A Week in the Life Of A Fuel Crew Member

A Week in the Life of a Fuel Crew Member
Hello parents, friends, and hopefully new, incoming crew members. Well, it’s been over two weeks of learning, exploring, and sharing good times on our chainsaw crew—Oscar Crew. Throughout the past the 18 days we’ve learned how to preform wilderness first aid and CPR, how to eat/sleep/poop in the great outdoors, slept in places with great views and never-ending mosquitoes. Our work mornings start off around 6 a.m. with a variety of breakfast items, some of our favorites being yogurt, Nutella, granola/oats, and then we pack our lunches which consists of sandwiches or still-delicious leftovers from the nights before. We set out to our worksites in our beloved van “Baloo” and start our stretch and safety session, with everyone providing a stretch or cardio activity for everyone to do (one being a dreadful two-minute plank). Afterwards, we suit up in our chaps, gloves, eye/ear/head protection, and check to see if our chainsaws are in working order, which somedays are luckier than others.
Then we hike in our chainsaws, gas/oil, stumping axe and, of course, our lunches and plenty of water for the hot day ahead. Our primary objective has been to eliminate dwarf mistletoe, which has been attacking pine trees and killing them prematurely. After felling trees, limbing the branches off and bucking the tree into log size, we end the workday with a final maintenance and saw cleaning. Then it’s time to eat, with two group members each night having a planned dinner for everyone. At the end of our work week, we have time for our chores such as showers, laundry, and grocery shopping. After that, we can freely plan our weekends, which consist of fun hikes and walking around town and shopping at thrift stores. Recently we attended a rodeo in Granby, which was full of great events and food. Now onward to our next project location to learn something new and help our ecosystem in ways that people under appreciate. Many more laughs and fulfilling labor to come. Signing off…
—Ryan Werder (Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest)