My first month here at Sequoia National Forest has been one full of new skills and adventure. As I wind up my first month here in Sequioa I am slowly coming into my role and what it means to be a Resource Assistant for the Recreation Department here. Although my strength is public education and programs, I am learning that my role will be more of a maintenance and recreation technician role. These past few weeks I have been working alongside our recreation technicians in hazard reduction and trash, campground, and bathroom maintenance. It has been a learning experience as a lot of the tools we use are unfamiliar. It was my first time using a hula hoe, mcleod, auger, post hole digger, and more. I also fixed my first broken faucet which I was really proud of. I have also had the privilege of meeting the Keepers of the Kern, a forest service partner that organizes cleanups around the river twice a week, and are a tremendous help to us (see picture above). Furthremore, I feel like I have officially been initiated into the Recreation Department as I got my first spritz of trash juice on my arm, yay! And on Labor Day weekend as well, so it felt like a sign of luck!
Besides the maintenance work, I was also able to go out one day with Shannon from Natural Resources to tag trees for our timber sale. I really enjoyed going out to hike and learning how tagging works and the rules surrounding timber sales. I think this has been my favorite experince. I hope to learn more about timber sales and become more familar with the process as it seems to be an important process here at this National Forest. I was also able to go out with Shannon and do some owl surveys with her at night. I can now say I am an offical "hooter". I really really enjoyed going out and leanring how to do wildlife surveys, it was really educational and I know will help expand my skills.
All in all, I am excited to get to learn more and hopefully shadow more departments.
Agency: U.S Forest Service
Program: Resource Assistant Program (RAP)
Location: Sequoia National Forest