Party at the USFWS NWR!

   HI, my name is Julian Lucarelli and I have been with the Nevada Conservation Corps since the end of August and will be here until August 2015. I enjoy the NCC community and can-do spirit associated with getting outdoors and completing a new project each week. The NCC has given me a glimpse of what many federal, state, and local agencies are responsible for on a regular basis. It has helped see the value in much of what I learned in college and opened vast horizons to continue to do so. I am here to work hard, learning the ropes of conservation work. The insight accumulated will follow me as I hope to later on earn a master’s degree.

   I am a part of Crew #1, led by Jess Knowles, and rounded out by Tyler France, Nick Regalalo, and myself. We enjoy epic three hour dance grooves to tunes from any era. We’ve tried Nutella on just about any edible matter waiting to find a match.

 

   Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is in the Amargosa Valley just over an hour North of Las Vegas. It sits directly east of Death Valley and is supported by a network of hot springs that sprout out of the desert at unfathomable rates. These hot springs pool to form fragile wetland habitat for Ash Meadows pup fish and dace, two endemic species. A third, the Devil’s Hole pup fish is only known to exist in a singular formation at the base of a mountain known as Devil’s Hole. The wildlife refuge contains a diverse range of habitats including desert, dunes, badlands, salt flats, canyons, wetlands, and mountains. Big horn sheep are seen grazing in the afternoon on the equally eclectic plant population.

   Our crew, fearlessly led by the venerable Jess Knowles, spent two hitches at the wildlife refuge camping at the US Fish and Wildlife office onsite. We awoke our first morning to coyotes yelling and hooping over their early dawn kill. This couldn’t’ve been more than 150 yards from our campsite. We spent our first tour removing barb wire fences from former ranchlands swamped by growing marshes. This was done to open these parts of the refuge from the possibility of larger fauna becoming entangled in fence line where it may be left to wither. The third day at Ash Meadows we jumped in some of the flowing springs to remove cattails. In cutting these plants from the waterways, there is an increase in sunlight that reaches the water promoting algae growth needed to support populations of dace and pupfish. Our last day was spent removing invasive coyote willows from various areas.

   

   Our next tour was a nice break from hot weather in the Vegas valley. The majority of this tour was again spent cutting down coyote willows. We were still untrained for chainsaw use so we left the thick stuff for USFWS staff but thousands of invasive willows fell to the understory those three days. Coyote willows, like salt-cedar use valuable diverted water and choking out other native plant species.

     

   Earlier in this tour we spent a day repairing a boardwalk we later took a tour on led by a Great Basin Institute Research Assistant. We tightened bolts and boards and trimmed back flora too close to the trail featuring custom ironwork and informative signage.

The last day of hitch we set out to dig up and remove the last four reptile and small mammal traps that had been built in the refuge for a study that started with thirty. These traps were spread out between meadow, salt flat, desert, and dune environment. One of the traps yielded an encounter with a black widow the only spider of the like I have ever seen.

   If you live in Nevada or southern California I advise a trip to Ash Meadows. The land was saved from development for good reason and is home to a truly enthralling scope of wildlife.

From the Road

Hello!

I hope ya’ll have been having a great start to a new NCC year. I have been traveling all along the west coast and have had some wonderful adventures.

I am writing this for a few reasons. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for such an amazing year. When I began the program I had little experience with tools, especially chainsaws or jackhammers. I’m pretty adventurous but compared to a year and a half ago Daisy, it’s a pretty huge feat to get giant (they seemed giant in my mind, before) flesh-eating machines into my hands. Learning and becoming comfortable with these machines because of the guidance of Corey, Nate and Vince as well as general training has made me confident to face other fears as well.

I also learned about attitude. I remember the first week, when we were all sitting in monsoon rain, drenched to our guts in the downpour and immediately learning that you have to keep lighthearted when situations are tough otherwise you’ll just be miserable. Lindsey and Justin and I were yelling back and forth but none of us could hear over the sound of the downpour so it just turned into unrestrained laughter. Ever since the downpour this lesson in attitude has carried me through difficult times.

The people in this program are a huge part of why I grew. With everyone coming from different backgrounds, there were a lot of different viewpoints on life. I had the opportunity to have deep conversations about life and perspectives. Being in the field gives time for great reflection and idea sharing. The friendships that were created and the memories made together are an invaluable part of this program to me. I would like to thank you for this most of all.

End of Summer On a Trail Crew

Before even coming to Reno, I knew that this summer would be full of challenges. I had basically thrown myself into a program 2000 miles away from home and away from any support. Admittedly, I was quite anxious, but at the same time, I was exhilarated! Excited that I had the opportunity to do meaningful work and explore new places. I wanted to squeeze the day for all that it was worth and learn all I could. 

I soon learned that, despite my motivation, I was a true greenhorn in almost every aspect of what I dubbed the "NCC experience". Here I was, big city boy educated in a traditional sense, and with minimal exposure to the outdoors other than through pictures in magazines. I was a new recruit among veterans who had basically grown up with the outdoors. However, I saw this as an opportunity to learn and carried on.

