By Brian Colleran
Effectively inventorying the ability of a forest to sequester carbon can be a daunting task, where dealing with unexpected challenges of field work is just part of a normal trip into the forest. During our latest excursion in October, we thought we were ready for anything. We had been to this property before, and had decided upon elegant solutions to all of our common challenges, as well as a few unexpected ones we might face. We had found and mapped out fords to cross the large streams in our way, upgraded our gear to include some logging tools and a protective case for our Trimble handheld computer/GPS receiver, and knew where to go for the best breakfast in north central Maine (Spencer’s Café and Bakery in Dover-Foxcroft, just in case you’re curious). We had even figured out the best way to access hard to reach sample points both within and on the far side of a very large conifer bog: we were going to canoe for 15 minutes and save ourselves an hour of walking in both the morning and the afternoon. It was shaping up to be a really successful field trip. The weather was even forecast to be clear of rain and snow for the week we would be working.
Then, reality set in. Very quickly, we realized that the amount of daylight changes dramatically from September, when we were last in the field, to October. The GPS unit failed on the second day of a seven day trip, resulting in the tech on the help line making a comment along the lines of “Well, can’t say I’ve ever seen this before.”. We had to figure out how to find our way to our predetermined sample points without our GPS, or any sort of effective tools. We had to cross bogs so spongy that it was like walking on an exercise ball for half a mile. I’ve never gotten sore quads from walking, but apparently trekking through the bogs of Maine can do things that even track workouts can’t. In short, it was a phyically and mentally exhausting trip.
The silver lining was fantastic though. We regularly canoed out of the site at sunset, and we saw a huge fish jump out of a still stretch of river during one of these twilight commutes. We wandered through woods so wild and pristine it was hard to reconcile just how close to civilization we were. Large animals passed by us in the brush when we were quiet for long stretches of time. The greatest part might be that carbon forestry work is a very particular kind of conservation work; it is unlike traditional forestry, academic plot establishment, or anything in-between. Therefore, when faced with challenges, our solutions might be entirely novel – we might be the first people doing a particular task. Every time we canoed back, there was a good chance we had tried something new that day. All in all, it is good work.
