PLT GreenSchools! YLINC 2014 Day Three

Day Three was filled with adventure in the National Forest. We met with many awesome professionals of a cross section of disciplines from the U.S. Forest Service who introduced our kids to the very real possibility that they could have a great career working in the outdoors.

The U.S Forest Service and the Friends of the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas is dedicated to helping our students stay safe, and shows that dedication by requiring them to wear hard hats when traveling in the forest. John Boyette gave everyone a safety lesson on being in the forest, first thing in the morning before we loaded up into the vans.

John Boyette discusses safety in the forest with our campers.

 When we arrived at the Angelina National Forest Work Center, Operations Team Leader, Jim Crooks , Acting Angelina and Sabine National Forest District Ranger, Rachel Smith and Angelina and Sabine National Forest Assistant Fire Management Officer, Dale Snyder talked about safety and using fire as a forest management tool. Rachel said that, compared to east Texas, not as much prescribed burning happens in the west due to the complexity of the terrain, longer fire regimes and public attitudes in the west. According to Dale, cost is also a limiting factor: the U.S. Forest Service can burn for about $17 an acre in East Texas compared to $200-400 per acre in the western part of the country. Rachel, Dale and Jim also discussed the considerations involved in determining whether conditions that are best for burning: risk of losing control of the fire, risk to the health of the fire crews, risk presented to the public by smoke, and the effectiveness of the burn.

Rachel Smith, Jim Crooks and Dale Snyder talk about managing forest with fire.

From the USFS Work Center, we traveled to Upland Island Wilderness, one of the natural areas in Texas Congressionally designated as Wilderness. Federal protected Wilderness Areas are lands that are protected from future human development where motorized vehicles are prohibited and are managed to be, according to the text of the Wilderness Act, as "untrammeled by man" as possible.

Upland Island Wilderness, so named because it was an Island of trees spared from clearing from the "cut out and get out" period of the 1930s, was bought from Temple Inland in 1984. Temple Inland removed all merchantable timber 6 months before ownership was transferred. It took the Forest Service 15 years to go through the protocols of the National Environmental Policy Act. Remnants of human activity remain in Upland Island, including culverts, road signs, and the Rushing Place historic home site.

In 1994, a wildfire threatened dozens of homes, nearly destroyed Rushing Place, and burned 3,500 acres overnight. The U.S. Forest Services Wildland firefighting crews got the fire under control, thankfully, with no loss of life or structures. The fire was so dangerous due to 40 years of undergrowth, in an ecosystem that generally experiences natural fires every four years. That danger, and the loss of habitat for the endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker, led the U.S. Forest Service to develop burn plans for the Wilderness, which was recently approved by Congress.

The campers explore Upland Island Wilderness

Dale explained his duties as a fire boss in the field. As the topmost officer in an incident command, it's his job to make sure that everyone stays safe, knows what to do and stays aware of changes in the blaze's behavior.

After a short walk through Upland Island Wilderness, we visited a site on private land that was involved in the County Road 32 wildfire in August 2011, a fire that endangered around 350 homes in the Ebenezer community. The man who was convicted for setting the fire is currently serving a 23 year sentence.

But, as Tamberly told the campers, a lot of good came out of the fire. The landowner cleared the burned forest a few weeks after the fire and shortly thereafter, the landowner replanted longleaf pine through a cost share program supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The fire had also allowed the underlying seedbank to respond with healthy tufts of native Bluestem grass and other lush native plants and grasses.

At Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Rachel and Dale told the tragic story of the Yarnell Fire and the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew that perished in the blaze. Rachel said that hotshot crews are much like a Swiss army knife for fire: they are self sufficient, highly experienced, in great shape and have many skills. Dale emphasized the importance of fuels mitigation with that story, since only one landowner complied with a fuels mitigation plan that was in place in the City of Yarnell many years before the fire.

Clarissa Trevino is so zen on the dam at Boykin Springs Recreation Area in
the Angelina National Forest

U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Chris Crain explained the duties of his job, keeping the law in the forest and making sure that people stay safe. He also gave the kids a primer on how to survive in the wilderness, since the possibility of getting lost in the woods is a job hazard for a U.S. Forest Service officer. He explained how to get the three things you need have to survive: water, shelter and fire. Captain Crain showed the students how to build a fire, how to build a quick shelter by leaning sticks on a large log and how to harvest water by tying a plastic bag around green vegetation. The most important rule, according to Captain Crain, is not to panic.

Campers build a fire to stay warm with Chris Crain at Boykin Springs

It may not be Holiday Inn, but this shelter made from sticks and a poncho
might keep you alive on a cold night.

Dr. Warren Conway, a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University who will soon be moving over to his alma-mater Texas Tech, asked the  campers to share some of their perceptions regarding their learning adventure and asked them about their interests in education and careers.  He matched the students’ interests with viable career options to help the youth better understand their potential career pathways.  Dr. Conway gave them a lesson on owl biology and natural history and then played several recordings of various owl species. The group heard a couple of owls in the far distance and soon, everyone began to try their own mouth calls as they hooted and whistled, trying to mimic the recorded owls.  Tomorrow will be their last day here, and we are sure that this journey is one that they shall remember for a long time.

Be sure to check out our Twitter feed, #YLINC2014, for live tweets and exclusive photos of our Youth Leadership in Nature Challenge journey! There are exclusive photos of the PNPC and more on our Flickr page as well!