Since winter hit, work in the Eagle Lake Field office has slowed down a bit. With Seeds of Success completed and the remaining seasonals gone, its been extremely quiet in the office.
I was fortunate to take a few weeks off around the holidays, just as it was getting super quiet, to visit family and friends in Chicago and to take a tremendous trip to Italy. It was just long enough to make me miss Susanville!
Since coming back, I realized how short of a time I have left here. I have been working on taking full advantage of winter in Lassen County before heading to the Bay Area. Skiing at the local hill Coppervale was the first on my to do list. I also enjoyed some amazingly scenic hotsprings near Cedarville!
The Hotsprings in Cedarville!
Most of the projects I have been working on since I returned have involved teaming up with the Range Specialist and Wildlife Biologist to digitize some important information in GIS. One project involved adjusting wildlife polygons for pronghorn and deer habitat. Another project involved digitizing a series of utilization inspection points into a new layer for future range projects. I have enjoyed the opportunity to take some GIS training courses and to advance my knowledge of using this program. It has also introduced me to the other type of work different parts of the office are working on.
Every now and then I am given the opportunity to go out into the field. Those days are the best days! A couple weeks ago, I had a go at performing Bald Eagle Surveys at the perfectly named Eagle Lake. Although we only spotted one Bald Eagle along our transect, it turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the lake was frozen, and the snow wasn’t too deep for the eight mile walk along the shore!
Eagle Lake in the Winter!
I also had the chance to go on a nice drive along Smoke Creek Road to my favorite spot in the field office. The previous few days were a bit rainy, so it made for a fun and muddy ride. Thinking about it now…that was probably my last time out in the field for the remainder of my internship!
Gotta love the baby Cows on Smoke Creek Road.
Until next time!
Jill