I’ve officially been labeled a short-timer here at the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming.\u00a0 As I prepare to head back to the Pacific Northwest I’m finding it hard to think of words to describe my time in Wyoming.\u00a0\u00a0Ever since I arrived here I’ve struggled to full accept that the Powder River Basin is energy country.\u00a0 Energy production is the reason I have a job, the reason everyone in my office has a job, the reason my lights come on at night, and the economic backbone for the majority of this beautiful state.\u00a0 Yet I still can’t shake the voices of my environmental philosophy professors preaching the\u00a0horrors of exactly\u00a0what’s going on in the area I work.\u00a0 I do not support the thousands of miles of two track roads, the countless\u00a0produced water reservoirs, the\u00a0fragmentation of habitat, the draw down of aquifers, the possible extinction of the sage grouse, or the risk of selenium tainting the Powder River – and yet I think I’m starting realize I can only lament so much when I don’t have a better solution.\u00a0 The reality is I enjoy electricity, I enjoy driving my car, and I\u00a0enjoy having a job.\u00a0 I guess all I can really do is observe how things are done here currently and continue working to be part of better solutions in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My job itself has been a great experience and I have learned\u00a0a lot of new skills.\u00a0 For the last couple of weeks I have been working\u00a0on a project to sample soils in\u00a0the\u00a0reservoirs\u00a0filled with water that comes from\u00a0natural gas production.\u00a0 I think I would have enjoyed this project just as much as an eight year old child.\u00a0\u00a0Basically I’m getting payed to play in the dirt.\u00a0 Using a hand auger is messy, especially\u00a0when used in the bottom of a reservoir.\u00a0 I come home everyday with my jeans ruined and my hands smelling like a vulgar\u00a0mix of mud and cow poop, but it’s fun work.\u00a0 \u00a0Hopefully though all my dirty days will produce some valuable information that will influence how reclamation is done in the Powder River Basin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I think\u00a0 I stated in my last blog, the best part of this experience continues to be exploring the beauty this part of the country has to offer.\u00a0 I spent the last weekend basking in the glory of autumn in Yellowstone.\u00a0 It’s hard to complain about walking the boardwalks around Old Faithful without the yammer of a thousand people or standing alone at a view point over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.\u00a0 It may also be worth mentioning that we saw a very large grizzly bear near Yellowstone Lake and two wolves snacking on a carcass in the Lamar Valley.\u00a0 Besides Yellowstone I’ve also gotten to travel to Grand Teton and Glacier Nation Parks in addition to the time spent in Big Horn Mountains a couple miles west of here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’m going to miss Wyoming.\u00a0 The sky, the landscapes, the geology, my friends, and co-workers are all things I’m going to look back on fondly.\u00a0\u00a0 The internship has been a wonderful experience personally and professionally.\u00a0 I could not of have gotten my next position without the skills I’ve learned in Wyoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacob Dyste<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n I’ve officially been labeled a short-timer here at the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming.\u00a0 As I prepare to head back to the Pacific Northwest I’m finding it hard to think of words to describe my time in Wyoming.\u00a0\u00a0Ever since I … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/P10100622.jpg\")
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