Wild Wednesday … Pretty Crazy In Pink?

Posted on October 7, 2015 by foresterartist

I see a lot of strange things in the woods, but one day this summer I saw a creature out there that I had never seen before. It was a cat, but not a mountain lion or bobcat and it was pink. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, it was the “Pink Panther.”

The Pink Panther up a tree. In case you don’t believe me, here is photographic evidence.

Yep, the Pink Panther was spotted by yours truly along Highway 3 on the west side of Trinity Lake. I don’t make these things up folks. There he was up a tall Ponderosa pine tree, way up!

If you look hard you can see him in the pine on the right side of the road.

He was about forty feet up the tree. I don’t know what he was doing up there. I don’t know how he got up there. He wouldn’t come down and he wouldn’t talk to me. So I took his picture and left him to his business.

I went by a few weeks later and he was gone. Keep and eye out, he may be coming to a tree near you!

Wild Wednesday … Wild Woods Pup!

Posted on August 19, 2015 by foresterartist

golden retriever, puppy, abstact, photography, abstract photography

Bliss the “Wild Woods Pup!”

A bit of accidental abstract photography of my wild one. I’ll show you how I did it.

“I smell the woods, now let us out!”, says Sailor.

Dumb luck! After all, it’s better to be lucky than good.

Forestry Friday … “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”

Posted on August 7, 2015 by foresterartist

It’s August in California, with our typical forecast for this time of year, “sunny with 100% chance of SMOKE!” Large forest fires are burning up and down the state. The smoke is inescapable.

I was in the Northern Sierra near Stirling City earlier in the week. Smoky there too.

Air quality is often terrible this time of year due to the wildfires. Lighting, drought, denser forests and changing fire fighting tactics have created conditions that foster massive wildfires. Resistance to harvesting timber on our federal forests has made it difficult to thin the National Forests. Thinning forests to reduce fuels isn’t being accomplished at the level that is needed. That in turn has caused the Forest Service to adopt a “manage the fire” approach to fire fighting. These fires burn at such higher intensity that the fire crews are forced to back way off in order to keep safe. Direct attack is nearly impossible. This makes the fires grow even bigger.

Drought is making our immediate problem much worse. Trinity Lake is somewhere back there.

Thinning these forests over large tracts of land would solve several problems. It reduces the amount of fuel that feeds these huge fires. It lowers the burn intensity of the fires making them easier to fight. Fewer trees on the landscape increases the ground and surface water by reducing demand on the water table. God knows we need more water in California. Trees have less competitive stress, which reduces tree mortality from drought and insect attack. With fewer weakened trees dying there is less dry, heavy fuel created in the form of snags and downed logs.

That snag is a lightening rod just waiting for a bolt.

In many ways were are loving these forests to death. The forests are set up to burn because we don’t want to manage them. Too many people don’t want any trees cut down. The conventional wisdom that “leaving the forest untouched” creates a healthy ecosystem is wrong. Would you not weed your garden? We are the stewards of these forests and it’s our responsibility to care for them. Otherwise, we are creating a forest of dead trees.

Looking toward the Trinity Alps.

This is how the view is on a clear day.

Bliss says after a smoky day in the woods there’s nothing like a dip in a cool mountain stream.

A pool made for a puppy!

Bliss says, “much better.”

Wild Wednesday … My Stalker!

Posted on June 17, 2015 by foresterartist

My wild-eyed stalker!!!

I have a stalker. I don’t know what it wants. It just stares through my office window with that wild look in it’s eyes.

Forestry Friday … Crystal Forest

Posted on April 17, 2015 by foresterartist

This wasn’t your everyday old growth Douglas-fir forest. When a freezing cloud layer settled in, it became a crystal forest.

No lesson today, just something cool.

Our Northern California Skies

Posted on March 26, 2015 by foresterartist

Sunrise

From My Front Yard

Sunrise Over the Sacramento River

Sunrise at the Mill

Early Morning Light

Misty Morning

Snow Covered Trinity Alps

Mt Shasta

The Moon and Mt Lassen

Sunset

Sunset Palette

The Northern California skies from sunup to sundown.

