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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1978)
PAGE 6 JANUARY 10, 1978 The Woods Don’t Resi¡The Winter Snow Surveying Is For The Hardy Always conducting a snow survey in pairs, staff members of the Natural Resource Department make a monthly trek to Bald Peter and Racing Creek to obtain vital data from the snowpack. Here Tribal Wildlife Biologist Terry Luther (left) records the depth and weight data given him by instrument handler Earl Miller. Luther then computed the density - indicating the amount of water in the snow. The snow surveys are done from November through March each winter. Randy Rangila Phot# Blizzards, cold winds and heavy snows don’t stop the hardy souls in the Natural Re source Department from ventur ing out into the high country during winter months. In fact, the deeper the snow, the better they like it - particu larly this winter. The snowpack this year must be above average to make up for last year’s lack. This year’s snowpack “is not up to snuff,” according to Roscoe Smith. It is down some what from the average, but a vast improvement over last year. For example, on January 30, 1978, the snow depth at Racing Creek was 27 inches with a density of 31 percent, and at Bald Peter it measured 60 inches in depth with a density of 35 percent. But in January of 1977, the depth at Racing Creek was only six inches with a density of 26 percent, and at Bald Peter there was 9.1 inches of snow with a density of just 18 percent. Once a month, between No vember and March, a pair of snow surveyors set out on snow mobiles to collect samples and record the data at two different sites here on the reservation, Racing Creek and Bald Peter. The four men who usually make the trek are Gene Greene, Roscoe Smith, Earl Miller, and Terry Luther. Since the snow survey takes nearly all day and ! I | I a Sandy Rangila Photo After measuring the snow depth, Miller weighs the core sample on scales suspended from a ski pole while Luther records the reading. Both wear snowshoes, not only to keep from sinking into the snow, but so they won’t disturb the snow or cause future readings there to be inaccurate. Sandy Rangila Photo requires travel in rough country, the men always travel in pairs. Snow mobiles have been known to break down. Precautions are taken against the chill factor and the possibility of becoming stranded is taken into consideration. Al ways carried with the men are' “spare tires” (snow-shoes), an emergency kit, extra food, and a space blanket. In addition, Greene sends two people every other year to Snow Survey School where they learn survival techniques, how to recognize avalanche hazards, cross-country skiing, first aid, and how to put a snow mobile back together. Because of the chill factor involved in this kind of outing, the men know how to recognize and avoid hypothermia, a con dition which causes the body temperature to drop to the point vwhere vital organs cease to function properly. Hypothermia can result in death. Snow surveys, which have been conducted here for the past eight years, are usually done toward the end of the month. And the crew tries to collect samples on the same day as the previous year so the compari sons will be more meaningful on a year-to-year basis. For the sake of accuracy, readings are taken in five loca tions at each site. And the locations have been selected for their stability by Greene with the assistance of the Soil Con servation Service in Portland. For this January’s survey, Earl Miller and Terry Luther made the all-day trip. To take a measurement, Miller sank a long aluminum tube down through the snow until it reach- BY SANDY RANGILA AND CYNTHIA STOWELL for ers and Foresters Winter Poses Hazards j | | Snow surveyors Earl Miller (foreground) and Terry Luther having measured and weighed the snow at one location, strap their red plastic snowshoes on the back of each snow mobile, pack away theirJnstruipents, and head out for the next site. JANUARY 10, 1978 PAGE 7 Bears an av ' hibernate duri^ mt ’ the forest is ted. bl* .Pi!®8 of sL- on trees and JT tracks are viF. dence for theT saws, chugginH whine of spinnH again!) K If not forH days of BIA fB private tree tlB reservation (and the bears! per. Harvesting, sonal activity M improving the " _ round work. must be thinn^ growth, guidel^ moval in a logg^ Set, and treesB for cutting. Imagine carried out inK snow or mud, B ervation has year, and the hB At times foul 3 activity in the vK the time man 1^ and mud hole If course. The BIA’s ■ bilities fall lo 5e areas: pre-sale^, stration, and B ment. Walt D(js pre-sale men,)(j weather cruis ^ evalute and laB sales, sit out desks making ti^ and writing up gle ed the ground while Luther did the recording. Miller handled fhe tube with gloves so his hand warmth would not affect the reading. After the depth had been measured, Miller removed the tube with the core sample inside and weighed it on a scale suspended from a ski pole. The reason for weighing the sample is to determine the density and water content of the snow. When this process has been completed five times at each location, and the men are safely back at Warm Springs, the data is calledin to the SCS office in Portland where a report is made up monthly and sent back to Warm Springs and all other recording stations. Snow surveys provide