#conservation work

i love seeing your updates on the red wolves, it’s sad how little there are at the moment, i hope the population continues to be conserved well and they live well

and again thanks for sharing those cute baby photos omggg <3

i don’t even know where i was going with all this lmao sorry

I’ll be completely honest and say I’m still in the trenches with getting into conservation work. it’s a very difficult field to get into just due to the limited jobs and very low pay. Once I went out and met a lady with a doctorate in biology working at a red wolf sanctuary and living in an RV out in the parking lot. It’s rough. I do this work because I can’t see myself being happy doing anything less.

The advice I can give is just go meet the people doing the kind of work you want to do, and ask them directly what you need to do to get a job there. Find the zookeepers, ask the tour guides, seek out the teachers. It can give you a lot of valuable information about what local resources there are, how the employees got to that point, and exactly how hard it was to find work. Every area is different and there is no one size fits all advice for this kind of stuff. Go volunteer if you can, donate and visit public organizations and reputable zoos frequently, muck stalls, ask questions, just do something to get yourself out there.

I am not an academic person by any means (dropped out of college) however, MOST decent paying jobs in that field require just any kind of biology or environmental sciences degree. food for thought 🤷 I dunno

Anywho, Im glad people appreciate my wolf updates hehe 𐔌՞, ,՞𐦯 I can do more if anyone’s genuinely interested

It is sad that their population is so low, but it’s been encouraging over the years to watch it grow. I love these pups so it makes me happy to see others seeing and lovin em too. I appreciate the well wishes for my species!

Of course! :) A lot of the work I've done has been in either trail maintenance, habitat restoration, or biological fieldwork, with a little bit of outdoor recreation stuff mixed in. Pretty much all of those things (barring the outdoor rec) have been in partnership with or working directly for government agencies (DNR, USFS, BLM, NPS, USFWS, etc.)

Trail work is very trades oriented - you are using tools (generally handtools - especially if you are working in designated wilderness, which prohibits any kind of mechanization) and your body to build effective infrastructure that will last a good, long time. Project work covers a huge range - brushing trail, digging tread, building structures, fence repair, rock work/wall building, etc. Often you have to work with natural materials on the project site, because hauling in lumber or stone is not feasible. It's hands-on & technical work, and it needs a lot of creativity! Your end goal is that no one knows you were there at all, because your work blends seamlessly into the landscape. A lot of people who hike or mountain bike don't realize how much effort and complexity it takes to maintain a trail! It's a very secret service, & I think there's something really beautiful in that. It's dirty, hard work, and you'll very likely go long periods without access to service or utilities (lots of treating/filtering your own water, camp-cooking your meals, showering in the creek, and sleeping on the ground).

The habitat restoration I've done has generally involved the removal of invasive plants & the planting/seeding of natives. This is also pretty intense physical work! You might have to get certified/trained in working with herbicides, which are sometimes a necessary tool in fighting invasive plants. Hack-splash or drill-fill are the most commonly used herbicide techniques in restoration, because broadcast dispersion is considered a last resort. That involves individually treating each invasive plant with herbicide, using minimal amounts and concentrations to limit the effect on the surrounding ecosystem. The two biggest restoration projects I've worked on are the re-planting of disturbed alpine meadows (50K plants in about six weeks) and the removal of invasive coconut monocultures from native rainforest (hacking down palms with a machete, and spraying/injecting the cut stump with a small amount of herbicide to prevent it from coming back).

My biological fieldwork has been mostly marine-oriented - I've done a lot of work with seabirds, as well as coral reef survey & tagging sharks, mantas, tuna, and dolphins. My seabird work involved monitoring nesting colonies (counting babies, tracking growth) with some tagging, banding, and sample collection as well. The seabirds I worked most with were several different booby species, Greater Frigatebirds, Red & White-tailed Tropicbirds, noddies (both black and brown), & terns (white & sooty). Most of the marine tagging I did was using handline fishing techniques, and required me to have a lot familiarity with/certifications for boat operation & seamanship. Biological fieldwork has definitely been lower labor-intensive than trail work or restoration, but still requires a lot of hiking & hauling gear around remote (& sometimes treacherous) terrain! You will also have really intimate exposure to animal bodies and death, and will probably (definitely) get pooped on/thrown up on/bled on at some point.

As a new documentary reminds us, the UK is one of the world’s most nature depleted nations. These projects are aiming to turn the tide

For what will perhaps be his last on-location documentary series, veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has turned his attention to the wildlife found on home turf, the British Isles. 

As television goes, Wild Isles is a triumph, presenting viewers with an intimate portrait of iconic species and glorious panoramas of cherished landscapes. But behind the cinematic scenes is a story of decline. “Though rich in places,” warns Attenborough, “Britain as a whole is one of the most nature-depleted places in the world.”

From habitat loss to sewage discharge, pesticide use to poor land management, the reasons for the decline are many and varied. But across the country, grassroots groups are rallying to turn the tide. Here are some of the projects looking to make Britain a wild isle again.  

Most of my day was spent on foot replacing the winter kill on an erosion control project we planted last year. This little river is the culprit of eating everything around it. She's not a fast or mighty river, but a slow old soul who will nibble at the banks till they collapse. We've had an exceptional dry year so far, so it's pretty shallow right now. We have multiple tree lines on either side of the river, unfortunately the west side of the river didn't fair winter well and roughly 200 odd saplings had to be replaced on that side. (This planting had a mix of cottonwood and lilac to stabilize the bank.)

Also confused at WHY there was a random boxelder in the cottonwood row? Like nursery people? You messed up a little bit on one of our bundles of stock. Haha. Oh well, he was still alive, minus a little winter burn. I left him in the row. Random odd guy out, but he's good. Spacing is simalar to cottonwood, so he'll be fine where he is.

On the east side of the river, the land owner keeps some of his cows. Can you tell the wind never stops blowing in North Dakota? This is actually a natural phenomenon you see everywhere here, if I'm not mistaken the actual "scientific term" is called creep and slump, no joke. Pretty scientific sounding, huh? Phone poles, trees, fences, older buildings, ect will always be leaning because of the constant wind. Which yesterday, we were working in 20mph winds with 30mph gusts. (Our prevalent winds are from the north and from the west. This fence was affected by the west prevalent wind. The winds are a major key in how we plan plantings.)

Also, back from the west side of the river. The find of the day was a broken arrowhead! (Also collected a busted up coyote skull. But didn't take a picture of that.)

Just from a different planting we did later in the day, this was a government funded windbreak. Again, just replacing winter kill. The row we were working on was of oak, which it did surprisingly well considering oak are difficult to establish. They require specific care before they can even go into the ground. (You need to "sweat" your oaks before being planted.) I didn't take a picture of the row we were working on, but of the hills in the background. The camera didn't do them justice, but they're one of my favorite parts about living where I do. The hills are home to vast natural Bur Oak and Aspen forests.

Here, I went and stole some pictures off of one of our tourism pages. Here's a better picture of the hills. (Not mine, but from a public website.) So yeah, I get to see this on my daily drive, haha. So whoever tells you North Dakota is flat, and has no trees obviously hasn't been off the main highways.

A short film from the 2004 season illustrating the finds registration process of identifying, cleaning, measuring, recording, photographing the finds and finally entering those details into a database.