Sunshower!

Posted on August 13, 2014 by foresterartist

Rain in the bright sunshine.

Happy Independence Day!

Posted on July 4, 2014 by foresterartist

“Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.” – Abraham Lincoln

Forestry Friday … Resilience of Nature

Posted on March 21, 2014 by foresterartist

Blitz in the shade of the Pole Plant log deck.

Nature is fragile or is it? Humans certainly have the ability to wreak havoc on our environment, but given time, it heals. I’m not suggesting careless disregard. I believe it’s our responsibility to be the best stewards of our natural world that we can be. The ospreys don’t mess in their nest and neither should we. My experience as a forester over the years has taught me that Mother Nature is a relentless and tough lady. In the natural environment, disturbance often equals opportunity.

In the top picture of Blitz lying next to the pole log deck, it is treeless except for the stacks of logs waiting their turn in the mill. Now look at the picture below. Blitz is sitting in a lovely pine forest. This place was a log deck too, forty-seven years ago. It wasn’t replanted by people. The surrounding forest took it back. The pines invaded this site with no help at all. I was six years old when this process took hold. Now a pine forest stands where a log deck once sat.

Forest, growth, golden retriever, log deck

This was the site of the Little Giant Mill log deck.

Today, by replanting and with proper nurturing, we replenish harvest units and the burned areas much faster than just letting nature take its course. We have a better scientific understanding of our environment and more sophisticated technology available today to manage our forests. We’ve come a long way in forest management over the last one hundred years. Trees weren’t replanted back then, but forests have grown back. Our sustainable forestry practices today are resulting in forests that are more healthy and vigorous. I’d love to see these forests a hundred years from now.

Forestry Friday … The Ride Along

Posted on March 14, 2014 by foresterartist

The truck is fueled and ready. Do you want to go for a ride along?

Ralph was a state forester. He’s retired now, but he’s been a friend throughout my career. He gave me my first ride along.

When I met Ralph, I was a firefighter in the summer and attending community college. I declared my Forestry Major and was preparing to transfer to Humboldt State University. I had not taken any forestry classes yet. That would start the next year. I didn’t have much forestry work experience. I knew Ralph from my job at the fire station. I asked if I could ride along with him for a day. He gladly took me up on it. I learned a lot from Ralph.

Jaime spent the day exploring a little West Coast forestry.

The other day I took a young woman, named Jaime, for a ride along. She’s contemplating her next career move. She is a cousin of a close friend.

The night before, Mary and I visited with our friends, Jaime, and her father. We had a wonderful conversation. Jaime recently completed her Bachelor degree at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Now she was considering going for an environmental law degree. Mary and I were both thinking, She needs to go for a ride along. When offered, she leaped at the chance.

The next day we started out with an introduction to our company’s head research scientist, CJ. These two women hit it off famously. After an insightful conversation about environmental science, careers and education, we headed out to the mill.

We toured the mill complex where Jaime started out watching the pole plant processing logs. Next, we went through the sawmill. She asked a ton of questions about the process and took a few pictures to send to her friends back in North Carolina. After the mill tour it was back to the truck.

She saw some modern logging technology in this tree shear.

We headed out to look at the timberlands. Our conversation centered on forestry practices, land management and environmental issues. We started near Shingletown, looking at forestry practices, and ended the day at the Ponderosa Burn, talking about fire restoration.

Valley Quail in the Ponderosa Burn.

Now, if I sound like the wise professional bestowing my vast knowledge from on high, let me correct that right now. This education process is a two way street. Our conversations weren’t all about forestry. I learned about all manner of issues important to her generation. We both had a fun and instructive day.

Channeling her inner Vanna White, Jaime shows off some old time milling technology in this teepee burner.

Making time for young people to go for a ride along or job shadow for a day is time well spent. A day job shadowing does something for them that a semester of school doesn’t do. It gives them a big picture of the profession. As professionals we benefit from this time too. We’re never too old to learn and they too have a lot to share.