Back to the Basics

Well. The past two weeks have been an awkward, twisted, stressful journey. I have spent the past weeks designing campaign flyers, applying and interviewing for jobs, and walking around the beautiful bay every night (sometimes more than once depending on how stressed I am and how sunny it is). 
My internship... Oh my internship. My internship has the consistency on a bipolar hyperactive junior high boy. I have spent time designing a super cool campaign flyer, that will be used on Poly's campus in the near future, developing a slide show that is over 200 slides long, and registering voters at Farmers market.... And by "registering voters" I obviously mean, getting yelled at by people of almost every political viewpoint. This week has been more fun than last week though. Every week, I spend three days working for Lois Capps. Last week, I spent three days in the office. This week I spent one day in the office, one night at San Luis Obispo's Farmers market, and on Saturday I get to go up to Paso Robles for a campaign dinner. 
I have loved my transition into Los Osos-Baywood Park. Every day I have a view that  would make a great laptop background picture. I also love the small-town atmosphere. Baywood Park isn't small enough that everyone knows everyone, but it's small enough that everyone is nice to everyone. I have also realized that the only other people walking along the bay, every single are the sixty year old ladies. The ladies who match the mental image associated with the word "Grandma." Today I had almost an hour long conversation with one of these grandmas. Her name is Betty. She lives just down the street from me. She told me all about when she and her husband moved from Virginia to Baywood Park. I also learned in our conversation that she is an avid painter and paints on the same section of beach every day. I also learned that she host a public access television show, on painting, that reaches all of SLO county. 
In the up coming days I am interviewing for three new positions. Tomorrow I interview for a job in Pismo Beach at a restaurant, next Tuesday I'm interviewing to be the Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator for a small family operated solar company in Los Osos, and I also have a phone interview for a paid fund development intern for an after-school program that reaches all of SLO county.
 

            Moved Out and Ready To Start Summer 

WOW! Year one has come and gone. This year I absolutely feel in love with Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo. Last September I was a little nervous packing up my life and driving hundreds of miles away from my friends and family. I expected to make new friends in San Luis Obispo, but I did not expect these people to have as huge of an impact, as they had on my life. This year at Poly, I was so lucky to have a roommate, who was the one of the most selfless people I know and the funnest friends on campus. It was really hard to move out of Fremont Hall, my home for the past ten months. I did not like seeing my favorite people packing up their cars and driving to Montana.

                                              One of my favorite people: My roommate (I'm sorry, My old roommate)                                              One of my Favorite Places: Montana De Oro

Best Friends in the world.

This year was challenging, but it was also extremely rewarding. As it concludes, I am more excited for next September than ever before. I am so very excited an blessed to be serving on the Cal Poly CFFA officer team, the Cal Poly Inter Housing Council Executive Board, and as the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow's 2nd Vice-President. I am a better person today, than I was 10 months ago directly because of these three organizations and I am very excited to invest in these organizations and those who they serve.

Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow I being my first day as a Congressional Intern. I'm really excited that I can finally apply things I've learned as far back as California FFA's Sacramento Leadership Experience to my Cal Poly, California Constitution and Government Course. For many years, I have worked to improve my skills in communications and publicity. This my my opportunity to use this skills in a real world situation. On top of this, I will be working to tie up loose ends on the two, I repeat myself, two part time jobs, I hope to be working.

On top of all of this, I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I can walk just two blocks in multiple directions and be on the beach. One of my favorite places, Montana De Oro State Park is a walking distance away and the Elfin Forest, pirates, elves, farmers, and all, are closer to my house than the PAC was the Fremont Hall.  I have done so much walking today. I feel like a little kid exploring in the back yard. This morning I walked around the Baywood Park Peninsula and this afternoon I walked around Morro Bay almost to MDO.

Exactly Two Blocks Down and One Over From My House.

North Valley Agriculture

Selected Photos from Day One of visiting Cal Poly's building

100 Things To Do Before I Graduate Cal Poly SLO: Visit Every Building on Campus -Day 1

Today a new task made its way onto my running list of thing to do before I graduate from Poly. This afternoon, a friend and I, embarked on a journey to visit every building on our college campus. In the almost five hours we spent discovering our campus, wandering in circles, and walking for miles we found a many hidden treasures on Cal Poly's Campus. From halls we have never seen before, ancient gyms plastered in Cal Poly Football posters, and the Old Power House, the oldest building on Poly's campus and a historic location. The adventures were endless and we only made it 48 of the numerous buildings. Today we experienced Cal Poly's history. We discovered short cuts. We embraced our campus, our home. We found our taking more pictures than the 48 required pictures for this task. Interesting and fascinating views were found around every corner. Today we found an abandon building, a historic location, we befriended some bulls, and talked to the lambs. I'm excited for all the adventures that lay on this in my future.   

Forestry Conservation

 

Forests in the California and North America are in a dire condition. A lack of management has left a great amount of American forests in flames or, even worse, decay. In the midst of this ecological crisis, forestry experts, the general public, and the media agree that our forestlands must be protected.

This apparent consensus on the need for the conservation of our forests can very easily give an optimistic outlook for our forests. However, conditions have not seen improvement- in fact they have worsened. According to the California Forestry Association, there has been a 300 percent increase in Californian wildfires over the past ten years. Today ten million acres and three million homes in California are at a high risk of severe wildfire.

