I have been a part of many projects since the start of my VetsWork AmeriCorps internship with the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
I’ve marked skid trails for loggers and helped examine tree stands determined for fuels reduction which includes measuring the diameter of the trees. I’ve inspected Packwood Thin Stewardship Units, making sure snags and downed logs were being created to assist habitats for wildlife in the surrounding area.
Snags are created by cutting about ½ an inch to a full inch past the bark so it will snap off naturally and allow insects to make a home inside it. The birds in the surrounding area then eat the bugs therefore enhancing bird activity and food for them.
Downed logs help diversify the wildlife species in the area as well as ecologically enhancing the forested units to the way they were before the section was thinned.
