Pit falls

By: Kelsey Brock

So, here we are, three projects in. One of these projects was an invasive species clearing in Lac Qui Parle State Park for the DNR Parks and Trails. This involved clearing out a section of Black Locust trees that were invading in on the area. The majority of these were relatively smaller trees, and of course tangled with some buckthorn, everyone’s favorite.

The downsides to the project:
•It was (and is) somehow still snowing, and I’m personally very upset about this. Yes, I’m aware this is Minnesota, but that’s not a very good excuse if you ask me.
•Because it had snowed, the melting ice underneath was covered up, which then lead to me falling into a pit.
•It was cold. Again, the snow is to blame for this.

But then we have the upsides to the project:
•Getting experience working with a species most of us hadn’t before
•Getting a good laugh following my fall into the pit, as our crew leader asked how I fell into it…and then proceeded to fall into it exactly the same way. That’s 2 points for the pit.
•Building a snowman and snow angel on our breaks to make the best of the snow situation
•Still getting a ton of work done despite being down a saw, and ending the week having transformed the site

Some important lessons to learn from this would be to always double check that you brought an extra chainsaw along, always bring a boot dryer on the off chance that you get taken down by a pit, and find ways to embrace bad weather conditions.

I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the Montevideo locals:
“I ain’t smart, but that is dumb.”
(Assume a heavy southern accent of course)