Within this area, the dominant trees seem to be Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. Whereas the lower ground level is covered with various mosses and emerging fungi such as the White Matsutake and the King Bolete. Male and Common Sword ferns are scattered between trees but tend to congregate near tall standing Devil's Clubs. A strange white fuzz or mold have engulfed some of the white matsutakes but not the kinf boteles. Decaying needles and pineconescover the ground unless they are covered by this unknown shrub-like plant. Douglassquirrels constantly signal each other with a "chipping" sound while cascade frogs communicate from one wet patch to another. This area is very moist and allows vegetation to flourish. Birds also constantly "cherp" and communicate with different frequencies and sounds. As I ventured further into the watershed I noticed a loud thumping sound much like someone hammering nails into a piece of wood. Then I looked closer to find an adult pileated woodpecker hunting for larva in a decaying tree trunk. While I moved on and continued to walk, I saw dozens of chipmunks scurrying across the path and up various trees and branches while performing a symphony of high pitched squeaks.
During my time in this forested area I thought about what made me want to strive to be involved with an environmental career and all I thought about was my time in boy scouts as a kid. I have been a boy scout all of my life and just achieved the Eagle ranking this year. It took a lot of hard work and dedication but I must say it taught me so much about nature and what I need to do to preserve and protect it. I have been on numerous backpacking trips throughout my life but nothing will compare to my experience in Cimarron, New Mexico. I traveled to New Mexico with a small group of my friends from boy scouts and we created a venture crew for this trip. Our task was to hike 110 miles over a course of two weeks in the high elevations of New Mexico. While on this trek we saw vast amounts of wildlife and untouched land with no human contact. Various small birds and chipmunks would have no problem trying to steal our freeze-dried meals and snacks but we adapted to put an end to their theft spree. The weather was always beautiful until four o'clock rolled around and then dark clouds would emerge. We were stuck in lightning storms each afternoon and we would reach our destination completely soaked and miserable. But I was never mad or frustrated after the first couple of times dealing with this demonstration of mother nature because I knew every living organism in the environment I was in had to deal these storms each day and would have to survive on their own. That is when I realized the resiliency and determination of nature and I then compared myself to these non-human beings. We are much different in respects to appearance, but our desires for
food, water, safety, and the avoidance of pain are much too similar. This realization has pushed me to take a step back and question what I believe in and what other humans believe in when compared to other creatures. By taking the time to analyze myself and question my beliefs, it has allowed me to see all creatures as equals instead of a lesser being. Since I've realized this, I have been more and more interested in our environment and the creatures that inhabit it and want to pursue a career in environmental sciences. I feel like it is my duty and reason in life to try as hard as I can to save as many species as possible to maintain biodiversity in this world as well as allowing future generations of humans to witness the beauty of nature that captured my imagination and passion. We all live on this planet together, so we might as well help each other.