My first real challenges came a couple of hitches in, after my initial excitement fell. The heat, long workdays, and the lack of a comfort zone had started to take its toll on not only my body, but my mind as well. I could handle my body aching, but this kind of mental strain was hard to bear. I became frustrated with the work and fell into a pit of pessimism. I didn't think all of the effort was worth my time and certainly not my health. On one hand, I wanted to quit, to give up and leave. However, deep-down, I also wanted to see this program to completion. By braving through tough situations, I gained a broader understanding of my limits and shortcomings. Not only did I have time to reflect, but also had time to face my faults. I began to see trail work as a character building experience and a metaphor for life.

Sometimes the earth is soft and smooth, making it easy to pave a way through; in these times one should enjoy the simplicity and perfect this section of tread -- life. Other times the earth is rocky and uneven. At times like these, even more effort should be invested in because this is where it counts. Just because work is harder is not a reason to be lazy; rather the opposite is true! Only when the tread is rough can your diligence polish it. At the same time, though, one must realize that tread can always be improved infinitely, bit by bit, but that one should not get caught up in this infinite improvement. Sometimes it is better to move on rather than getting caught up in little things. I also learned that talking about our hesitations and challenges is the best way to get through them, together. I could not have done this without my crew encouraging me and helping me pass the time, which is bound to pass no matter how slow it seems to be ticking at times. 

As I prepare for my last hitch, I will continue to seek meaning in my work. By no means have my hesitations and frustrations disappeared, I have simply learned how to be resilient and handle them in a positive way. I usually don't appreciate the work I am doing until after it is done, but I know that there is no other place I would have worked at this summer than here.

Omkar Kulkarni

Welcome to the Nevada Conservation Corps!

My name is Nick Regalado and I joined NCC in hopes of having a hardworking, honest job and ended up getting more than I could bargain for. I was put on a front country crew located in the Spring Mountains just for the summer and couldn't have enjoyed it more. As an aspiring wildland firefighter, I felt that this was the perfect way to be introduced into working in all types of weather and terrain and the hard work that came with it. While cutting trail, I was constantly thinking about how I was going to accomplish being a firefighter and how I would go about it after my tenure was over, until my crew leader and I had a one on one interview. He told me I could join a sawyer crew and get experience which is needed to be a wildland firefighter. I found this immensely important and jumped on that idea quickly. I didn’t know NCC could offer such a vital aspect for me to accomplish a lifetime goal.

I honestly could not have asked for more to be put on such a well-knit crew with an outstanding crew leader. Our chemistry with each other was eye opening for me, because we were all there for the same reason which was to work hard and have fun and that’s exactly what happened. There was not a dull day that I could remember and we all grew as a family and it was simply amazing to me. We worked and camped for eight days and had six days off, but when it was time to pack up and go back to the office it was as if nature was drawing you back in to stay and almost sad to leave. We were dirty, grungy, tired and desperately needed to shower, but it was the most fun I’ve ever experienced and would recommend it to any young adult that is looking to have fun.

-Nick Regalado

Bows to the Knees

I've been waiting for this week since I read the NCC position description: Chainsaw Training. Now let’s get this straight, I’m the type of lady who uses electric blowers and push mowers, so power tools, especially sharp flesh tearing power tools, terrify me. But oh my my are they exciting!

The week started with a day of powerpoints explaining the safety and maintenance. It was taught by Nick, a bald man with a great beard. It should be required to have a beard if you are teaching people to use a chainsaw. It wasn't until day 2 when we were in Toiyabe forest that we even touched a chainsaw. We learned how to start the chainsaw (harder than one might think), properly sharpen a chain, fix a flooded chainsaw and other basic maintenance procedures. We were joined by Pete, a Certified Stihl Silver Mechanic and Miguel, a class C sawyer. My crew leader of Team Flash, Corey, also has a deep passion for the chainsaw. If you are going to learn how to use a chainsaw, these are the best people that you can learn from.

The first day of sawing, the sky promised to bring excitement. By the time we began our safety meeting, snow had begun falling, the mountains were erased by clouds and the NCC crew began to shiver. I don’t think any of us had been thinking about the possibility of snow when packing. But what’s a better way to warm up than firing up a chainsaw and cutting down some trees?

The purpose of our work was to take down pinions and juniper trees that were below 5,000 feet, encroaching on the habitat of the endangered Sage Grouse. My crew, Team Flash, began with the largest tree on the site. Corey quite enjoys using the saw so he was happy to take on such a beast. The tree gave a good fight but in the end Corey prevailed. Justin and Lindsay took quickly to limbing and bucking the tree. Then it was my turn, I was still terrified but felt ready. I made some successful cuts, but when bucking the logs I hit a rock and the rest of the day I spent sharpening the chipped chain. It was less than exciting but I did improve exponentially at my sharpening skills.

