Arapahoe and Roosevelt NF
Hey all, I thought it would be a good thing to talk about my experience working for the United States Forest Service in Colorado in the summer of 2019. I have spent an extended amount of time in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests on the noxious weeds crew. This forest is in northern Colorado, in the same valley as Winter Park, Grand Lake, and the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.
I applied for a USFS job in October of 2018 in hopes of getting a summer gig somewhere beautiful. In April of 2019, I got a call for an interview, and I got the job! I was super excited, and, after my spring semester, I packed up my things and moved on out to my 1920’s cabin on Shadow Mountain Reservoir. It was employee housing, and it was definitely nothing special, but the views were great.
I started a week later as a Biological Science Aid. This is pretty much a fancy way of saying “weed sprayer.” I knew this from the start, and I was just excited to be doing some sort of work maintaining a healthy forest. They quickly got to teaching me about noxious plants, chemicals we use, and how to operate our equipment. I also got my uniforms and PPE. The first few days, they put me on my ATV, let me get used to driving it with huge tank on top of it (which makes it quite top heavy when full), and we made sure my spray backpack was in working order.
I was so excited for this summer, and I could not have been happier with where I was. It was a dream to be living in the mountains, on a lake, in a forest. It wasn’t long before we started our daily routine.
My first ride on an ATV!
In the first two weeks or so of starting, I got re-certified in First Aid and CPR, and I got Chainsaw Certified! It was such an awesome experience, and I was so lucky to be given that opportunity by the Forest Service. We learned about the logistics of felling trees, how to ensure our safety, and how to maintain our saw. After the classroom portion was over, we spent a few days actually felling, bucking, and limbing trees. I had to use the saw that belonged to the weeds crew, which happened to be a huge saw (a Stihl MS 441, in case you were wondering). By the end of the two days, I could barely use my hands, and they hurt so bad. My hands hadn’t had to endure that kind of intensity before. At the end of it all, I came out A Sawyer Certified, which was pretty cool to me.
As someone once said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Hands in the air if you love the Lorax…
Along with my work on the forest, I also bartended at a restaurant on Lake Granby. I actually, really, really, liked bartending. I had a great view out of my windows, and making tips is always great.
I saw my first moose that summer, and I befriended a lot of grazing cows. There were thousands of mushrooms to take pictures of, and I swear I will identify every single one of them once I study mycology.
The entire summer was filled with smacking juniper pollen into the air, eating pb&j’s with my feet in the river on lunch breaks, and looking at my favorite plants and trees. Oh, and picking wild berries.
I have never been so excited for a job, and boy was it a fun job. There was not a single day that was uneventful. I had a great time working with Greg (my supervisor) and Chris, and I had a whole lot of fun goofing off. I loved wearing my awesome sunglasses that Greg seemed to hate, and bothering him about smacking juniper bushes with my spray wand.
Example 1 of me goofing off.
Example 2 of me goofing off.
Along with the goofing off however, I did do a lot of work in the backcountry of the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests. Some of the best parts of that job were seeing some of the most awe-inspiring parts of the forest, including aspen too big for me to hug. (But, I’ll be damned if I didn’t try). I was such a lucky girl to be able to sit on my lunch break in such a beautiful place. I will always reminisce on my first summer working in the forest, and I hope I can replicate it.
A huge aspen.
My last day at work!
