To start this off, I have been busy with trainings. I started working on my fire quals to jumpstart a future position working with fire support as a Geographic Information Systems Specialist. I realized if I knock these out during the RA term, I will have a head start on starting a task book once I become a fulltime FS employee. Additionally, it has been full steam ahead working on my associate degree to try to complete that by the end of my term. I have also been able to attend a bear spray training so that I can carry and use bear spray in the forest if the need arises, I am hoping to not have to use it, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
During the month of May, I had the opportunity to spend some time working with the California Army National Guard and realized quickly that my experiences with the Forest Service are playing a significant role in my position in the Guard. During this time, I was designated as the Quality Assurance for the road we were building or the US Army Corps of Engineers contract. It was helpful to have the experience inspecting roads and working on contracts and contract inspections to provide feedback on the progress of our work to leadership.
As the summer season has arrived, field work has ramped up and so has contract work. I have been busy working on field testing and verifying all the field maps I had previous created. I have been able to identify key features that needed to be updated to make it more user friendly as well meet my intent for data collection. I have worked alongside the Trails and Signs crews and the engineering team to consolidate feedback to better assist them for the collections. Additionally, I provided a field training to the Trails crew on how to use field maps while they are out on the Forest. I have been out on the forest multiple times a week to conduct inspections and surveys including a forest-wide bridge maintenance contract, parker bridge replacement contract, annual road condition surveys, and facility condition surveys that are on a 5-year rotation.
Looking at the next couple of months, I will be conducting more surveys and inspections for the current projects. I will start to input the field data that was collected into NRM for annual reporting. I will also start working on some survey and design projects to start building out future contracts. Last but not lease, I will be getting the opportunity to attend the ESRI User Conference in San Diego! I am looking forward to providing an update after all of this on my next post!
The photo is of the most recent inspection of the Parker Bridge Replacement Contract as they prepare the forms to pour the concrete abutments!