Faces of Nature Winter To-Do List

It's that time of year again – the sun has left and we here in the Pacific Northwest are left with a mixture of cold, rainy, slushy and snowy weather. But this is no reason to stop hanging out with nature! We've compiled a list of some of our favorite exciting, creative, adventurous, and fun outdoor winter activities to keep you exhilarated even under gray skies!

Decorate Trees for Birds

A tree decorated with edible treats for birds.
Credit: Debh2u/Flickr Creative Commons

The Fall and Winter seasons bring a number of birds to the Northwest, but sometimes finding food can be harder for birds in the winter. This winter activity is a triple whammy. Start your activity by bird watching. You can visit a National Wildlife Refuge or even view your own backyard to check out what kinds of bird species you can find. Spend some time learning about each one with a friend or family member. Once you're knowledgeable about your local birds, grab some supplies from outside, like pine cones, and gather foods that birds love (peanut butter, fruits, seeds). Choose a tree that you’ve spotted birds in, and start decorating! Use twine to hang peanut butter covered pine cones and fruits from branches. Finally, sit back and watch your neighborhood birds flock in for a sweet treat! Take notes if you see any you recognize!

Check out this great guide to winter bird feeding from the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

Yurt Camping

A yurt cabin, great for winter time camping!
Credit: Justin Miller/Flickr Creative Commons

 

Camping is one of the best outdoor activities for all ages and groups, but tent camping in the winter seasons can get quite rainy and chilly in the Northwest. Instead of tents – look into yurt camping! Yurts are circular structures that are somewhat of a mixture between a tent and a cabin. They have been used for centuries and offer an insulated and weather proof shelter! They have become a popular form of camping in the Pacific Northwest. Check below to find information about yurts in your state parks!

Oregon

Washington

Idaho

Hawaii (you can probably just head to the beach).

Puddle Splashing

Puddle Stomping at Tualatin River NWR
Credit: Tualatin River NWR/USFWS

If it's not snowing here in the winter seasons – it's raining. Heading outdoors only to get soaked is usually no fun, but with the proper gear and planning, getting your boots wet can be a blast. The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) hosts Puddle Stompers each year during Portland’s rainy season where kids and families can visit the refuge geared up for rain (for more information and dates on this year's events please contact the refuge at 503-625-5944). The refuge provides rain gear for the little ones and they are off to make a splash! Find similar programs in your area or get suited up in your own gear and do some splashing in your own neighborhood.

More photos from Puddle Stompers at Tualatin

Snow Animals

A creative way to switch up the ordinary winter snowmen building!
Credit: Ryan Howley/Flickr Creative Commons

If your winter weather is full of snow, try taking that old tradition of snowman building and making it a bit more interesting! Begin by choosing or learning about an interesting animal. Find a photo (or a stuffed animal) of the animal you choose and head outside. Instead of building Frosty, try your hand at building your animal in the snow! Don't forget to also give it eyes, a nose and a mouth in whatever creative way you can think of!

Seasonal Collage

Seasonal photo collage. A great way to be creative in nature
throughout the year!
Credit: Aunt Owwee/Flickr Creative Commons

Begin a year-long photography project that, when finished, will give you a beautiful piece of art to keep for yourself or share with a friend or family member! First, find an outdoor space that you enjoy year-round. Next, gather your artistic tools (camera, pencils paints). Then, head to your chosen location and create your own snapshot of the area at its current stage. Come back again each season to the same location and take a new snapshot. At the end of the year, turn your four snapshots into a beautiful collage of the seasons!

Snowshoeing

Snow shoeing can be a great activity whether out on a trail or in your
own front yard!
Credit: Mel Issa/Flickr Creative Commons

If you love trail hiking, don't let the winter weather get you down. If your favorite trail gets covered in snow this winter, no problem! Many places during the winter will rent out snowshoes and even provide guided trails. Investigate trails near you, you're sure to find one for all different ages and experience levels! Worst case scenario, if you don't want to travel out too far, strap on some snow shoes and take a walk around the block!

If you happen to be in the Leavenworth, Washington area – check out this exciting snowshoeing event at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery!

For the Extreme Adventurers

A fire lookout on Granite Mountain Trail, Washington and shot of
one of the great, scenic views that comes with it.
Credit: Ryan Laferty

Did you know that during the winter seasons the U.S. Forest Service rents out their fire lookouts? Many of the lookouts require a snowshoe hike to get to, and require boiling of snow for safe drinking water. If you are looking to really get away and into nature during the winter, and have a big sense of adventure, this may be your perfect winter activity! For more information on fire lookout rentals, locations and safety tips, please visit the Pacific Northwest Forest Service's site.

We hope you get a chance to try at least one of these winter activities! If you have other ideas, please share with us! And if you do get out to try these, let us know how it went!

A Fishy Halloween

A small group of students gather around raceways at Eagle Creek NFH
in search of swimming fish.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

It's a rainy Halloween day. Six cars slowly approach down the windy roads just outside of Eagle Creek National Fish Hatchery (NFH). As a ten year old, eager to dress up like a princess or superhero, filling pillow cases with candy, the wet pavement, rows of green roofed buildings and a few elongated pools, seemingly not suitable for swimming, may not seem like the best field trip at first glance. But it's what is going on inside of these buildings and dark mysterious concrete pools that trigger the wide-eyed gazes of amazement, a cringe here and there, and a chance to make a new friend in the shape of a tiny, squishy, orange egg.

