This summer, I have become a slave to protocols. I sometimes dream about being caught without my protocol and wake up stressed about the technicalities of where to sample macroinvertebrates in a partially sampled reach of stream. The protocol is in my head a little too much.
At each site we stop at our crew takes data following AIM (Assessment Inventory Monitoring) and MIM (Multiple Indicator Monitoring) protocols. There are rules upon rules and even more rules about the rules. It’s structured but we’re crushing the data capturing thing, precision and accuracy!
Protocols aside, this week was a treat. We got pack mule friends! I learned all about the personalities of Ornery Annie and Obedient Mabel. Because two of the sites I was working on were in backcountry areas and the protocols require a fair bit of gear, we got our friendly mules to pack in our gear for a few days! They only ran off once and only one saddle broke! Adventure! Surprises!
Meet Annie and Mabel, our pack mule friends!
This is just a surprise perk of the job, all other days I carry a lumpy pack with a Serber net covered in algae, copious amounts of jars, assortments of tape/labels, wet waders and never enough pencils (seriously, where do they all go). I am the Bug Boss, in charge of the water quality sampling section of the protocol. Of all the aspects of sampling we do, macroinvertebrates and water quality are my favorite. Sometimes tiny, weak looking streams have the most interesting samples.
As much sampling of streams as I have done, I think I spend the most time trying to sample Oregon culture. AIM and MIM are protocols that once learned, can be done without too much trouble, just observing and measuring critically.
Stopped in Dayville, OR for boiled goose eggs treats.
But these tiny blip on a map type of towns I pass through from site to site? They have me thinking about the people that live here and what they value. Tiny towns of people with lots of land and lots of cow are shaping this landscape as much as the rivers and streams I am sampling. I stopped into Central Oregon Livestock Auction today to see who is buy all my cow friends. I’m thinking that if I learn all I can about cows and their people, then I can learn a lot about these Oregon streams too.
Saw this bull jump onto this 6ft fence and almost make his way into the crowd. The man next to me, likely in his late 60s, jumped to his feet and smacked the bull with his ball cap and told it to get back down. This is Oregon.
Next week? Madras, OR has another livestock auction July 24th and it’s feeder cattle! Also, I heard Post, OR has got some hearty meatloaf sandwiches and milkshakes for miles around.
Happy Trails and Ride on,
Dakota