The next day I was more comfortable with cutting. I also was able to swamp for Lindsay who is the friendliest person to swamp for. Every time she motioned for me to take the brush she looked so gosh dang happy to be sawing. We all got to practice felling trees, which meant we got to yell loud and proud “TREE COMING DOWN” and point in the direction it was falling. Something about making the calls made it seem more official that we were becoming sawyers.

Friday we had very little time to be out in the field. We had a quick hour to complete the quick week of sawing. It was a great experience that pushed us all out of our comfort zones and we all learned so much. On the drive home it felt like the general consensus was that we all wanted to saw more in the future.

The Nevada Conservation Corps goes to...Arizona?

This past week my crew went somewhere I never expected to have a project: Arizona. I'm not sure if other crews have gone there in the past, but it seemed quite unusual to me because I didn't think we would ever leave the state for any of our projects. The reason we did was because we were working with Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which is located in both states, and it just so happened that the work they needed us for was over the border. I wasn't complaining, though, because it meant that we got to see another amazing place that I never expected to see. The scenery where we were working was breathtaking because we were right where Lake Mead NRA meets Grand Canyon National Park. The work we were doing was road decommissioning and installing barriers to keep people from off-roading in the areas we were closing off; and for the entire week, anytime we were working, we could just glance up and see the mouth of the Grand Canyon where the river flows out of the Canyon and meets up with Lake Mead. You can't ask for a better view than that while you're at work. It's things like that that are constantly reminding me how lucky I am to have a job that allows me to be outside so much, seeing new places and having new experiences.

One part of the experience, recently, that has not made me feel quite as lucky is the cold weather. It did get colder much more gradually in Vegas than I am used to from New England but usually it is slightly colder than Vegas in the areas where we work, and this week was no exception. I don't know exactly how cold it got during the nights but it was definitely below freezing (which was quite apparent when the milk in my cereal began freezing to the side of the bowl while I was eating breakfast). Sleeping in weather that cold can be quite uncomfortable, so when we have those cold temperatures during a project I've taken to sleeping with all of my layers on, including hat and scarf, and using my sleeping bag liner inside my sleeping bag to add more warmth (this past week Corey lent me his liner also so I had 2 liners in addition to my sleeping bag), then pulling my sleeping bag over my face to keep it warm. My feet also get very cold during the night so my strategy for that is to put hot water in my metal water bottles before bed and stick them in the bottom of my sleeping bag to warm up my feet. Unfortunately the heat usually dissipates completely by around 3:00 am, but for those first few hours my feet stay wonderfully warm. The morning also presents several challenges of it's own, other than frozen milk. Since we have to wake up before dawn, it hasn't started to get warm yet, so getting out of the sleeping bag can be a challenge, although sleeping in our Carhartt work pants instead of changing into more comfortable pajamas makes it slightly easier because you don't have to undress or put on freezing cold pants in the morning. The boots are a different story though. There is no good way to keep boots warm during the night, even if they are inside the tent, so putting my boots on in the morning can feel like putting my already-cold feet into ice boxes. Then, breakfast involves trying to eat as quickly as possible so I don't have to expose my hands to the cold for too long; and then on the last morning of the week, when we have to pack up our tents, it can be a difficult choice between trying to finish taking the tent down without gloves on before your hands are completely frozen, or fumbling with the buckles and clasps wearing gloves and possibly taking twice as long. On these cold mornings it can be a blessing when the worksite is far enough away to require driving because then we can put the heat on in the truck to warm up. As much as this might sound like a terrible situation to deal with, and sometimes it feels pretty terrible, it's worth it because it's all part of the experience. If there were no challenges the job would not be as rewarding, and by the end of this year I will feel very accomplished being able to say that I lived in a tent most of the year in all types of weather.

Getting Oriented

And so it begins, another year in the NCC. On one hand I’m extremely excited – why else would I have stayed on as a leader – on the other, I’m terribly nervous. A year in the program has taught me that not every day is a walk in the park. Already we face challenges.

Orientation lands smack dab in the middle of monsoon season in the Mojave. Camp Foxtail, nestled away in the upper reaches of Lee Canyon, is at the epicenter of southern Nevada’s “Thunderstorm Alley.” The Spring Mountains present a massive barrier to warm, moist air rolling in from the West. The rugged range wrings all the moisture from the air, leading to torrential downpours and flash floods; like the one we were trapped by this week.

After two and a half days of classroom instruction we're ready to hike out to Rocky Gorge and get some tools in the ground. We arrive on a gray, drizzly morning; everyone groaning in protest as we explain the scope of our day’s work. As we practice our trail-building techniques the rain only grows heavier. Soon a barrage of thunder and lightning shuts us down. Swinging large metal tools on a treeless ridge is asking to get struck. So, we must sit and wait for the danger to pass, cold and miserable in the chilling rain.