The students observe coho spawning.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Salmon Watch

This field trip was a part of the newly restored Salmon Watch program, which aims to connect students and teachers with salmon, and other wild fish, in efforts to spark their interest and love for these important species. On this day, coho spawning was taking place at Eagle Creek, surely something these students had never before witnessed.

Some initial reactions to the spawning process from two students who
would later rush to touch one of the adult cohos.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Scary, Exciting Spawning

The tour began with a live viewing of the coho salmon spawning, a process that brings adult fish into the hatchery where eggs are manually collected from the female fish and fertilized by the male fish. Each year, this process allows Eagle Creek to produce 1.4 million coho smolt for the Columbia River Basin. While this process may cause those unfamiliar with it to find themselves a bit squeamish, even the group of girls who at first crinkled up their faces in disgust, were later the first eagerly outreached hands to "pet" one of the coho.

Fascinated by their tiny, unfertilized coho
egg.
Credit: Meghan Kearney

Bonding with Coho

Before leaving the spawning area, the students were all given an unfertilized egg to examine (meaning it, unfortunately for the students, wouldn’t hatch into a coho). Bonds were quickly formed with these "baby fish" and before we knew it, names like "Mr. Squishy" were being thrown around. It was obvious these eggs would go nowhere but home into twenty-five different bowls of tap water. The next stop on the tour took the group into the hatchery building where fertilized eggs are held until hatching and then released into those mysterious concrete raceways. Here, the group learned more about the tiny orange eggs, discovering that soon the eggs in the building would become "eyed," meaning a fish was starting to develop. From the looks on their faces and dedication to observing their eggs, these kids were ready for a fish to sprout up inside of their ziplock bags at any second.

Students excitedly gather around the hatchery's fish
ladder.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

No Ordinary Ladder

Next, it was time for the group to make their way to the fish ladder, a term that kept everyone excited all morning. This was definitely their finale. "Can we climb it?!" asked one of the students. After giggles subsided, the group learned how a fish ladder differed from a human's ladder, and why these ladders were so important to fish. The time finally came for the children to head back to school. A day spent at the seemingly unexciting fish hatchery would now more likely be remembered as nature's Disneyland. Twenty-five children left the hatchery that day, understanding the nature of fish conservation and undoubtedly taking that with them into their future. But more importantly, I knew twenty-five coho eggs that were about to spend their evening Trick-or-Treating.

Check out more photos from this Halloween field trip!

The Cutest Faces of Nature

Because there is nothing better than a cute little animal to brighten everyone's week! Check out these cute baby species, most of which are endangered. Learn more about each one and what is being done to preserve these poster children for the undeniable cuteness of nature! When you’re finished – let us know which ones were your favorites, or if you think you've got a species that is even cuter – share it! Tweet the hashtag #CuteSpecies!

American Pika

Credit: Steve Torbit/USFWS



The American pika's big round ears and chubby cheeks make them one of the cutest species ever! They are extremely sensitive to heat and need to live in temperatures under 77.9 °F

Scientist Says: Though the American pika appears to have no tail, it actually has one of the longest tails of any lagomorph (member of the rabbit family) buried in its fur.

Learn more
More photos

Black-footed Ferret

Credit: Kimberly Tamkun/USFWS

These baby black-footed ferrets (called "kits") can brighten anyone's day. They are definitely one of the cutest species but they are also one of the most endangered species. Over the past years, these cute critters have been reintroduced to 17 different sites across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Scientist Says: The black-footed ferret was once considered extinct until 1964 when a small group was found in South Dakota.

Learn more
More photos

Fact sheet

Pacific Lamprey

Credit: Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

Can you find the cute baby species in this handful of dirt? This cute baby might look like a worm, but it is actually a fish. What you see here is a baby Pacific lamprey – or an ammocoete. These little creatures are the cutest babies you will ever find in Pacific Northwest rivers!

Scientist Says: Pacific lamprey can remain in the ammocoete stage for up to seven years, during which they are deaf and blind!

Learn more via our friend Luna the Lamprey!
More photos

Red Panda

Credit: Jessica Kordell/Smithsonian

The red panda has one of the cutest faces and especially cutest tails out there! Due to deforestation within their natural habitats, these loveable critters are also considered endangered.

Scientist Says: The red panda only grows to the size of a housecat, but their bushy tails grow up to 18 inches and help keep them warm in winter conditions.

Learn more

Northern Spotted Owl

Credit: Tom Kogutus/USFWS

  

Two cute and fluffy Northern spotted owl chicks. These adorable babies are threatened on the Endangered Species list and a top priority for U.S. Fish & Wildlife. They can be found in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
Scientist Says: Spotted owls have an opaque third eyelid called the nictitating membrane which helps clean and moisten their eyes; this is especially helpful during flight and to protect their eyes from broad daylight.

