location: The Big Obsidian Flow   This morning we did our analysis under the microscope and collected more data from the Upper Deschutes River. We also worked together on our field notes and made sure we all had the data we have collected and organized it systematically. We went to the Big Obsidian Flow and did the 3/4 mile hike.  Photographed: View of the Big Obsidian Flow Microscope Analysis: Strawberry Lake Gram Observations I noted for my slide were: -           Purple stain o    Eggs, circular shapes, with clear center o    Vein like stains, some short some longer than others o    Empty pockets where no staining or bacteria is present (minimal and small areas) Field Journal: Site 1 -           Strawberry Lake location Date: July 9 th , 2023 Time: 2:00 pm Coordinates: 44.3068 Degrees North, 118.6852 Degrees West Elevation: 1800 m Samples: 2 samples taken by Zach and Corbin in 50mL sterile conical tubes Site Description: -          The area

 July 12 Location: New Bend Ford Rock District (Sand Spring Area)   We did some work today helping with rare plant monitoring. Botrychium Pumicola or Pumice Moonwort, which is endemic to Oregon and can only being found in certain locations, one of them being Mt. Shasta in California. Since its discovery the plant has been dwindling in population. It grows in the riparian forest which tells us some things about the plant, it requires fast draining soil and light rainfall. We gave ourselves 6-10ft of space between each other and did our best to follow our transect lines to help mark where we found the plant. I did not find any. I was not able to participate with the rest of the group as much today. Pictured: Botrychium Pumicola Pictured: Environment of Site Surveyed