Way back machine...remembraces from an old climber

[Burnham]

I followed a bot or visitor or who knows what on the who's online page to this set of pictures. Not sure how that worked, because it's still an active thread with current posts, but that's over my head...

Anyway, I'm vain enough to bring them forward. From this link see three or four more pages for all of my ego boosts . When you get to Steve's stump grinding, you'll know you're past the good stuff.

https://www.masterblasterhome.com/t...ictures-thread-closed.9475/page-5#post-202562

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[Tree09]

Some awesome pics as always, B!

 

[Burnham]

Thanks, Kyle.

What? What, Butch?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Followed the bot?

 

[Burnham]

Oh. If you go to the Who's Online page, you will see that at any one time there are far more guests and data mining bots looking at threads than there are registered members. I followed one of those to the thread it or the guest was perusing. Pure curiosity, plus from time to time it turns up an interesting thread long forgotten. I do it regularly.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ah... now I'm down with the bot trek.

 

[Mick!]

Great photos Burnham, great views, good find Bingbot spider!

I got a bit confused with the term “inoculated” so I went back to check, surely it should be “infected”

I saw you drilling, what agent did you use to introduce the heart rot?

Sorry if it’s answered in the later posts but I got to go to work.

 

[Burnham]

See the definition 1a and 1b, Mick. This is a copy/paste from the Webster's Dictionary website.


Definition of inoculate
inoculated; inoculating
transitive verb

1 a : to introduce a microorganism into; inoculate mice with anthrax; beans inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria

b : to introduce (something, such as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth

c : to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease; inoculate children against diphtheria

2 : to introduce something into the mind of

3 : to protect as if by inoculation


We introduced phellinus pini, to encourage heart rot, so that woodpeckers could initiate cavities seeking food sources, and then neotropical songbirds could utilize those cavities for nesting habitat. Some of the biologists took so long a view as to suggest that once those trees got big, with significant levels of heart rot, when they fall could be exploited by bears as winter dens.

Short lengths of wooden dowel, heavily saturated with phellinus pini spores, were inserted into the bored holes. A short section of pvc pipe was inserted after the dowel, extending beyond the bark a few inches, to keep the trees from sealing the holes off with pitch...that would be their normal defense mechanism to a wound that might provide an infection vector.

 

[Merle Nelson]

The trees....the views.....the life lived.

I visited the assisted living facility today where some people complained about this with regard to their nice food prepared three times a day, or that about the staff who wait on them 24 hours a day - always whats been, is and will be with medicines.

I look at the Utah thread.....the rocks....the views....the life lived.

If I can enjoy those things, remember them, share them, even in my very last hour of life - that will contribute to a life well lived.

Thanks for sharing Burnham, it's a contribution.

 

[Mick!]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Burnham]

Thanks a lot, Merle. That's very kind.

 

[gf beranek]

I remember those, B. Way cool. Thanks for bringing them up

 

[pantheraba]

Yep...good shots of some cool work.

Several pages after your picts are some good ones of Deva, Old Monkey, Jerry, Nick...a motley crew of highly skilled tree guys doing cool stuff. That was a fine thread.

 

[Burnham]

Yes, there are many great pics in that thread.

 

[stig]

We sure get into some weird stuff at times, working for the Forest Service.
You inoculating trees and me carving holes in them for bat nesting cavities.

Never a dull moment

 

[Burnham]

Truth.

 

[gf beranek]

Around 02, or so, I took a couple of days to bid a job for cavity nester habitat in Modoc. It was for the FS. Topping pines to 40 ft. stubs and leaving them like that. The trees averaged about 150'.

Originally, when the cavity nester program started, the winning bid was about $60 per tree, and a 3 man crew was knocking out about 30-40 trees a day. Seem lucrative to me, so I went there with Charly Pottorf and Wes Burns to look at the job, and place a bid, which was around $45.00. I thought it was too low. But Charly P wanted to go with it. Anyway, the winning bid 'per tree' was $18.00.

Can you believe it? everything else aside, tossing over 100' of tree off a 40 stub is inherently way dangerous thing to do. Packing tools and doing that 10-15 times per day. For $18.00 per. That wouldn't even pay for the gas, food and lodging to get to the job. I was kind of glad we didn't get it.

 

[Burnham]

Yessir. That is too low.

Of course, I did it at my daily wages as an employee. That wasn't big money, but it was OK...maybe $25 an hour, before deductions...which would work out to about $18 an hour. Gov't supplied transportation/gas/equipment.

I learned a lot doing that topping. It was a good job. My whole USFS career was a good job, really.

 

[Mick!]

Not many can say that.

 

[Burnham]

I've led a very lucky life.

 

[gf beranek]

Was a college degree necessary to get into the FS?

 

[Burnham]

Not totally necessary for a forestry technician, back when I was hired, in the late 1970's. But it helped that I did have a B.S. To be hired as a forester, yes you needed that degree.

See, the FS has a sort of class structure. There are technician series jobs and professional series jobs. An experienced forestry tech like me might know more and have skills that can run circles around a newbie forester, but you can guess who's making more moolah.

It's hard to get very high up in the organization unless you are in a professional series. I was always a technician, although I was qualified for several professional series positions by both education and experience. Doesn't matter, it all depends on the series you are hired in.

I think today one would be very hard pressed to qualify for most USFS jobs, technician or professional, without a college degree.

 

[Burnham]

And I'll remind y'all that I was hired as a seasonal with no rehire rights and no benefits, at first. You had to reapply and compete with other applicants every year.

I did that, working 6-8 months a year for 7 years before a permanent seasonal job with full benefits opening occurred that I applied for and got. Same trajectory for my best friend and wife M.

You had to put in some lean years, most technicians did anyway.

 

[gf beranek]

Made you work harder. And despite the odds you proved to make a career of it. Liking your job has a lot to do with it, too.