P.O.T.B.R. 2025 Day 10

    Today we went to Sisters Ranger District to assist them on the B.D.A. Beaver Dam Analog. Similar to what we did in swamp lake except in a smaller body of water. We arrived slightly early at the district so we used the restrooms and shopped around the little souvenir store. I liked one of the sweatshirts and water bottle over there but they were a little over my budget on those kind of things. I did get a cute Smokey the bear plush, I think that was a good $12.50 well spent. Once our guiders arrived they led us to the conference room where we introduced ourselves. The guides consisted of Liz Day, Alex Enna, and Christine Neyers, all having some sort of background that assists them with forestry. Christine has 19 years of experience in botany, Liz has a degree in wildlife biology, and Alex has a background in fire. 

    They gave us a presentation on what we would be doing today and where. The location was at the lower Black Butte Swamp that was currently in progress of being arranged for beavers to return. The area been inhabited for thousands of years and is also part of ceded land. The area has many different creatures around such as mountain lions, bobcats, wolves, Western Pearl Shell Muscle that is native to the land, and the Redband trout that is also native to the land. The Western Pearl Shell Muscle and the Redband trout have this symbiotic relationship where the Pearl Muscles release their offspring (Glochidia) where it would land in the gills of the trout's and helps the Pearl Shells spread out down the stream. Researches have also recorded at least 220 different species of birds in the area. 

    Now the problem with the beaver dam recreation locations is that there are a lot of invasive plants throwing off the ecosystem, the stream channels have become incise, beavers have been trapped out, and the last beaver in the area was seen 10 years ago but someone shot it. So their goal is to recreate some dams in the area in hopes of beavers coming back and staying. Before getting to the forest we had to find waders that fit us given from the district. We had to put on waivers before heading out and the trail to the dams. My wader fit me perfect except I realized once we got there that my shorts were too bunchy so they were restricting my leg movement in the suit. It also got kind of hot so the walk over there felt agonizingly long. I think it lasted for more than 15 minutes and those 15 minutes felt like forever. we took a quick lunch break in the shade and then walked another maybe 5 minutes to the dams. There was one dam that needed a little more reinforcement so some of us entered the cold water to stack the sticks while others clipped down some small trees. It felt nice in the cool water after sweating so much earlier but I did end up getting water in my wader somehow. We were done so it was time to head back up. The way back up was shorter but felt harder having my shoes full of water. The view was nice though I wish I was able to take in the scenery a bit more. After we set off we headed to celebrate Corbin passing his exam and stayed at the area to finish and turn in our blogs while we had Wi-Fi.