People of the Big River 2025

Woke up slowly, it was quite hard because I was so comfortable…slept so good, it was so hard to fully wake up and get ready. I was so slow, but made our way down the road, Mission Oregon. We stopped off at the Nursery with Gail Redbird. We got a tour of the whole nursery that could help the Umatilla river thrive more. When it comes to restoring salmon and the vegetation. After the tour, we got to start trimming the tops of a willow, so they can grow the population of Willows. We then put the plants we trimmed into another area, so they can thrive and grow more on their own so they can really soak up the sun. We then went to the Agency in Mission Oregon, then we got a Powerpoint from Andrew Wildbill. Discussing the importance of Utilizing all programs to help aim for the same goal. Talked about shutting down the commercial huckleberry pickers. He also brought up about their first foods ceremony at their longhouse in Mission. They celebrate their first food like us Yakama’s and discussed...

I woke up early and instantly took down my tent and loaded up my clothes and bags on the vehicle. Went over to eat some breakfast, then got dishes ready to do. Afterwards, we all loaded up to make our little big journey to Umatilla. I got on and fell asleep until we go to the big obsidian flow in Newberry State Park. I walked up with my classmates and got to observe all different stages. It was nice and warm out as well. We went back down after an hour of walking up and when we got back to the bottom, my classmate left his phone up at the top. So I was feeling nervous for him but he ended up finding it and we headed back to the bottom to make our way back to Redmond and Madras. Then stopped in Redmond at a gas station and I got my cold Dr Pepper and snacks. We continued on and stopped off at a rest stop in madras and ate lunch. We loaded back up and I fell asleep, woke up we were in Biggs, OR already. It felt like home away from home, I enjoyed going along the river, missing it every t...

 Lizdey Day- District manager for the Deshutes national forest.  Alex Enna- Project Manager for various programs. - Masters in Forestry at Colorado State University.  Chirstine Meier - Associates degree in Forestry student - Resource Management. Botany. Woke up at six AM, was on the breakfast crew, and prepared my lunch for the day. We had about a two  drive to our destination and went into their Wildlife office, used the restrooms, and got some water.  We  did introductions and had a discussion about their presentation of Lower Black Butte Swamp restoration,  located on west side of Sisters, Oregon. There is native mussels - Western Pearl Shells located there and  Red Band Trout (RBT). They have a relationship that grow off of each other and thrive. "Glochidia" -  Baby mussels. There is a lot of different species in the ecosystem, when it comes to Elk, birds, Mule  Deer,  and other species you can imagine in the forest mountain are...

  I woke up slowly but surely this morning, it was so hard to get up and out of the sleeping bag. However I slept really good and warm throughout the night, I fell asleep the night before pretty early to have enough rest for today. I rushed to make breakfast and lunch. I was part of clean up crew so I hurried and finished that so we can make our way on the two hour drive to the destination. We met up with Marlo Fisher, she is a botnist for fifteen years, but overall goal was to learn more about the habitat and ecosystem. It was a dry desert like area that had no coverage but some trees around, and cattle grazing through. Our ideal goal was to survey and be systematic with the quota of “Botrychium pumicola” also known as Pumice Moonwort, but to flag every single one we see in the field. Which is a rare fern. We walked the area/grid space that Marlo had planned for us and about got 700plus found in that general area. I was along Liz majority of the time and had fun talking while sear...

  Woke up the first night here at Craine Prairie super warm, being scared I would freeze from the rain and being in the mountains. the travel day we got to see snow so I was anxious id freeze. I was laying in bed when breakfast crew got up to cook, but got up and was so happy i got to eat a big breakfast. potatoes eggs and bacon. Afterwards finally got to get laundry done to have clean clothes for this week. Our chore this morning was wash the dishes and after got ready to plate our bacteria to put under a microscope and it was fun doing it with my fellow classmates and Corbin. I have gotten close with everyone from camp and i’ve been thankful gaining memories. We tested positive or negative for the Oxidase and Kovac test. I had gotten Positive dark blue/purple on the Oxidase test. Then also gotten positive red/pink strip on Kovacs test. It was nice to get in the lab coats, gloves, and protective glasses. Along with my classmates and partnering up with them to do our tests and to l...

  Woke up early and really warm knowing we’re going to hit the road. i was overwhelmed because i didn’t plan out clothes to last but luckily we get a wash day Sunday. We got ready to go and on the road at 8 am, which was on time. I was happy to sit comfortably and knowing we completed everything we needed the previous day. I was listening to music most the way and slept for a few minutes and did some karaoke for our driver…and everyone in the car. but got to stop and get some snacks and sugar. hit the road and hit a rest stop in Irrigon, ate our lunches and got back to the road. About an hour left till we got ti Biggs and stopped. got some ice needed, gas, and more snacks. We stopped at another rest stop feeling restless but knowing we were almost to Madras. Happy got to stop at Safeway to get some Moisturizer for my face, i have gotten super sunburnt from the day at swamp creek. I felt super relieved. I now know to be prepared to wear sunscreen from now on but grabbed extra grocer...