WORKING AT ARAPAHO

Our work truck, a 2011 Ford F250 4 X 4
Once a week we take the truck out and get it REALLY muddy doing water flow readings (CFS) at the many flumes located within the Refuge irrigation network.



North Park Phacelia is an endangered plant found only in Jackson County, Colorado. It is found in less than 10 locations with two sites having significant numbers, both found within the Refuge.
Our project was to conduct the annual plant survey. To accomplish this we located 100 preset monuments using a Garmin GPS unit along with a metal detector. Once the monument is located we lay out a PVC grid. We then count the phacelia as well as all other plants within the grid.



We spent a morning last week helping the biologist capture and band song birds. Several kinds of birds were captured in large suspended nets. To the left is a Yellow Warbler.







The birds are measured, weighed, sexed, banded and released.






To the left is the biologist holding a Warbling Vireo


Just outside our kitchen window is one of many Refuge Tree Swallow houses. We have enjoyed watching the birds raise their babies and now the family enjoys sitting on our hanging flower basket.

ARAPAHO NWR, WALDEN, COLORADO

We arrived at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge on June 22. This 23,000 acre Refuge is located in an intermountain glacial basin south of Walden, Colorado. This high desert basin, situated at 8400 feet, is approximately 35 miles wide and 45 miles long. From our site, we can see mountains in all directions. The primary focus of the Refuge is providing environment for nesting and migratory birds.


REFUGE HEADQUARTERS OVERLOOK

During our first two weeks we made repairs to the boardwalk on the half mile nature loop. Over the winter boards become loose and the boardwalk was in general need of sprucing up. We also learned and have begun to help with the annual vegetative sampling. This project is performed in June and July of each year. The task involves locating transect monuments placed randomly about the refuge using a Trimble GPS running TerraSync. We then record the type and size of vegetation found within a 30 meter tape.

LUPIN

Walden is the moose capital of Colorado. We visited the Moose Viewing Visitor Center located within State Forest State Park.

COLUMBINE - COLORADO STATE FLOWER

Fish Creek Falls just outside of Steamboat Springs.

Alpine Visitor Center at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park.

BACK ON ALL FOURS

We returned to Wichita Mountains NWR on Tuesday, April 5. Virginia's knee surgery on April 11 in Oklahoma City to reattach her ACL and repair the damaged meniscus went well. They kept her overnight to make sure there were no blood clots this time. She is getting around pretty good on her crutches and leg brace. She seems to be recovering fast with the help of three times a week physical therapy. Kurt is keeping busy driving the invalid around.

To help add to the drama, Wichita Mountains was in the midst of a wildfire accidently set by Fort Sill practice bombs the day we returned from surgery. We had a couple days of strong south winds that blew straight at the headquarters, village and RV pads. We hitched up the truck and we were anticipating evacuation. Fortunately the winds switched as the fire bore down to within a mile of us. They brought in helicopters and fire crews from all over the country to battle it. The fire is now out, but the whole state of Oklahoma is on standby, since there has been no significant rain in six months. The long dry grass is just a fire waiting to happen.

Winter 2010

We are back in Alamo volunteering at Santa Ana NWR through March 2011. The grapefruit is good this year, as usual, as are the early (Mars) oranges that we prefer over the Navel oranges also available in December. We are still getting them direct from the grower, Thompson's Orchard.

Our year didn't turn out as planned. In early June, Virginia stepped in a hole while working at Wichita Mountains NWR and damaged her knee. The ACL was completely detached and had torn another ligament. On June 23 while preparing for work, large blood clots from the knee passed into her lungs. She was airlifted to specialists in Oklahoma City. After a week in the hospital, thankfully, all is well. Unfortunately, because she was on blood thinners, surgery to reattach the ACL has been postponed until April, 2011. She is getting around almost back to normal on the knee and with the help of a knee brace, hiking and biking again. We ended up staying at Wichita Mountains until November 4 and plan to return beginning in April for knee repair in OKC. Federal Workers Compensation has covered all costs. Of course this has been an ongoing headache since nothing seems to work efficiently when dealing with the Department of Labor.

WE WISH YOU A

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A

BLESSED NEW YEAR!

MIGRATING NORTH

We arrived at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge on May 10 after stops in Austin and Dallas. We were assigned a 1986 Army Truck (M1008) acquired from Fort Sill.
Our job here at the Refuge involves using a hand-held Trimble running ArcPad to collect GPS features along the boundaries. After a day of field work, we have learned how to upload the data to the server and reconcile it using ArcMap and ArcCatalog. We also correlate the pictures we take with the appropriate GPS features. It has been very interesting defining our project maps, downloading to the handheld GPS unit, gathering new data points and photos, and then uploading back to the desktop server to see the revised aerial maps in the GIS database.

Traveling North from Santa Ana beginning April 28, we seem to be experiencing Springtime over and over. This is our first visit to the Wichita Mountains in the Spring. The Mountains are adorned in green and covered with wildflowers. We have seen many of the animals tending to their newborns.
We will work here through the month of June at which time we plan to migrate further north into Colorado.


We have seen several copperhead snakes besides this one. They are quite common here on the Refuge, along with several types of poisonous rattlers.

Winding Down at Santa Ana

Three mornings a week we rode the range in our trusty Government 4-wheel drive. Working for the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR, we sometimes drove up to 200 miles in a day to maintain and post border signs, install gates and repair fences. The Refuge extends from Falcon Dam to the Gulf of Mexico, covering 275 miles along the Rio Grande River. To date there are 115 distinct parcels of land, covering 90,000 acres and still growing.

La Sal del Rey (the salt of the King) is named after its principal geological feature: a 530-acre salt lake. Salt has been mined at the lake since aboriginal people occupied the land. The salt trade represented one of the first commercial enterprises by the Spaniards in this part of what was once Mexico.




We were pleased to be part of a team of volunteers charged with the task of building a handicap accessible bird observation deck at La sal del Rey. The deck took about three weeks to complete with 6-8 volunteers working each day.
In late March the NBC Today Show visited Santa Ana NWR to do a segment about RVers who volunteer for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

South Texas Refuge Complex

After meandering our way from Oklahoma, we arrived in the "Valley" on December 2. Storing our rig, we spent the first two weeks of December time-sharing in Florida at Deerfield Beach and Sarasota. We moved into our winter home at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on December 22 and started our volunteer jobs just before we drove our little car back to Austin to spend Christmas with family. Then after taking a cruise the first part of January, we have now settled back into a routine.

Our current job is working for the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge as Refuge Operation Specialists. Our job is to help monitor over 100 remote refuge tracts for illegal poaching, ATV use, dumping of trash and other violations. We inspect boundaries, replacing signage, locks and gates and addressing repair needs to aid in the protection of important wildlife habitat. We plan to be here until the end of April.