vital information showing how much water can be expected from the snowpack in the spring and summer. The purpose is to be able to determine how much water there will be for irrigation purposes and whether flooding is likely to occur. The information is utilized to regulate the water flow at dams, as well. Depending upon the projected snowmelt, the water flow can be decreased or increased to meet the needs of power production. Snow depth data is also of value to the home builder in helping determine the pitch of a roof. Perhaps because of last year’s drought, people are be coming more aware of the importance of conducting snow surveys and more and more interested in the conclusions which can be drawn from the data hidden under each winter’s snowfall. cutting of the sale. Deepers said his department has appraised $12 million worth of timber so far this winter while staying nice and dry. ■ Following the guidelines produced by pre-sale, Bob Bol- • • - j — ton’s timber sales administra- tion crews roam the forest armed with spray paint guns, marking the trees to be cut by loggers the next season. Necks craning, the foresters train their eyes on foliage, bark and treeshape to determine the vitality of the trees in a laid-out sale. They look for misshapen boles (trunks), the condition of tree tops and other outward signs of disease. ■Blue stripes at eye level and at the base are painted on the trunks of those trees that pose a hsoard or no longer contribute to the stand. Age is less a factor than health, said crew member Les McConnell. Unhealthy trees will give in to loggers’ saws when the good weather arrives. Good silvicultural practices may not be in the best interest of poggers, noted McConnell. Maintaining the delicate bal ance of the forest and ensuring itslfuture health may mean marking trees that are not ideal for lumber. A forester trekking through the woods in winter sees more than the average person. Bark rubbed raw by elk’s new horns, a tall tree “overtopping” a nearby tree, a trunk healing an old fire scar, and he can en vision the forest in thirty years when entry might again be made for logging. In April or May a logging crew will receive a map and a list of guidelines and will set off into the woods in pursuit of blue- striped trees. Bill Donaghue’s crews con cern themselves with timber » Mature Douglas Firs, that this winter dwarf forester Les McConnell, will next summer be loaded onto the bed of a log truck. Blue stripes of paint mark their demise. CDS Photo stand improvement. In good weather that may mean plant ing or r ehabilitation. In winter it means the lay-out and super vision of thinning areas. This winter eight thinning outfits, all owned by tribal members, are braving the snow and mud to weed out the small er trees and give the bigger timber a chance to develop into Sala swath through a forest thicket, the young firs falling I* st«ks to make room for other older trees. Thinnini Amos Switzler’s work year-round but find that the snov winter slow them down at times. < CDS Photo strong healthy stands. Staying within the ribboned boundaries, the rugged-looking thinners sweep through the pre viously quiet thickets with their chain saws and mow down any thing less than 5” in diameter (hopefully excluding their part ners’ ankles). A standard 18 feet must be left between standing trees but this may vary with conditions and elevation. Thinning is a year-round job but is necessarily slower in winter. Thinning supervisor Jim Cranford said that all the crews were shut down for four or five days during the first snowstorm in November. Thinners have been “snowed out” of the Jef ferson Creek area since then and the Camas Prairie area since December. When the snow piles up higher than 12”, chain saw operators can’t reach their foot- high mark. Saws stall when snow gets into the gasoline or chain. Unsure footing can add an extra element of danger to handling a hungry chain saw. Wind blows the snow or blows down trees, making the woods unsafe. A sudden storm could strand a thinning crew. Victor Smith has laid off his crew temporarily due to mud and snow. It’s not worth the hassles of getting stuck and digging out, he said. “You can only break even,” observed Smith, “and you can do that by parking your equipment and staying home.” Transportation is also a big headache for the BIA crews, according to McConnell. “Everybody gets stuck at one time or another,” he remarked. Pickups are abandoned where the road is still good and tracksters are unloaded. Look ing like little tanks, the amphi bious vehicles roll across the surface of the snow, negotiating the steepest of slopes. When on foot the foresters may don snowshoes or if it is too crusty they may have to simply wallow in the deep snow “dig ging post-holes” as they go. Marking must be curtailed when the snow falls heavily or a thick fog settles because the foliage can’t be examined for vitality. Advised forester Arnie Browning, “Then you’d better have some office work to do.” “Everybody gets stuck at one time or another.” A way of life for BIA forestry crews in the winter woods is digging out pickups, as Arnie Browning, Bill Williams and Jim Strong demonstrate here, loading and unloading tracksters, and strapping on snowshoes. The transporting of men and equipment in the winter can take a sizable chunk out of a workday. CDS Photo
