Hello blog readers...

After a busy 2013 summer season with the 2013 Hat Creek Youth Initiative, the fun didn't end! Some students opted to continue engaging with the Hat Creek Restoration Project and Natural Resources by completing their Senior Project with California Trout. Dylan Spooner at Burney High School was one such individual and opted to help out the program by adding new photo-points to the collection of photos taken by the HCYI crew this summer.

Please read on below from Dylan to learn about Photo-point monitoring and what he did for his Senior Project:

Photo-Point Monitoring

            Photo points are general view pictures which are used for documenting and evaluating changes in an area over time. In the case of Hat Creek, I have assisted in performing photo point monitoring to document certain sections of Hat Creek before and after the full-scale restoration project. By committing time to taking these photographs, people will be able to clearly compare the effects of the Hat Creek Restoration Project on the specific sections that were worked on. Exact information about how, where, and when the picture was taken is required to provide an accurate location description for the future “after” photos to be taken. It is important to try and frame the exact same scene in both the before and after photos so a direct comparison can be made in the future. Details such as the type of improvement, degrees of orientation, time that a photo was taken, are all necessary to provide an exact description of the framing in the photograph.

            When the Hat Creek Youth Initiative first started in June, the crew’s first task was to take various photo points of different areas that would be improved by the restoration project. Each photo point location was marked by a pink flag with the file name written on it. The first feature we were to photograph was the new Carbon bridge location. This bridge would connect both the left and right banks of Hat Creek and allow for a complete trail loop. Another major feature we photographed were areas of proposed large woody debris (LWD) placement. LWD provides shelter and habitat for wild trout in the stream, and is necessary for a healthy fish population. Other areas we took photo points of include trail locations, Duck Island, proposed vegetation plantings, and tributaries. All of these areas will be improved over the course of the restoration project and are important to monitor and document to allow for a future comparison of the effects after the completion of the restoration.

            For my senior project, one of my tasks was to take more of these photo points in areas not captured during the summer. The purpose for adding more is due to the finalization of the Hat Creek Restoration proposal. As the project becomes closer to actually starting, there is a better picture of where certain improvements will be made. Duck Island was important to photograph in more detail since there will now be vegetation planted there. There is also a clearer understanding of where LWD will be added in Hat Creek, so these areas needed to be photographed as well. Another important feature that was not photographed at all during the summer initiative was the proposed area of a new parking lot. The old Carbon parking lot may be replaced by one further away from the stream bank, allowing people to walk into the area more easily. I took photo points of the old Carbon parking lot, the road leading to it, and possible locations of the new parking lot. These pictures will allow for easy comparison of the conditions of each location in the future after the restoration project.                                                                             

 

 Detailed descriptions of how, when, and where each photo point is taken is critical for the future photo points to be replicated exactly as the ones that were recently captured. Degrees of orientation, photo height, tilt, time taken, weather, and the feature being photographed are all important to include in a data sheet for each photo point taken. The name of the picture file is also very important to note. The photo has to be designated a unique name so it can be easily found and organized for later use. It also allows the picture to be easily aligned to the information sheet. A scene description is another important factor for photo point monitoring. This is useful for helping someone who may be replicating the photographs after the restoration project to understand what the photograph is trying to capture. Descriptive and clear information is just as important as the actual image is photo point monitoring.

            Photo point monitoring allows easy documentation of specific affected areas to be used in before and after comparisons. The photo points taken at Hat Creek recently will be used to compare the before and after effects of the Hat Creek Restoration Project. Many areas such as LWD placements, vegetation sites, and walking trails need to be documented in their current state so the changes made by the restoration project can be clearly observed and studied. The information provided from photo point monitoring will not only allow for comparison of Hat Creek conditions after the current restoration, but it can also help to study what aspects of the project showed significant improvements, and which ones showed little to no improvement. Future restoration projects on Hat Creek on anywhere else can be improved by studying the before and after effects of this current restoration, which is why photo point monitoring is an important part of this project.

 -Dylan

Senior Project- Forest Inventory at Hat Creek

Hello, 

My name is Clay Brock I am a senior at Fall River Jr. Sr. High school. I am doing my senior project with California Trout. A senior project is a requirement to graduate from Fall River High school. It involves 20 hours of volunteer work and has to do with something that helps out the community. My senior project is with Cal Trout and I am continuing with the work that I did this summer as part of the Hat Creek Youth Initiative. I worked for the Hat Creek Youth Initiative for 8 weeks and completed pre-project monitoring for the restoration project at Hat Creek. 

For my senior project,  I am doing Riparian Forest inventory quality control and double checking the plots that we completed this summer. Forest Inventory gives us an idea of what type of trees, how old they are and how big they are that are in a certain area. We did forest inventory plots on the Right stream-bank of Hat Creek from Wood Duck Island to Hwy. 299 Bridge. 

How we took data for the forest inventory was we first measured the Diameter at Breast Heights (DBH)and then determined the species of the tree. If the tree was a Conifer and had a diameter larger than 4.5 inches then we would take a core sample to tell how old the tree was. After all of this we would then find the height of the tree by either using a clinometer or a laser. We counted all of the trees within a 1/10^th acre plot that had a diameter greater than 1” and were taller than 4.5’ high. 

 

We completed 13 plots during the Hat Creek Youth Initiative. Doing Riparian Forest inventory quality control double checks the data that has already been taken and makes sure there were no mistakes.  I helped quality check 20% of the plots completed by the HCYI. I chose to do this as my senior project/summer job because I found it to be beneficial for a career path further down the road. It also looks good on resumes. I enjoyed this summer and learned very useful information and I hope to be back at it next year. 

Thanks, 

Clay Brock

HCYI's Forestry Tour with W.M.Beaty & Associates

Hat Creek Youth Initiative's Student Blog: Cody McCann

My name is Cody McCann. I am 16 years old and will be a junior at Fall River High School. My interests involve football, hunting, fishing and target shooting. I applied for this job at CalTrout because I thought that it would be a good experience and it's better than mowing lawns all summer! On July 31, we went to a timber sale for a Forestry tour. 

Our tour guide was Sarah Oldson, a Staff forester from W.M. Beaty & Associates. She brought us to the timber sale, but before we got to see the action she took us to a road off of Highway 89 and showed us how to identify some of the trees in the area. Sarah also taught us how to take the height and diameter of a tree using a clinometer and tape measure (D-tape). When we went to the timber sale, which was located between Burney and McCloud off of Highway 89, we saw come cool machines that they use. Some of the machines were the loader, processor, skidder, the saw, transportation trucks and the Cat's, or in other words, Dosers. The saw was able to cut down a tree with a two foot diameter within less than two seconds! At the timer sale we interacted with Sarah, Tim Ferreira a Licensed Timber Operator with Timberland Logging, and Pete Johnson a Registered Professional Forester with W.M.Beaty & Associates. They were logging multiple types of trees, but they were mainly trying to get Cedar and Douglas-Fir because those are the trees that are worth the most money.

I thought that seeing the timber sale and some of the machinery was kind of cool. I learned that there is more to the timber sale than what I thought. I originally thought that they just picked an area and clear cut the whole thing, but they take species of animals, water, and historical sights into consideration. What surprised me most, though, was how fast it took the saw to cut down a bit, thick tree. I would like to thank Sarah, Tim, and Pete for taking their time and patience to show us the timber sale.

The forestry tour, overall, was a good experience for us to observe. I have had a good summer being able to work outside and interact with new people. I may use some of the skills I learn over the summer in the future and I might end up doing this job again next summer since I hear there will be more manual labor involved. 

Thanks,

Cody McCann