Let’s continue with my biological work at the Lake Tahoe Basin. Conducting habitat inventories required the use of quad maps and aerial photos of the project area, and a compass to get from point A to point B. Once at the starting point of a previously determined transect route a 37.5′ radius circle was laid out and a survey was conducted. Data collected during the survey began with the identification of all tree species which often required an inspection of the bark, needles and pine cones. It was a good thing most of the pines were Jeffrey pines and not ponderosa pines. Gentle Jeffrey cones can be painlessly rolled between your hands while prickly ponderosa cones will leave you regretting that maneuver.

The diameter-at-breast-height (dbh) of each tree was collected. How did I do that? With a measuring tape that constantly got covered with sap/pitch? No, I measured the diameter of each tree using something similar to a yardstick (Biltmore stick). A Biltmore stick is calibrated into dbh inches. When the stick was held up to a tree at breast-height and I closed one eye the measurement of the tree diameter could be determined. In this way I could measure the trees in an expeditious manner and not spend all day in the same place. Not only that but after a while it was easy to visually estimate many of the tree sizes without using the stick. I was so good!

Now collecting tree height was straight forward. Luckily I did not have to climb every tree with a tape measure or guess the height since that was not very scientific. So, I used an instrument called a clinometer. Works great and my feet never left the ground. I could just hold the clinometer up to my eye, look at the top of a tree and get a height measurement. The clinometer was used in a similar way to collect percent slope looking uphill or down. Canopy cover on the other hand was a bit more challenging. To keep from boring you to tears let me just say that a handheld concave mirror was used, dots were counted, a minor math calculation was made, and the percent canopy cover was determined.

The last bit of data collected for each survey point was percent ground cover each of trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses, soil, pine needle duff, rocks, and bare ground. Tony and I worked together to come up with percentages for each ground cover type. In addition, all plant species observed were identified and recorded. Throughout the day all wildlife or their sign was identified and recorded. Bears and pine martens were observed once or twice but as you might guess deer and coyotes were seen more often.

Then there were the birds…singing, nesting, raising their young and foraging for a meal. It was great!! My brand new 10×40 Zeiss binoculars were awesome! I loved to see and hear the western tanager and brown creeper. Although the evening grosbeak was beautiful to the eye and ear too. Actually, all the birds were amazing and I never got tired of hearing or seeing them. Now remember, birds are my thing and I was getting paid to watch birds. I had to keep pinching myself to be sure that it was all real.

Oh, back to the habitat inventories. Once all data was collected at a survey point we were off to the next and so on for the remainder of the day, week, and month. Bored you might ask? No never!! It was an amazing adventure into the forests of Lake Tahoe. Every transect line and survey point was different, some more challenging than others. Now think about the forests of Lake Tahoe they do two things. They go straight up and straight down. Needless to say, I worked hard on the job hiking between 6,400 and 10,000 feet every day. So, I paid the price for all the magnificent views I got. From one day to the next I was observing Lake Tahoe from a different angle or elevation, and the sun was high or the sun was low in the sky. I was in heaven!

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