Hello everyone! I’m Daniel Morin, and I’m heading into my senior year at the College of Forestry, majoring in forestry with a focus on forest management, restoration, and fire. It’s been an awesome first week getting to know Starker Forests!
Daniel Morin
Monday kicked off with a warm welcome from the Starker staff. It was great to meet everyone and catch up with familiar classmates who are also interning here. We toured the office, checked out the tools and spent most of the day in CPR and first aid training. This was my first time getting this training, and after plenty of practice and listening, I feel confident that we can handle any emergencies together.
Monday kicked off with a warm welcome from the Starker staff. It was great to meet everyone and catch up with familiar classmates who are also interning here. We toured the office, checked out the tools and spent most of the day in CPR and first aid training. This was my first time getting this training, and after plenty of practice and listening, I feel confident that we can handle any emergencies together.
Daniel Morin and Caroline Puckett oversee Gus Togni as he performs CPR on a dummy.
On Tuesday, we got a tour of some of the Starker properties, seeing the different stages of forest management we’ll be involved in this summer. We visited a harvesting operation, a prescribed burn site, the Starker Forestry Trail, and a couple of thinning operations. It was fascinating to discuss the various management plans that ensure these sites meet their goals and objectives.
Harvest operation in Starker Forests stacking logs to be loaded on truck.
Thursday and Friday were all about setting up flagging for a research stand of Douglas-fir and redwoods. Our job was to ensure the spacing was 10×10 feet and perfectly straight. It took some time (and a few checks from the foresters), but we got it done. I am excited to see the growth and data collected from these sites, especially since the high-elevation redwoods will be interesting to study. We also practiced using a compass and pacing, making sure we can rely on traditional methods without GPS. I do love a good GPS, but it was surprisingly fun to use a compass and measure our pacing accuracy. It’s been a fantastic first week!
Caroline Puckett holds the end of a tape measure within a research plot.
I can’t wait for fire school next week and to get even more fire experience under my belt.
Stay tuned for more adventures!