Finally, the rain stops. The leadership gathers around and begins discussing options when suddenly I hear what can only be the sound of rushing water. We all turn to look at the wash below us. There it is, a 6 foot wide, 3 foot deep river. Frothing and churning where only seconds ago was nothing but damp sand and gravel. A mile away – on the other side of the flood – are our trucks. Now what? The water looks unsafe to cross, but further up the canyon we can see the rain coming down hard again. It’s decided, we move now. Otherwise we risk ending up more stranded than we already are.

“Everyone grab your tools and move now! Stay together and watch out for more flooding and lightning!”

Thirty minutes later and we’re all safely in our trucks again. We've only had a couple of hours of practice on the trail, but mother nature has the upper hand. We end our orientation with less experience, but more memories, than we had planned on. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that I've been stuck in a sticky situation. This year comes with greater responsibility; I have the safety and well-being of four others to look out for. But, I've always loved a challenge, so bring it on!

-Nick Brasier

Chainsaw Training and Trail Building with the NCC

 Nighttime fun at the campground

Our week started off with a day in the classroom at our Field Office. Throughout the lesson, we learned felling techniques as well as different parts of the saw, and safety instruction. It was a lot of information that was thrown at us the first day of training, but a must before we were allowed to operate the saw. That evening, we made the 4-and-a-half hour trek to Indian Valley, set up camp and cooked dinner. The next day was focused on maintenance and troubleshooting on the saws. We were ready by our usual time of 7 am, with our breakfast eaten and ready to learn more about the saw. It was a cold morning, probably in the high 30's, yet the warmest morning that we would experience that week.

The morning started as usual, with our safety circle (because it was our first day with the chainsaw it was longer than usual), and a stretch to get our muscles moving and blood pumping. In the safety circle we discussed all the hazards related to the chainsaw and felling trees, as well as how to mitigate those hazards. That first day, we learned the ins and outs of the saw with regard to maintenance and cleaning, as well as chain sharpening. It was cold, and the 5 of us were huddled around the saw, taking it apart and learning troubleshooting from our Crew Supervisor, KV. Once we were versed on maintenance, troubleshooting, safety and felling techniques we were ready to operate the saw.

Chainsaw safety and operation

Wednesday morning, we woke up with our normal routine, and drove out to the site for our first day operating the chainsaws. Once at the site, we started with stretch and safety circle, which we do every day, so we do not get complacent, ensuring a safe work environment. Wednesday and Thursday, as well as Friday morning, involved limbing and bucking of the trees. Limbing is the process of cutting off the limbs, and bucking is cutting the fallen limbs into appropriate lengths. We were critiqued on our technique, as well as our body mechanics, to make us feel confident for future tree felling projects. On an additional note, it snowed on Wednesday, and when we woke up Thursday morning there was even more snow on the ground, which got me stoked for winter. Thursday morning was probably the coldest of the mornings, with temperatures dipping into the mid 20s, but even with the cold it was a fun and exciting week.

Limbing and bucking practice

The next week, the week of 10/15-10/18, we were scheduled to be in the only location we could work at, the Spring Mountains. Because of the federal government shutdown, we were not able to work with any of our other project partners. All 6 of the Las Vegas crews and the 2 Reno crews would be sent to The Springs mountains to work. Our crew, Crew 6, was sent up to Mack's Canyon along with 3 others crews. Mack's Canyon is an offshoot canyon accessible from Lee Canyon. There is beautiful dispersed camping available there with no facilities, so if you want to get away from the summer crowds, here is the place to camp/hike/relax. There are plenty of trails and peaks to be summited here such as Mack's Peak (easy class 3 scramble), and The Sisters, which consists of 3 peaks.

Our crew was designated to work on a reroute section in Mack's Canyon. Reroutes are done for a number of reasons such as increasing/decreasing the length of the trail, or creating better tread (walking surface) that is less steep and more sustainable (which allows for the trail to exist without having a large impact on the environment). The hike into the reroute was just under 2 miles, a nice warm-up for the long workday.

Return to trail work

Once on site, the reroute we worked on over the course of the week was a bit more intensive than our previous trail builds; this trail contains limestone rock in the tread. Much of the time was spent on chipping away at the rock in the tread to make sure it was at a reasonable level and safe for horses and hikers, to minimize the tripping hazard. Not everybody on the team enjoyed the rock work. I personally enjoyed sitting at the rock chipping away at it, making it into my vision of how it will blend into the tread. One thing we all try to keep in mind is what we refer to as PMA (positive mental attitude), because sometimes the work can be frustrating. Keeping a PMA is a skill that will not only help us in trail building, but I believe it is a skill we can take with us and use in our future careers. With all of the intense work we did, we still had fun as a crew and enjoyed our time with the other crews in close proximity - sharing tools, talking and enjoying our time in the mountains together.  

