Sept. 11, 2023
Sabrina Giulietti
With one week left at Starker I thought, why not start writing a blog? So here I am, writing a blog.
This week has been an adventure. We had Monday off due to Labor Day, so things started Tuesday. We went back to Mid North Norton Hill to continue stream surveying one of our hardest streams. This included walking through thick brush, navigating rock slabs with little waterfalls running down the face, and going over and under many logs. At the end of the day, we still had six tributaries left to survey, so we will most likely be going back at some point. This was an interesting day for me because I got a slug on my jacket and in my hair and later, I slipped on some rocks and fell face first into a stick. It missed my eye though, so that was good!
One of the nurseries growing seedlings for Starker Forests.
On Tuesday, Kathy and I visited PRT nurseries with Stephen, one in Cottage Grove and one in Woodburn. We were given a tour at each nursery where we were shown how Starker’s seedlings were doing, including Douglas-fir, grand fir, western hemlock, Noble fir, western red cedar, California redwood, Willamette Valley pine, and Sitka spruce.
There is a lot that goes into growing trees at nurseries – from monitoring the pH level (this is especially important
Douglas-fir seedlings that will be planted in Starker Forests tree farms.
when using peat as a fertilizer), making sure the trees have the right balance of macro-nutrients and micronutrients, keeping a warm temperature, making sure the trees get enough water and much more.
Hemlock seedlings that will be planted in Starker Forests tree farms.
At the nursery in Woodburn, there were quite a few greenhouses, and navigating them was fun as they led us into one greenhouse and found Starker’s block number and the tag that marked Starker’s trees, what kind of block the trees were in (either a styro block, open air block, or a treated block), when the trees were sowed, what day they were to be planted, and other important information.
Thursday, Kathy and I check-cruised nine plots that Anthony and Joseph had cruised the previous day. Afterwards, we drove to another unit (Moss Creek) to help Reece with unit layout, stream buffers, and marking property lines. With stream buffers, we marked flagging 70 feet perpendicular to the stream, using our D-tape and lasers to gage the distance.
I enjoyed marking property lines, as we looked for blazes and eventually found a section corner.
Section corner marker called a blaze.
Kathy sprayed circles around blazes with blue spray paint and hung blue flagging next to each tree we marked.
Continuing on, we sprayed circles around blazes with blue spray paint and hung blue flagging next to each tree we marked. It was along this property line that Reece yelled “Bees!” and we both started running. I ended up getting stung not once, but five times! The yellow jackets did not seem happy.
Friday, Kathy and I helped Stephen pin flag a research plot, which was measured seven flags by seven flags with 10 feet between each flag. Each block of 49 flags had a specific color to mark out each section.
We then joined Anthony and Joseph at the Moss Creek unit to help them finish cruising. Kathy took tree heights while I worked at plot center taking tree diameters. At one point, I heard some rustling and looked over to see a single deer loping through the trees. Thankfully, no one got stung on Friday, although we all had our share of poison oak, so time will tell who is starting to itch next week.
This week is my last week with Starker, which is hard to believe. Time flies when you’re having fun! I look forward to working with the interns and everyone at Starker for one more week and I am very thankful for this amazing opportunity to be an intern at Starker Forests.
- – Sabrina Giuletti