The 2020 field season has come to an end for Working Lands Conservation. It was the longest and most productive field season we have ever had. We added new projects, some that we had never tried before and some that hadn’t been done in quite a few years. We also faced new challenges that we had never had to think about before. Needless to say, we learned a lot and we were very excited to switch up the normal routine!

Blue really wanted us to hire him as a crew member

Some highlights from this season:

Witnessing a cow give birth
Otter pops
Learning new plant species
Forming new relationships with collaborators
The friendly neighborhood cat, Blue (AKA Salt, AKA Shelby)

This year, like everybody else, we faced new challenges with COVID-19. We implemented new protocols to prevent the spread on our crew. The biggest change for us was not being able to drive around together in the field truck. If you’ve ever worked on a field crew, you’ll know that long drives in the field truck are where the most team bonding happens. We were sad to miss out on those experiences, but we made up for it with some camping. Not sharing the field truck was also a struggle because sometimes that meant no shade or AC during the hottest days. We did our best to work around it and kept crew spirits high with Otter Pops! That may sound slightly ridiculous to you, but you’d be surprised what a frozen Otter Pop will do to your mood when you’re working outside all day in 85 degrees with no shade… and if you were lucky enough to run into us in the field, we even shared!

Another change for us this year was camping. The Randolph BLM station where we normally stay was torn down and completely replaced by a brand new building. During the first half of our season, they were still finishing the construction, so we camped. We were faced with even more challenges here because that meant no power to charge our devices and no running water. It also left us pretty exposed to the elements, meaning no solid walls during Rich County wind storms and no AC. Lucky for us, we hired some really tough gals that did not mind the rustic living for the work week. And, camping turned out to be one of the safest options for the crew since COVID-19 was uncharted territory! Fortunately, near the end of the season, construction finished on the BLM station and they let us stay in the new state-of-the-art building. This made our lives a lot easier and also a lot more comfortable when it came to field work in October. We will never take running water and a roof over our heads for granted again!

Despite the new challenges, we had one of our best seasons yet! We hired another crew of absolute champs and we were so impressed by how quickly they learned and how easy-going they were as we faced these new challenges. When we hired them all back in February, we had no idea what we would be getting ourselves into this year, but that did not stop this crew from being one of the best crews we’ve had! We are sad for the season to end, but we are SO excited to see what new adventures each crew member goes on next. And for the full-time staff of WLC, it’s time to buckle down to get all of this data analyzed and write some reports. We’ll see you next year Rich County!

And that's a wrap! End of the 2020 Season