Trail reroute in Mack's Canyon - before and after

Flash Flooding in Great Basin Nat'l Park

My first 8-day project was at Great Basin National Park, which is about 6 hours north of Vegas and right on the border with Utah. The first day consisted of driving there and working for a few hours, clearing some trees from the sides of the road up to our campsite, then going and setting up camp. Our campsite was about 30 minutes from the main road, up a dirt road into the mountains. The whole drive up the road, and the whole way to the park initially, I was just staring out the window at all the beautiful mountain scenery. Everywhere I go around here is so different than anything I'm used to on the east coast, and I find myself constantly mesmerized by the beauty of the mountains and the cool colors of the rock. At first it was almost like being on another planet. I'm getting more used to it now, but I still think it's amazing to look at.

Day 2 turned into quite an adventure. In the morning we had to drive about an hour to get to the site where we were working, then we had to hike about 2 miles carrying our tools. Then we worked for about 4 hours maintaining a trail that was starting to get overgrown, then we hiked back the 2 miles to the trucks, leaving our tools cached at the work site so we could come back to them the next day. As we got back to the trucks it started to rain, so we tried to get out as quickly as we could. While we were driving down the dirt road, we started to see water flowing over the road from the hill on one side, which was worrying because of the potential for a flash flood. We thought we were doing good and were going to beat the water down the mountain until we came around a corner and saw tons of water coming down the mountain from the road that was about to intersect with ours. We stopped to assess the situation and it turned out that the huge flash flood, although not a danger to us where we were parked, came dangerously close to the road a little bit farther down, so we couldn't drive past it. We radioed to the park rangers to see if they could come pick us up, and it turned out that the flood had washed out a part of the road farther down so the rangers couldn't get all the way to where we were. The only solution was to leave the trucks where they were and hike down the road to where the rangers could pick us up. By that time the flood had calmed down a little but had not died down completely, so it wasn't dangerous to walk but debris had been pushed onto the road by the water so we couldn't drive to where the rangers were; walking was the only option. We made it to the rangers without any incident, found a safe place to jump across the water, and they drove us back to our campsite.

Then the next day was a little of a logistical nightmare because we had no trucks and still had tools stuck at the work site. The plan we came up with was for the project partner to shuttle us by crew back to the trucks and then we'd go back to the work site to get the tools. But since the trucks were about an hour away from our campsite the shuttling process took hours, the first few of which my crew spent waiting at our campsite for the project partner to come back for us. Once we got back to the trucks we only really had time to make the hike to the campsite, get the tools, and then leave again, so that's pretty much the only thing my crew accomplished for the whole 10-hour work day. Those two days reinforced yet again how much plans can change in this type of work.

Day 4 was back to actually getting projects done. We didn't go back to the original work site for obvious reasons, so we moved on to the next project. This one involved hiking 4.5 miles from our campsite over a mountain and into the valley on the other side. The hike was really steep on the way up and the way down, and it took us over 2 hours of the hardest hiking I'd ever done to actually get to where we were working. Once we got there, we worked on removing downed trees that were blocking a path so that more work could be done on the trail later on. Then we had to hike the same 4.5 miles back over the mountain. So after hiking 9 miles, we were all pretty tired at the end of the day.

Day 5 we hiked the same hike again, but this time it took less time. I think we all went faster just so we could get it over with sooner. The work was pretty much the same, but it rained for parts of the day so we were all slightly less enthusiastic because of that. Rain is never very motivating when you have to be outside all day. Day 6 we hiked the same mountain for a third time, and this time was by far the hardest because I was so tired from the other 2 days of the same hike. By that point in the week we had hiked almost 40 miles altogether, so I was really struggling. On the way back up the mountain in the afternoon I felt like I had to stop every 2 minutes to catch my breath. I had learned in the past few days that I was one of the slowest hikers in the group on the steep uphill sections, and that last day was even worse than usual. But eventually I made it, and was really happy that it was the last time I had to do that hike.

The last 2 days we did more of what we'd done the first day - clearing trees from the sides of the road. The last day we only did about an hour of work because we had to drive back to Vegas and then do about 2 hours of "de-rig" once we got there. It was a long, tiring, but good week, and the 5 days off afterwards were great. There were challenges and ups and downs, but all-in-all it was a great start to the year at the NCC.

Pearls of Pahranagat

With endangered birds in the balance,
Cat-tails with claws
And cows on reconnaissance,
The marsh in the midst
Gave us reason for pause.

From whence the fence
could no longer dispense
any defense
of any culpable consequence,
We do not know.

But hence,
no expense was spared.
Each NCC crew member pared.
To set the stage
For a full fence repair.

Not a feather to be lost.
Nor a breast to be sauced.
We readied our cat-tail salads
To be tossed.

With brush cutters and weed eaters in our paws,
Each cat-tail and bull rush reminisced us of our in laws.

And when the cutting came too condensed.
We each looked over our shoulder
To see whom among us was the most dense.

Kaitlin cut claw to claw.
While Lizzy laid down the law.
And Alison left the ranchers in awe.
Nate's bush was seen as far as Utah.

But Paul's pitch fork took the cake.
While I was left with only a mooo and an ache.

"The Valley of Shinning Water"
Has a special place in our hearts.
Water in craft.
And shimmering in art.


