We are staying at the Wellpinit fair grounds for this leg of the trip. We arrived around 9:30pm and started to set up camp. Our hosts were very generous and offered to buy us all Arbys for dinner. We had one van pick up all of the food so the rest of us could meet Warren Seyler (BPA Coordinator) at our campsite. He let us in, showed us around. It was really dark and there were quite a few mosquitos, so I wanted to get my tent set up quickly. When the van with the food arrived I was still setting up and while they were passing out food, I decided to wait to eat until I was done. Well, once I had finished setting up my tent and went to find my food, my meal was missing :( I don't know if someone ended up eating mine or if it was lost, but for some reason, it really upset me. It was probably the combination of stress and homesickness that sent me over the edge. I didn't blow up at anyone, but I really wanted to go home.
The next morning I was feeling better. We headed to the fair grounds' stadium seating and met Billy Joe Kieffer (Director for Spokane Tribe Department of Natural Resources), Warren Seyler (BPA Coordinator), John Matt (Heritage Coordinator), Bill Matt (Environmental Officer), Brian Crossley (DNR for Spokane Tribe Program Manager), Casey Flannigan (DNR for Spokane Tribes Project Manager), and Brent Nichols (Program Manager for Lake Roosevelt Fisheries). They spoke to us about invasive species, salmon restoration, and wildlife projects around the area.
After that we drove to meet Candice Bennett (Wildlife Biologist for Spokane Tribes). She took us out into the field and showed ud a techniqie called "Track Platting". Track platting is a way for her to determine what small carnivores are in the area. To do this, she baits one end with chicken and on the bottom plate, there is a layer of soot followed by a piece of lightweight track paper. This allows her to see the foot prints of the animals and from there she can identify the species.
There was a crew of photographers from Heritage University that had instructions to take pictures of the environmental science and environmental studies majors. Thats me. I had paparazzi!! It felt odd to be constantly photographed and I sometimes found myself posing.
After we saw the track plate demonstration, we headed to a small picnic site next to Shimican Creek. The tribal members provided us an excellent lunch of hamburgers, chips, and salads.
Once we finished eating, we got to shock fish to monitor the species in the stream!! SO. MUCH. FUN!!!
Later we went down to a section of Lake Roosevelt, where we were provided a delicious meal of salmon, chicken, corn, and potato salad. We got to go swimming and also heard stories from some tribal members.
Overall, it was definitely my favorite day so far. The Spokane Tribe offers many internships, and I plan to look into them in the future.
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