Storms move quickly in southeastern Montana. Sometimes I'm surprised by how fast they travel.
Friday we were out scouting the sites for Conservation Days, which is an event sponsored by the office I administer. We bring 5th and 6th graders from all of the schools in the county to three locations where they spend a day with us. We break them up into groups and hold 25 minute sessions on archeology, soil science, water quality, forestry, surveying, range and wetlands or wildlife, depending on the location and instructors available. The groups and their team leaders go from station to station, learning about conservation. It is a very popular event and one that we try to sponsor every year.
Friday we were out scouting the sites for Conservation Days, which is an event sponsored by the office I administer. We bring 5th and 6th graders from all of the schools in the county to three locations where they spend a day with us. We break them up into groups and hold 25 minute sessions on archeology, soil science, water quality, forestry, surveying, range and wetlands or wildlife, depending on the location and instructors available. The groups and their team leaders go from station to station, learning about conservation. It is a very popular event and one that we try to sponsor every year.
Our task for the day was to travel around the county, check the three sites for access and determine what we needed to do to prepare for the students arrival. In the morning we went to the site closest to our office. That is where I found this wonderful tree.
This is a photo of the trunk. I wonder what caused it to do this? Lightning? Very large termites? Laser beams from outer space? Any guesses?
After lunch we went out to the more distant sites.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm the coordinator of a watershed group. The people in the group all live along Rosebud Creek which is pictured above. I took this picture on our site inspection tour, near one of our sites.
As we left Rosebud Creek, clouds started building.
The third and final site location was at Crazy Head Springs, which is located between Ashland and Lame Deer, MT in southeastern Montana. The recreation area is located on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. It is a wonderful place, with a great diversity of flora and fauna; perfect for Conservation Days. The red winged blackbird, pictured above, was one of many that flitted around the ponds in the area.
We were at the last site for less than an hour and then it started to get windy and cloudy.
We left Crazy Head Springs and headed north. The cloud appeared to be centered directly over Forsyth.
This is what greeted us upon our return to the office.
Has anyone seen my canoe?
