If there was one word to describe this month, it would probably be rainy. September has been full of grey skies, heavy rain, and thick mud. Honestly, the forest has needed this for a long time, so I’m happy that it’s finally come around and the fire risk isn’t high anymore. That does mean, however, that a lot of our time has been spent at the ranger station either getting our collections ready for Coeur d’Alene or helping our wildlife crew paint stakes for next season’s restoration efforts. Although this might seem like a real bummer compared to the rest of the season, it was nice to have a change of pace and not be running around frantically like we usually do. Besides, if we didn’t stay in the office for most of the time, I wouldn’t have been able to witness THIS:

That’s right! Belt Creek has their very own black bear resident! The crew has lovingly named her Beverly, and even though she is very timid, her presence is very much appreciated.

In other news, we went to Coeur d’Alene last week! It was really cool to see the other side of the seed collection and be able to help with some work in the field. We spent most of our time helping with the surveys they were doing for their penstemons where I was able to spend some time with one of the cats that lived there.

Afterwards, we were given a tour of the nursery and shown all of the different things they do to prepare the seeds to be used in restoration work. The first room they showed us was the cone preparation room where they set boxes full of pine cones over heaters in order to open them up so they could collect the seeds.

Then they brought us to the seed cleaning room, where they use a variety of different machines in order to separate the seed from any other debris that might be mixed in. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a picture of this room since there was another tour being given right behind us.

Afterwards, we were shown all of the green houses that the nursery uses to grow out the plants that they have been given so they can be fully ready for the sites they will be sent to. Nate, who is one of the managers at Coeur d’Alene, said that they grow the most White Bark Pine saplings in the country and supply them for most of the restoration projects that need them.

Once again it has been another great month in Montana! I’m hoping to finish the season strong and collect a bunch of new seeds from the plants that haven’t been ready yet!