I had my first day with the Resource Center yesterday. I’m exhausted. I met with Doug Bruce, whom I still have yet to figure out what exactly his title is, and did some trail work. We went to a parcel of land owned by the Center just off route two headed up the mountain towards NY. It was cold and snowing, well at least not when we got there. After two hours of hiking and reaching the top of all of Berkshire County, it was in fact snowing. Doug and I had a nice chat on the way to Williamstown and I knew from the start he was a guy I would enjoy working with. Doug informed me that this parcel of land was relatively new to the organization much like himself and that we were going to hike the boundary and see what kind of markings the trails had. Resource Center land, like any state park would, is supposed to have clearly defined boundaries for visitors to respect. This new parcel of land however had little to no markings, making it impossible to see where Resource Center land ended and where adjacent property began.
Despite there being no boundary, Doug was quick to dash off into the woods. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in the woods adding to their virility, I was not for one second scared we may become lost or eaten by a bear. I was however quick to realize that my time in the woods had not prepared me to work with Doug Bruce. From the trail head we began a vertical climb up the mountain. When I say climb, I mean to imply that I huffed and puffed as I walked delicately up the seemingly never ending mountain. Doug meanwhile, was moving like a mountain goat. An in shape individual who explores parcels of mountains for a living Doug moved up the mountain like a man-goat. While I dragged behind, he walked with his hands in his pockets taking in all the splendor around him. Ten minutes into our walk I was convinced that I had already earned an A in Environmental history as it was quickly turning into a boot camp.
Despite the terrible walking uphill in the snow, it was enjoyable to see the land that the Resource Center owned. It was a beautiful piece of land open to hunters and hikers alike and it was our job to try and figure out where these people could go on the property. After many hours of wandering Doug and I came to a conclusion, there was a lot of boundary work to be done in this place! It was quickly decided rather than spends hours accomplishing little we would do some trail maintenance. Personally I have always been a big fan of physical labor over things like hiking with man-goats, so the prospect of moving wood and cutting things was a big delight for me. Cutting wood and clearing trails are jobs I have done before (even though I would never admit to Doug that operate a four wheeler) and the work was rather refreshing compared to a typical classroom setting. After a few hours in the woods my first day was over. I came home happy to have found a place to volunteer at that I could actually contribute to in some capacity and I also found myself ecstatic that it would be at least another week and a half before I had to chase my new sherpa friend up a mountain again.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
meeting my internship
For my first journal entry I suppose it would only be appropriate to describe what organization I will be mini-interning with and what I will be doing with these people. I chose the Berkshire Natural Resource Center as my place to volunteer, initially I was not quite sure what these people did but through their website I was able to understand that they manage private lands for public use. I called up the Resource Center and the first person I talked with was absolutely befuddled by my request. Initially the person I spoke to asked me several questions; why are you doing this? what do you want to do for us? what special talents do you have? After replying “I dunno!” to all of the aforementioned questions the person I spoke with finally asked “do you know anything about the outdoors or computers?” Finally a question I could answer, I love the outdoors, hunting and fishing are my favorite pastimes. Thanks to this response I was assigned the duty of “trail work.”
Obviously I had no clue at the time what trail work entailed, I imagined a machete and a safari hat which I would later learn that I would not receive. Before I get into the theatrics that were my first day of doing trail work, a topic worthy of its’ own journal entry, I must first describe my initial reaction to the people at the Resource Center. The man I first spoke with, while confused as to my motives was very pleasant and patient. The man who I was referred to from this mystery phone man, Doug Bruce, also seemed like a great guy over the telephone. The first question I asked Doug once we decided that outdoor work was the best way to get anything accomplished by me was “What do you people do at the Resource Center?” Doug proceeded to basically summarize the Resource Center in the following way “we’re like a state park system but it’s private land.” What this means is that the Resource Center takes privately owned land and buys the conservation restrictions to the land. In state parks the state decides what can and cannot be done on the state land. The Resource Center buys conservation restrictions, or has them donated and opens private land up for public use and determines what can and cannot be allowed on their parcels of land.
From there I had two questions, first, why would anyone want the Resource Center to tell them what can and cannot be done on their land? The reason if I may paraphrase Doug is that if you sell the resource center a conservation restriction you get money and a tax break. Also people will donate land just to make sure it is preserved for the good of the Berkshires. Secondly I needed to know what can and cannot be done on Resource Center land. The can do’s on Resource land involve hiking, hunting, fishing, timbering and farming (with the Resource Center’s permission of course of timbering and farming.) The do not’s involve off roading (Jeeps, 4-wheelers etc.), dumping garbage and camping. The mission of the Berkshire Natural Resource Center is to protect the Berkshires for the public to use in generations to come. After talking with some people within the organization I was eager to begin my mini internship.
Obviously I had no clue at the time what trail work entailed, I imagined a machete and a safari hat which I would later learn that I would not receive. Before I get into the theatrics that were my first day of doing trail work, a topic worthy of its’ own journal entry, I must first describe my initial reaction to the people at the Resource Center. The man I first spoke with, while confused as to my motives was very pleasant and patient. The man who I was referred to from this mystery phone man, Doug Bruce, also seemed like a great guy over the telephone. The first question I asked Doug once we decided that outdoor work was the best way to get anything accomplished by me was “What do you people do at the Resource Center?” Doug proceeded to basically summarize the Resource Center in the following way “we’re like a state park system but it’s private land.” What this means is that the Resource Center takes privately owned land and buys the conservation restrictions to the land. In state parks the state decides what can and cannot be done on the state land. The Resource Center buys conservation restrictions, or has them donated and opens private land up for public use and determines what can and cannot be allowed on their parcels of land.
From there I had two questions, first, why would anyone want the Resource Center to tell them what can and cannot be done on their land? The reason if I may paraphrase Doug is that if you sell the resource center a conservation restriction you get money and a tax break. Also people will donate land just to make sure it is preserved for the good of the Berkshires. Secondly I needed to know what can and cannot be done on Resource Center land. The can do’s on Resource land involve hiking, hunting, fishing, timbering and farming (with the Resource Center’s permission of course of timbering and farming.) The do not’s involve off roading (Jeeps, 4-wheelers etc.), dumping garbage and camping. The mission of the Berkshire Natural Resource Center is to protect the Berkshires for the public to use in generations to come. After talking with some people within the organization I was eager to begin my mini internship.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Update
Hi all,
I am going to be doing my mini internship with the Berkshire Natural Resource Center.
Well, I decided not to do a journal entry last week as I had yet to meet with the Resource Center people but I had my first experience today, working closely with Doug Bruce from the Center. We cleared some trails and hiked around the mountains on Resource Center lands. I am too exhausted to actually write the journal entries at this point but I will most certainly have journal entries posted by the end of the week.
I am going to be doing my mini internship with the Berkshire Natural Resource Center.
Well, I decided not to do a journal entry last week as I had yet to meet with the Resource Center people but I had my first experience today, working closely with Doug Bruce from the Center. We cleared some trails and hiked around the mountains on Resource Center lands. I am too exhausted to actually write the journal entries at this point but I will most certainly have journal entries posted by the end of the week.
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