Good Afternoon Folks,
My name is Joel and I will be taking up the CLM internship through the BLM in Alaska this season. I just started a week and a half ago and man has it been a whirlwind of training and driving. As you may or may not know, Alaska (oh so vast) has only about 4 roads. Technically more, but only 4 highways. This means much of my project work will be in remote locations all over, including some Heli drops out by a town called Unalakleet on the Western coast of Alaska, a 12 day river trip on the Beaver Creek north of Fairbanks, and some forestry work out of Glenallen. Here’s a map link http://binged.it/1d0mAmy. My range is big and I’ve got lots of cool plant surveys and tree stand assessments to do this summer. Pretty excited to get back into some botanical studies.
Anyway, Our first week involved bear awareness training (shooting off bear spray and learning how not to anger bears of all kinds), followed by some shotgun training (shooting off some guns in the woods), followed by some Helicopter and fixed wing training in a hanger down in Glenallen. This one was not so exciting, but crucial for the success of our missions. We also got to go down to the gravel pit to drive some ATVs and to learn about safety. The highlight of this last week however, was the 3 day swiftwater rescue course I took on the Matanuska river. This involved a lot of rope tying and swimming in the river. Pretty Awesome. I even learned how to set up a 16:1 pulley system. Never have to call a tow truck again. Even though I am experienced in a lot of these activities already, the training gave me some good certifications and will probably be good for the resume for future endeavors. Thank you BLM and CLM for the opportunities.
In the next couple of weeks we will be driving up to Fairbanks to prepare our plant ID skills for the Beaver Creek trip (tributary of the Yukon) and then off to Chicago for the workshops. I guess I’ll see some of you there. Can’t wait. Be safe, learn more, have fun and you will be able to CLM right to the top.