According California State Fire Marshal, Kate Dargan, we have not seen improvement because of a fundamental communication gap between the experts of the forestry industry and the general public. In a video produced by Forests For the Next Century, Dargan observed that the public generally believes that the best way to protect our forests is by doing nothing, however forestry experts, she says, believe that the best way to protect forests is through management.

 As a result of over a hundred years of fire suppression and strict California forestry legislation, such as the Forest Practices Act, California’s forests are extremely dense and over-crowed. Now thousands of trees can be found on acres, which in the past only held 50 to 75 trees.

According Dr. Doug Piirto, the Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department Head at Cal Poly, “too many trees per acre is not healthy”. Research conducted by United State Department of Agriculture Forest Service, has actually gone even further to state that thinning in forest stand can reduce wildfire severity by up to 60 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 65 percent.

These dense forests pose many problems. According to Forests For The Next Century, 74 percent of the 191 million acres of National Forest land is in a serious fire condition. Furthermore, in addition to wildfire concerns, when more trees are growing in an area than the soil can support, these trees will become increasingly stressed – and stressed trees are far more susceptible to incest infestation than healthy stands. These disease and insect infected trees also pose a large threat to global warming, because only one quarter of Carbon Dioxide released into the atmosphere by forests is smoke, the rest is directly because of the decay of trees.

Management is the key to a healthy forest environment. Thinning removes fire ladders-which have only appeared over the past years as a result of increasingly dense stands. Dr. Piirto said that foresters along with other professionals have helped this country become as efficient as it is a fire management.

California has one of the most diverse variety of forest ecosystems, from Coastal Redwoods- the tallest trees, Giant Sequoias- the largest tress, to Bristlecone Pines- the oldest trees. Every forest has different objectives; however management can play a huge role at the success of those objectives. Dr. Piirto participated in conducting a study at Lake Tahoe, that showed land and home had a higher value near forestland that was properly thinned than in areas where it was not.

North American forests are in a huge crisis that affects every person. The solution is also relatively clear. Forestry experts are trained to manage tomorrow’s forest and to meet society’s objectives. However strong negative public opinion towards many logging practices, a fundamental communication barrier, and California’s regulations, that are the strictest in the nation, are all huge obstacles to success.

However, Cal Poly’s Dr. Piirto is an optimist. He puts a considerable amount of faith in the general public of this state. “The California public recognizes that one size doesn’t fit all and the need for a working forest to meet the demands of a growing population” he said. He also said that Californians are smart.

The past ten years have been California’s worst fire years. Yet a considerable shift in the public belief on forestry conservation has not occurred. Dr. Piirto looks to growing concerns over climate change as a possible push towards this change in public opinion. Forestry experts believe they have a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.

 Cal Poly is successful at educating students in this area. In order to become a Registered Professional Forester, or RPF, a forestry professional must have a forestry degree from an accredited university. Cal Poly’s Forestry and Natural Resources major is accredited by the Society of American Foresters and therefore prepares students for a career in managing tomorrow’s forests.

Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch also offers a Forest Stewardship Council certified school forest. Students can learn in true Cal Poly fashion on frequent field trips to the forest, which has profited six million dollars over the course of its operation. Student can also apply management skills on this stand that uses an even age management system. Dr. Piirto also points to the faculty of the department as huge resource. Whether being studies in the area or databases developed by Cal Poly, the faculty has great experience in this area.  

   

   

Agricultural Advocacy

            "I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds." These words mean a lot. This statement is not only the opening line in the creed that outlines the beliefs of the largest youth leadership organization in America, but it also expresses the lifestyle that the over 400,000 FFA members and other supporters of agriculture have begun to lead. My freshman year in high school, these 17 words held little to no significance in my life. This was the starting point of my memorization of the remain five paragraphs of the FFA Creed. Today however, I can proudly say that this simple and yet profound statement accurately sums up my involvement in the agricultural industry.  

          Over the past years, these words have had many different impacts on my life. Throughout my time as an FFA officer at various levels, the FFA creed fueled my passion for investing in the future of agriculture, primarily through the future leaders of the FFA Organization. Later in my life, my belief in this can be seen by enrolling in agriculture education at Cal Poly, and investing my education in this industry. Today, living out my belief in the agricultural industry through my actions, took on a new form. 

            In my opinion, just as important as training and equipping future leaders of the ag industry is effective communication with those who ultimately have a huge influence over the success and future of agriculture. Jim Brock, one of the individuals who made Cal Poly Ag Communications possible once said that the general public and media negatively effected agriculture not because of bias, but because they are ignorant of the fact and realities of agriculture. What makes this statement profound in my mind is that Brock, knew this to be true over 25 years ago. Over the past 20 years the conditions for agriculture in the media and public policy has not gotten any better. Governmental regulation like Prop 2 and a increased presence in the media by HSUS and PETA. The 2% of our population that not only provide food and fiber for the United States, but also the world, has not been properly connected to the public.  

               Today, students dedicated to spreading the message of agriculture, worked across the nation. WTF (Where's The Food, Without The Farmer) Day hit the nation. I represented agriculture with seven other Cal Poly students at UC Santa Barbra, a campus without an agricultural program. The eight of us, had many conversations and provided ways for university students entering the consumer market to identify where the final product in a supermarket actually come from.