Sung

NCC 2013-2014 Supervisors!

This season the NCC welcomes 6 new staff supervisors to the Las Vegas field office! Corey, Nick, Nathan, KV, Cal, and Nate all started as AmeriCorps members in the NCC within the last 2 years...whether they spent summers in Great Basin National Park, the Spring Mountains, or were part of our year-long program, these folks know their stuff when it comes to the NCC!

All six started working together when they were accepted into the NCC's Leadership Development Training (Crew Leader Training) this past spring. After the 13-week training program these folks, along with five others, earned their place as summer Crew Leaders. Each had the opportunity to run a five-person crew for three months, digging tread and cutting trees out of our Reno and Ely field offices. Putting their leadership and technical skills to the test, they showed that they have what it takes to successfully lead our crews in the field!!

They are already off to a great start this season, and we could not be more proud of the level of communication, initiative and positivity that they are bringing to the table. We're looking forward to a great season, and are excited to watch these six facilitate awesome corps experiences for their members. It's going to be a stellar year!

The End of the Road

Our time here draws to a close. Some of us are counting the days, content to hurry on to the next exciting chapter of their lives. Others try to not think of the dwindling days. Each days that manages to slink by means one less day in this western wonderland. One less majestic sunrise greeting us on the short drive to the work site. One less placid mountain sunset to see our tired bodies off to bed.
    It seemed like only yesterday we were in Winnemucca. Wide-eyed and unsure. Back when the tools used to feel heavy and the worked used to feel difficult. But here were are, a mere two months later. We have cut a lot of tread and driven a lot of miles together. We have grown both more competent and stronger; gently hardened over time by the resplendent Nevadan wilderness.
   I used to associate Nevada with words like "barren" "lonely" "desolate" and "arid". But after my time here I have found the Nevadan wilderness is a place of stoic grace and life and growth can be found here if you happen to know where to look.
    I will never forget this experience. I will not forget what I have seen, what I have helped accomplish, the people I have met, the hardships endured, and the bonds I have forged.

Finding Beauty in Winnemucca

When we arrived at Winnemucca we saw a sign, “Winnemucca, Proud of it.” We all began to wonder, what were they proud of in this town? What did this land have in store for us? The answer was simple, the mountains. In the mountains we found our solace. Atop the mountains where we labored, Winnemucca provided a sunset worthy of kings. With a great place to camp we found that beauty can exist side by side the urban landscape. It reminded us that what we were helping to sustain in the trails simultaneously sustained our spirits. With the Sonoma Mountains in view all day and night we knew that what we were building might bring a smile and glimmer of happiness to every mountain biker and hiker for years to come. During our two week span the mountain’s in the distance began to melt their coats of white snow and the sun made it’s presence known. The labor was arduous at times with the heat beating at our backs while we attempted to cut out the perfect back slope, yet somehow, we managed to complete the task the project partner desired. The trial’s were wider, less dangerous, and durable for the rain’s and winter’s ahead. We camped near a mine site the second week and felt the mountains warmth beneath our tents. Every night we ate creatively, even capping off one days work with some local Winnemucca BBQ. We felt the late night winds speak on the mountains behalf, thanking us for what we had done. It would harbor the future generations of Winnemucca and we played a role in it. Perhaps Winnemucca would have something to be proud of for years to come and we were indeed proud of the land we’d inherited for that short span of time we toiled in its midst.

The Pleasantest Hitch!

As I arrived at work on Monday morning, the usual case of pre-hitch butterflies were

in full flight. Did I bring my headlamp? Would the amount of layers packed be sufficient for

the weather? Did I forget the grocery bag with the week’s supply of peanut butter? All were

thoughts that flitted through my mind as I unloaded the car and filed into the office for our

morning meeting. I knew that we were headed to Lovell Canyon Wilderness Area, and so I

chatted with fellow Crew Leaders in an effort to gauge what sort of week I was in for. The

results were a bit grim: the hike in was long and difficult, the weather had been getting into the

teens at night, and the project itself was strictly rough-cutting steep tread. And so I began to

mentally prepare myself for what I thought I would be in store for during the next four days.

Nothing that anyone told me could prepare me for what would actually happen though. It would,

in fact, be the PLEASANTEST hitch in the history of hitches. Just delightful…

We left the hot temperatures of Las Vegas behind as we drove into the mountains. There,

the wonderful spring air was filled with the scents of Ponderosa pine and Juniper. Hummingbirds

darted around camp as if part of a Disney film. The hike in, while difficult, was filled with some

of the most beautiful scenic vistas I have seen since being in Nevada. Our group of six Crew

Leaders, plus Amanda, worked as a well-oiled machine after training together for the past 3

months. The work days passed quickly as we joked with each other and listened to bluegrass on

Cal’s brilliant mini iPod player while cutting tread. We each had the chance to talk with Amanda

at length during our evaluations, giving everyone fresh perspective and goals for the upcoming

summer. After work, we all hung out together. We agreed that as a group, we got along

exceptionally well and very much enjoyed each other’s company. And to top it all off, we shared

delicious chocolate, caramel waffle wafers, and cheese that Guy had recently brought back from

Holland. It was the best.

