It is time for another insightful blog post from me, Madison Harper, Salmon Valley Stewardship’s and The Lemhi Regional Land Trust’s intern. The first month was about getting acquainted with my coworkers, learning the best places for a hot meal and finding out the best picking spot for huckleberries. My first month came and went and now my second month has quickly come to an end.
July was filled with incredible field trips, informative meetings and entertaining obstacles. It was about digging deeper into my work, absorbing everyone’s advice and trying to get involved with important projects. The beginning of July was spent on The Main of The Salmon, with friends that quickly became family. The weather was ideal, the water was cold and all the homestead caretakers welcomed us with open arms. It was humbling to float 84 miles down The Main and to hear about the history of the canyon.
Returning from, The River of No Return rejuvenated me for another month of adventures with SVS and The Land Trust. One of my weekly duties for the Land Trust was to drive 45 miles out of town to collect 10 dye packets that were dispersed throughout a creek. Simple right? Not exactly.
Previous employees have had an interesting time trying to collect all 10-dye packets because of little, burrowing owls. Let me tell you about burrowing owls, they are less than 12 inches tall, nest in the ground and do not like humans walking around their nests. One employee hid in the bushes for a couple hours, one swung a bag around and it used it as a helmet and now I was next.
My first solo trip to collect the packets I only collected three. The burrowing owls had teamed up and decided to dive bomb me at once. I was running around like a mad person, obnoxiously screaming out random words and waving my arms around like I was doing a jazzercise move. Also, one tried to poop on me. I’m sure if someone saw me they would have pulled up a chair, grabbed some popcorn and laughed profusely at my dimwittedness. Good news though, I captured all of this on my Go Pro camera so my embarrassment can be publicly viewed, multiple times.
The Land Trust is involved in wonderful projects; some may involve more bravery and persistence than others, but regardless good projects. This year marks 10 years for The Land Trust and they have conserved over 13,000 acres in the last ten years. They are doing remarkable work in Lemhi County and I am honored I got to be their intern for the summer. Salmon’s sense of community is unique and vibrant and is thriving because of the people who live here. Thank you Fish & Wildlife for offering a fantastic internship in Salmon, Idaho.
Cheers! To my last month as an intern.
Meet Hannah