Youth Conservation Corps Report: Week Four

— from Camryn Thompson and Henry Moe, with Mary Gropp —

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On Wednesday, July 23, OIYCC worked to re-establish six campsites in Moran State Parks’ “primitive” campground. It was rainy and cold, and muddy, but we eventually got the job done. With great difficulty we installed four steel fireplace rings, using sledge hammer and digging bars to get them down into the hard ground, then spread gravel around the rings.

We also put in campsite number posts, which meant learning to use another new tool- the post-hole digger. With lots of help from Park Aid Dominick, and two interns from Friends of Moran, we successfully cleaned up the campsites. We also pulled a large patch of the noxious weed Tansy ragwort. The campground will soon be open to bicyclists and hikers. Park Ranger Al Nickerson said he was very happy with what we got done. “Your work today allows us to check off one project from our large back-log”.

The next day, the OIYCC gathered at the Orcas Fire Hall, where we spent the morning learning about different kinds of energy. The San Juan County Conservation District sponsored this day, and lined up Doug Poole and Chom Greacen of Lopez Island to teach us about what electricity is, how it is used in our homes and buildings, and what we can do to conserve energy.

At the end of the morning we walked to OPAL Commons, and did an “energy inspection” of a vacant house. We went up into the attic, and then put on full protection to go into the crawlspace, to inspect the insulation. We also looked at all the different appliances in the house, like the refrigerator and the oven, and figured out what kind of energy they use (electricity or propane).

Thanks to Chom and Doug, we finished inspecting the home in a timely manner. Our assignment over the weekend is to do an inspection of our own homes, to figure out if they are energy efficient.