There were multiple moments every day on this hitch that struck me as too good to be

true. Moments that left me thinking, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this.” And while certainly

not every hitch goes nearly so well or is filled with the number of idyllic moments as this one

was, it is still the perfect example of why I love conservation work. I had worked hard, with a

great group of people, for a pretty cool cause, in the great outdoors. Like I said before: just the

PLEASANTEST hitch.

Russian Hordes Advance On the Alamo

After a year and a half or traveling in great circles around North America; from Panama to
Denali, I have found myself back where I started, killing Russian olive in the Southwest. Undoubtedly
the World has changed over these last 18 months and I know that time has changed me as well;
however the invasive Olives seem to have remained the same. They still have the tenacity to attempt
to remain alive despite saws, spray and sweat. Perhaps they have even more thorns then before, as my
scratched up arms seem to suggest. But here at the Nevada Conservation Corp we don’t have time to
bleed and the battle continues.

It always seems ironic to me that Conservation corps spends so much time killing things but I
have seen what these trees can do. I’ve witnessed the Russian Jungle overwhelming canyons in Utah,
choking out the native willows and once mighty cottonwoods, leaving nothing but impenetrable olive
thickets. Here at our Alamo, the Russian hordes are on the move, matching their way from the spring
head down through open fields and pasture, flanking cattle and advancing down the irrigation ditches,
towards the nature preserve. The native fauna offers little resistance and the cows are asleep at guard
duty. Only we stand in the way of the Russian invasion. Heavily armed with chainsaws, hatchets and
herbicide we remain vigilant against the tide. We will remember this Alamo, where we drew a line in
the cow paddy covered swamp and made our stand.

Here at least some advantages are ours. We have caught the olives not fully prepared. Yes they
still are covered in five inch thorns that turn gloves to Swiss cheese; they grow sideways out of
waterways and will always try to fall on you if you give them the chance. But here at least they are still
young, not fully established, spaced out an easier to isolate and kill then when they are established in a
fortified mass. Here we have a chance. However, we must remain vigilant, some regrowth is inevitable
and there will always be a few survivors. Hopefully our Alamo will be remembered and in the future
crews will be back to finish the battle and mop up any invasive trees that have escaped our net. For
now we will busy ourselves killing as many olives as we can find, with hope that future crews will pick up
where we left off.

Brent Killingbeck

How to Work (A Successful Week)

How to work at Moapa Calley N.W.R.:
1-Go to the office Monday morning by 6:00.
2-Gather all tools and camping gear and pack them in the truck.
3-Circle up.
4-Drive to the worksite to meet project partner and get lined out for the week.
5-Drop off gear at camp and head to work.

Daily duties:
1-Wake up at 5:45.
2-Make coffee/breakfast.
3-Pack lunch and fill waters.
4-Drive to worksite.
5-Stretch and safety.
6-Dig holes and plant seedlings according to the colored flags placed in the field distinguishing the different plants.
7-Make sure all roots are buried and the burn around the plants is a solid and tall one.
8-Hook up irrigation system to each individual plant.
9-Run irrigation system.
10-Check to make sure all plants are being watered properly.

If you do all things above correctly, you have had a successful week working at Moapa Valley N.W.R.

Step 1. Pull weeds, Step 2. Put weeds in bags

This week we went to the Katherine’s Landing area of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Our job was to remove the invasive species Brassica tournefortii, commonly called Sahara Mustard. In many areas it forms dense fields which crowd out native plant species. We removed it from two sites: along a horseback/hiking trail near Davis Dam and around a marina/campground at Katherine’s Landing. Sahara Mustard is an annual plant, which means individuals only live one season. Survival of the species depends on producing a lot of seeds and reproducing during that one season. We were removing the plants as seeds were beginning to form, but before they were dispersing. To prevent the seeds from spreading we packed all the plants we pulled into trash bags. This method and timing will reduce the number of seeds in the area which means there will be fewer plants to eradicate next season.

The funniest story from this week was about our supervisor, who had made a new year’s
resolution to eat vegan. She had obviously been considering giving it up lately, and about half way
through this week she did. One evening, as she ate yet another pita, she decided she was officially over eating the same old vegan meals at work every hitch. The very next day she was in the grocery/gift shop at the marina buying a pack of Bologna! Not sure that’s the first meat I would go back to.

On the last day we were able to visit The Grapevine Canyon Petroglyph site for education. These
are prehistoric rock carvings and at this site they were really well preserved. This was a beautiful site
which overlooked the expansive Newberry Mountain range. After that we drove through Christmas Tree Pass. The locals have a tradition of decorating the juniper trees with various Christmas tree ornaments. As cool as the trees look, the BLM unfortunately classifies this as litter; therefore we removed many of the decorations along the way. This probably sounds like a really boring week to readers, but I enjoyed it and would actually consider this one of my favorite hitches. Now there wasn’t anything particularly exciting about it, but the work wasn’t difficult, the weather was nice, and it was pretty satisfying seeing the sites after we removed the Sahara Mustard.

