July 12, 2022
The past week was a good one. After having Monday off for the 4th of July, we spent Tuesday through Friday doing more stocking surveys.
Things were different on Sunday though. The other interns and I were given the rare opportunity at this time of the year to take part in helping with the broadcast burn that was conducted. Broadcast burning is not done by most companies today, but it is very beneficial when done correctly as it creates great soil conditions for when a unit is planted (which will likely be this fall or winter) as well as gets rid of previous vegetation that was present, which reduces competition for the growth of future seedlings.
The burn went well and everything was kept under control, thanks to the great
teamwork between the full-time foresters here at Starker, the interns, and some folks at Miller Timber.
This week, we will likely be mopping up post-fire. Mop up mostly consists of using tools such as hazel hoes and pulaskis to mix up some of the soil that has hot spots underneath the surface and spraying those spots down to reduce any risk of a spot fire igniting.
It was a great learning experience being there for the burn and we look forward to a week of learning about the processes involved in conducting these broadcast burns.