This is my second month here in Carson City, NV.\u00a0 The job is great, I’m finally starting to understand what it is I actually do.\u00a0 We have been doing quite a few outreach events recently and we are doing another one for the Memorial Day weekend.\u00a0 This upcoming event will be at Sand Mountain, which is a 600 foot mountain of sand that has been slowly forming since the glaciers retreated and the ancient Lake Lahontan dried up. Today was the first real day it rained.\u00a0 Normally we just get the “Nevada 15 minute rains”.<\/p>\n
Last week we planted the\u00a0willow cuttings that we harvested earlier in the spring when we cut several thousand sections of willow branches, each about 6 inches long. We then buried these cutting underground to allow roots and shoot to form. We planted the willows in two places: Red Rock and Winter’s Ranch.\u00a0 Fires had removed much of the smaller trees and grasses in both areas,\u00a0 so planted along rivers that were already showing signs of erosion.\u00a0\u00a0 We had buried the willows in several different locations, and one of the burial sites ended up being completely submerged by a raised water table.\u00a0 We lost about a thousand willows that day to various kinds of fungus.\u00a0 It was disheartening.\u00a0\u00a0 We did, however, manage to plant thousands of\u00a0healthy, happy willows and I think the cuttings we planted will do well and grow.<\/p>\n
-Cole<\/p>\n\n\t\t