Muddy River Restoration

This past week our crew along with Crew 1 was doing some restoration along the banks of the Muddy river near Moapa. The goal of this project was to restore the areas around fish barriers that had recently been put into place. For the most part we were planting willow cuttings in and near the water. Among other things, the willows would replace the habitats of the southwestern willow flycatcher, which are currently inhabiting the tamarisk tree, an invasive species. We were also collecting some seeds of native plants to scatter on the banks.

This project was really awesome for a few reasons. For one, it was way different than anything that we have been doing. Recently we have been out at Sloan Canyon constructing new tread at Dutchman’s Pass. The work out there is great and the views are beautiful, but it is nice to change it up every now and then and this was a great change of pace. Second, on a projects like this one you can see the progress that you are making right away. When we got there the banks were bare and by the time we left they were green with willows. It was super cool to see our hard work right in front of us! Lastly, the willow cuttings that we were using were from a construction area near the Las Vegas Wash that were going to be cleared to make room for development. It was nice to know that we were able to save them and plant them somewhere else where they were going to make a big difference.

Beside a few falls into the water this was a great week. It was exciting to see all the work that we did at the fish barriers. We are looking forward to see how this project progresses and see the area restored!

The Great Wall of Tamarisk

So maybe I’ve never seen the Great Wall of China, but I believe that now I’ve seen something that surely must match it in its grandeur, and what better name to refer to this something than by the Great Wall of Tamarisk. This was my second journey to Death Valley. What the first hitch provided in regards to downtime and adventurous opportunities, this hitch made up for with sweat, blood and achy muscles. Each day began with a half hour hike over sand dunes, mud, and puff dirt until we arrived at the Amargosa River – Death Valley’s only river. From there we’d look out over the previous days’ progress which was made evident by the growing line of tamarisk slash pulled up on the upper banks. When, at the beginning of the hitch, our supervisor walked out with us all that she wanted us to accomplish by the end of the week, I think that all of our hearts sunk into our stomachs a bit as we all realized that the feat she was asking of us seemed an impossible one to take on. But our chainsaws were strong and our will was stronger, and each day giant clusters of the stubborn plant fell victim to our wrath. Half way through day seven, the 532^nd and final tree was mowed down, marking the completion of that goal which 6 days previously seemed so impossible to reach. That didn’t stop us. We keep on going like the freaking Energizer bunny. MACC crew, out.

p.s. Camping, good.

MACC @ Sloan Canyon

1.22-1.25.13

The apple pie was a surprise. A scrumptious, homemade, cinnamon n’ sugar-filled surprise. Ever since starting work in Las Vegas there’ve been many surprises, but this was the sweetest. When the MACC crew moved from Reno in January I knew it would mean less time on the chainsaw and most likely a bit of trail work. That’s about all I knew to expect – the tools, the terrain, and the trail users all came as surprises.

My only experience with trail work occurred this previous summer as a part of the Minnesota Conservation Corps. My crew maintained multiple portages, the trails connecting canoeing lakes in the northern wilderness area. We’d used loppers, handsaws, and cross-cutters to clear overgrown trails of baby balsam firs, mountain maple branches, and downed pine trees. The tools in Nevada are designed to handle rocks and dirt. I knew how to use a shovel, but the McLeod, pick-Mattock, double-jack, rock bar, and geo-pick were new and took some getting used to. It wasn’t until this second hitch working on the Black Mountain trail that I had the chance to use every one of those tools to chop, hack, lift, roll, scoop, and pound out the trail. Until this hitch I never knew how much satisfaction could be found in swinging a double-jack to flatten some bedrock.

The next surprise came in the form of scenic vistas. In Minnesota the colors and hues are cool, green trees and blue lakes. Here in Nevada most everything is a variation of warm tones, rusty reds, burnt browns, and weathered whites. The mountains are the canvas upon which this array is painted. As we hiked down from Black Mountain at the end of the day, muscles aching and sweat drying, we were treated to the refreshing site of a sunset over Vegas.

Lastly, working in a wilderness area you don’t run across many trail users. However, working near a residential area, like Sloan Canyon, everyday there’d be several people coming by to ask about our work, express appreciation, and even take photos. On our third day we were invited to the meeting of a local hiking club. We went not knowing what to expect, except perhaps a small break. Walking into the nice facility after a morning of work we became aware of our unkempt looks, smelly clothes, and general griminess. We mingled with the Anthem Hiking Club, introduced ourselves, and were ready to leave when they presented us with a token of their appreciation – dozens of cookies and two freshly, baked pies. Later that night sitting around camp and digging into the delicious pastries, I realized that while conservation work can be filled with monotony, it makes the little, pleasant surprises that much more enjoyable.