Hot discussions and hot classes

This sticker promotes the use of Rx fire - it's just like in the Boreal ...
I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would say this but two of the top 5 things that I miss the most are my kitchen and my truck! They are followed closely by the north country and my family, my bed and my own bathroom that does not require me to wear sandals in it!! A close runner up in 6th place would be being somewhere that has no noises like fans constantly blowing or people. 7th would be my desk at work and at home. 8th would be the Fort and the Northern Rockies cafe! 9th would be the north country and 10th would be the north country! The two biggest challenges and opportunities for my personal growth down here are having to rely on outsources for my food and givin' er with my two feet and a heartbeat.

It is a good lesson in being careful what one asks for! As most of you know, my distaste and hatred for being in a kitchen is very strong as I'd much rather be outside. I thought this would be the best part to my "vacation" down here being that I wouldn't have to be anywhere close to a kitchen for 4months+. That has actually been the most challenging thing for me! The majority of the food places close down on the weekend and I haven't taken enough time yet to figure it all out. For my first weekend here and this past weekend, it was a little bit dicey on the food scene! Thank goodness for Sam and Jane for keeping me fed!!!

My truck. Well, I can't believe how many university students down here all have their own vehicles and how new they are? It's an odd contradiction to where I thought our economic times had lead us. I have never been anywhere without my truck or a vehicle - ever! So being here in this land that is foreign to me is teaching me a good lesson that my two feet can take me anywhere I need to go and just that sometimes my heartbeat may need to be quite strong to get me there! I was walking home the other night from getting dinner off campus. It was very dark and very foggy and there was nobody else around. It was not the most comfortable situation I've been in but what else am I going to do? Everyone says it's very safe here and that Stillwater is in the top 100 safest places in America. A vehicle pulled up behind me slowly and I could see their headlights. Then an unpleasant person leaned out the window and yelled something at me. It could have been the Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek jumping out at me for my reaction was just about that strong. Totally not cool!!!

There are many people in the world who don't have vehicles and there are many of my friends back home who grew up relying on horses and dog sleds to get them places. What a sign of our modern times that I find it one of my challenges here to be so dependent on that vehicle to move me places. The lesson I am learning is to be humbled by those who found their own ways around and continue to do in the year 2010!

OUT ON THE RESEARCH RANGE ... where the patch burn units are.
Heterogeneity with broomweed?
Locust
Red earth
Black angus and dead cedar - what could be better? Maybe some simmental and red angus .... and more dead cedar eh?!
Fenceline comparison - prescribed fire on the left, no fire on the right with cedar encroachment. Similar to Southern BC and the Trench
Differnt kind of barbed wire
Apparently ice is not normal for Oklahoma but here, Isis is on ice!

KANSAS - is it really as flat as a pancake? Apparently there was a study done and it is!
Kansas
Nicely planted cedar in Kansas ... they are doing a good job at spreading evil.
Beloit, Kansas. Approximately 4.5 hours north and east of Stillwater where we spent the afternoon.
Dwayne Rice introducing Sam to the audience.
Heterogeneity and patch burning presentation with Producers, Fire crew, Agency and University folks at North Central Kansas Technical College.
Fire crew
Seeding in brome fields. Note the seeding of yellow sweet clover. Spreading the word about Range in BC and the Ministry of RANGE and forests.

REWILDING - the process whereby it is suggested to reintroduce megafauna from the pleistocene. This is an interesting controversial concept that is worth reflecting on and discussing.
A controversial paper and hot discussion!
Dr. Harry Greene of Cornell University. "Pleistocene rewilding: An optimistic agenda for twenty-first century conservation". The American Naturalist. November 2006.
Part of Dr. Greene's presentation - this particular slide speaks to what their paper in Nature said.

My kind of afternoon - not just talking about fire but playing with it too out at the Research Range with John Weir's class. My pale Canadian skin got sunburned and windburned! It's only January and it's hot!!!
Advanced Prescribed Fire class with John Weir

Really outstanding fire equipment.