2018 People of Big River Field Class

July 10 th – Tuesday One of our longer days, due to driving. We started out at the Yakama Nation fishery. It was super amazing. They walked us through the whole process of trapping, transporting, and tagging the fish. This was a state of the art facility. The key point I admired was, no consumption of water. The water they get for the water to water transport and lift is all recycled back into the river. Everything was powered by non-electric motors because of the constant flooding. The fish lift is the second tallest in the United States. They showed us how the whole process happens. We saw them tag the fish and get a DNA sample. That was truly amazing, these people have very cool jobs. I was a little saddened when they inserted the tracking device and extract scales, because poor baby fish. L John was a Yakama Native and took us down to the scaffolding where all the traditional fishing happens. I really enjoyed all the knowledge he shared about the traditional...

July 9 th – Monday I was woken up at 5:40 a.m. today. It was an early one. After the whole morning routine we set off to see Janette Burkharet the water shed planner. We had a very long drive over to White Salmon due to navigational issues. It took about forever and a day to get to Janette. When we got there it was worth it. She shared facts and pictures of the Condit Dam removal. It was the largest Dam removal in the United States until another Dam beat it a couple of months after the removal started. It was extremely interesting. They decided to remove it due to all the maintenance and code expenses. Also, I later found out there was a lot of political issues and the river was claimed as having ecological importance. We went on multiple trips today; Husum falls, Janette’s restoration site and Underwood. The falls were beautiful and Janette shared that the water was about 48 degrees year round and the river serves as a safe haven for the fish salmon and pacific lamprey mi...

July 8 th Sunday This morning the group went on a hike up Potato Hill. I was so tired I couldn’t wake up at 6:30 a.m. to hike. I woke up around 7:30 a.m. and the mosquitoes were up and ready to consume every drop of blood. I sat in a lawn chair watching everyone go up Potato Hill, it was funny. After everyone came back we had breakfast and packed up to come to Camp Chaparral to spend the day. On the way over we saw a cub walk across the road. I’m excited to shower J After the well-needed showers, our friend Doug Olney the resource manager at Yakama Forest Products took us on a walk. He showed us how to identify different trees, dwarf mistletoe, and gave use forestry terminology.   Doug is extremely knowledgeable in the field. He shared that he has been in forestry for forty years. That blew my mind, I have never thought about forestry as a long life career. Then, the whole camp was extremely happy to get news that we were moving camps. Potato Hill was beautiful but ...

July 7 th Saturday We had an early start today. At arrival we helped sort out the food and checked out our camping gear. Our very nice camping gear, I felt like a true naturalist when all suited up! I haven’t been camping in quite a long time I was a little nervous. I was thankful that we had a presentation before we left. I was extremely intrigued during the presentation. Jonalee Squeochs presented on climate change and the Yakama Nation Climate Adaptation plan. This presentation shone a light on how our communities are and will be drastically affected. I knew climate change was going to be a big problem in our valley but I didn’t think it was going to be that bad. Climate change threatens everything; economy, population, pest, water and so much more. After hearing about the progress the Yakama Nation has had with the adaptation plan I was relieved and surprised. I was surprised as to how so many organization and people came together, talked, compromised, and finished this gr...