August was a strange month. The fires on the refuge made normal operations either difficult or impossible. Although the fires had ignited in late July, it took almost a month for the survey and recovery efforts to begin. There are portions along the North Central Patrol Road that have been scorched to bare earth, and a large portion of our sagebrush steppe habitat have been severely impacted. I am hopeful that I can contribute to aiding the recovery efforts over the coming months and even years. For now, the immediate impact I have been able to engage in is beginning the removal of barbed-wire fencing along Rockford Lane.

With the help of our lead ecologist, Travis Miller, and two amazing first-time volunteers, Len and Gloria Otto, we pulled long sections of old wire and T-Posts out from along Rockford Lane. The fence was severely burned, fallen over in many places, and tangled within the coyote willows stands. The sagebrush flats adjacent to and north of Rockford were burned to bare earth, and only small burned and jagged stumps remained. Pulling this fence was hard work, but I personally feel like it is a massive benefit to wildlife within the refuge. The barbed-wire fence in it’s defunct state acts like a dangerous snare for wildlife, and it’s easy to see how a deer, coyote, or fox could become entangled in them. I was also able to use a brand-new T-Post puller that someone generous donated to FOMR recently. This made what would have been an impossible task by hand fairly straightforward and easy.  

Len and Gloria didn’t stop there; they also did a massive amount of work on our Rock Garden and Pollinator Gardens, helping me to prep them for our Fall Planting Work Party in September. We battled stinging nettle and crabgrass and cleared many weeds out of these areas. Along with prepping the areas for planting, I have been working with our partner Lisa Sanco at Worthy Brewing Garden Club to procure plants and material for this project. We now have mulch on site, and a whole list of native plants ordered and ready to get put in come September. We would love some more hands for this work party, so if you are interested, please sign up! (Lodging available – email [email protected])
 
Len and Gloria also helped me survey and clear encroaching branches from the P-Ranch trail. I was able to go out and test my latest version of a Field Maps application I created to assist in the trail maintenance work. I now have a working application that lets me survey and catalog work needed, and work completed on the Refuge’s walking trails.. 

I have also been organizing and cataloging our tools and materials in the Project Center. I am very happy with its current state, and I feel like we have almost all the tools we need to accomplish most projects around the refuge. I hope to get a small workbench built in September and with that, I feel like the Project Center is ready for us to tackle almost anything!