Welcome back to another blog from the San Juan mountains. This past month most of my work has been in the office focusing on Outfitting and Guiding bills, administering new permits, and scheduling and organizing recreation events this summer. It is an exciting time of year for Special Uses as we have a lot going on. We must ensure that our guide companies have updated guide lists with current certifications, up to date insurance, as well as estimated use for the upcoming summer. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to go into the field with the Developed Recreation crew on the Columbine district to clear some hazard trees from the campgrounds before they are open to the public. I have had several years of experience running and operating chainsaws, and I am an A- felling and B- bucking sawyer. The grades for a sawyer are rated through A, B, and C qualifications. As you receive more training and experience you progress through these different levels of qualifications through tests in the field ran by C sawyers. The tests include cutting several different downed and or standing trees depending on the certification, that range in difficulty according to the level being tested. As it stands, I do not have much need to take any sawyer tests currently as my A- felling and B- bucking seem to qualify me for any cutting I need to do currently. For the hazard tree removal, we went up to Lower Hermosa Creek campground, and I mostly did some swamping and a little bit of bucking. Swamping is when you clear the limbs or debris from the area as another person is doing the cutting. Bucking is cutting up a tree that is already down, including removing branches/taking off all the limbs, and creating small manageable pieces that are easily moved. It was great to get out of the office and work with a different crew for the day, as well as practicing some of my fieldwork skills that I do not get to use as often as I used to.