Learn more
More photos

Sloth

Credit: Ken Mayer/Flickr CC

The happiest species on Earth, this baby sloth might never stop smiling at you. What a treat it must be to get to "hang out" with a sloth!

Scientist Says: International Sloth Day is on October 20^th (did you celebrate this year?)

Learn more

...And Just for Kicks

And because this was far too cute not to share for Halloween! One World One Ocean’s “sealiest costume ever!”

The Outdoor Experience

"Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education."  - David Polis



Finley NWR biolgist, Nate teaches the kids how to identify different
species of birds using their physical markings.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Birds, berries and bobcats! Outdoor Experience is a summer event that welcomes 550 students over the course of two weeks to explore the world of nature at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). With the help of enthusiastic community volunteers, the 5,300 acre refuge was set with stations, each focused on a different aspect of the nature and wildlife of Finley. I spent my morning traveling from station to station with each vibrant group of kids as they moved excitedly around the grounds.


The kids get a close-up look at some of the waterfowl that can be spotted
throughout the refuge.
Credit: Meghan Kearney.USFWS

Five thousand acres of activity

As we approached the first station, the kids were quick to notice a small cotton sack attached to a table. It seemed to be pulsating with what you could almost make out as flaps of tiny wings eager to escape. Our station host, refuge biologist Nate, carefully removed a small and adorable bird from the pouch, pointing to the bird's fluffy white belly. Physical markings such as these, he explained, could help identify different types and sexes of birds.

Next, the group moved on to the waterfowl identification station where they were asked to first observe a display of birds from afar before moving in to get an up-close look at the birds' physical features. Taking notes in their field guides, the children discussed the similarities and differences of each of the different birds.

Elk bones spotted nearby Woodpecker Loop Trail.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Hitting the trails

The rest of our day included two trail hikes, one through the refuge's upland forest along Woodpecker Loop Trail, and the other around the large wetland area - Cabell Marsh. Along Woodpecker Loop, our guide, volunteer Mike, explained the history of the refuge using folklore-like stories dispersed with references of the local rivalry between college football teams the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers. Halfway in, we took a detour to a recently discovered elk skeleton found just off of the path. "He must have been a Beaver fan," Mike joked. It took about three pokes at the university rivalry before the kids caught on, but when they did, connecting football and nature seemed to make learning even more exciting.

Taking a pit stop along the trail to check out the nature
surrounding us. We even spotted a beaver dam!
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Invasives: harmful and smelly

After a lunch in the sun, our next stop took us along a path scattered with remnant fruit trees before reaching Cabell Marsh. Luckily, the kids got plenty of fresh fruit before arriving at the marsh, which I will soon explain was no easy task for our stomachs.

As we entered the currently dried up marsh, enough so that we could walk along its base, our new guide, volunteer Lowell, explained the reasoning behind this occurrence. Every few years, invasive carp overpopulate the marsh, destroying habitat for migrating birds. During the off-season, the marsh is drained to kill off all of the inhabiting carp, as well as invasive bull frogs. This allows the marsh to flourish and provide nutrients for numbers of different bird species; although in time the carp and bull frogs will likely make their way back and another draw down will be needed.  

One of the many animal tracks we discovered in the damp basin of Cabell
Marsh.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Tracking the marsh
Our visit to the refuge was just in time to witness with our eyes, but especially our noses, the piles of dried up carp along the shore. Some of us pulled our shirts up over our noses, while others, eager to brave the stench moved in for a closer look. "Oh, come on! It isn't that bad!" one of the kids yelled at his friends as he bent down to notice a giant pile of scurrying tadpoles on the surface of a small carp-saturated puddle, the last of the marsh's water supply. The smell alone was enough to help us all remember the harmful nature of these invasive fish! The drained-out marsh also provided a wide haven of slightly wet ground; just wet enough to assure any passing animals would leave behind beautifully defined tracks.

We also spotted a number of different frogs still inhabiting parts of
Cabell Marsh. The kids were eager to catch some and get a better look.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

Through the eyes of pioneers

After scooping baby frogs, noting elk and beaver tracks, and later spotting a beaver dam, we headed off to our final stop of the day; an  historic pioneer house. Gail, refuge volunteer and organizer for Outdoor Experience took us room-by-room through the house, explaining its history and its need for preservation. Looking at old family photos lining the walls, the kids pictured themselves as pioneer children living off the nearby fruit trees that we had earlier indulged in. Our full-circle tour of Finley NWR had come to a close, leaving us with memories of up-close and personal encounters with elk bones, berries, and a few smelly fish. We left, most importantly, with a new appreciation for the natural world at our fingertips.

Fun related links:

Find out more about scary invasives like carp, just in time for Halloween!

Some amazing wildlife photos from Finley volunteer, Mike

A Damselfly in Distress?

Anela, out in the field collecting damsefly eggs from local vegetation.
Credit: USFWS

Anela Wisenhunt is a student at University of Hawaii, Manoa, but unlike most students her age, she spent this summer on the island of Oahu catching tiny Orangeblack damselflies for translocation.

The damselfly story

Though common on other Hawaiian islands, this damselfly, a candidate species for Endangered Species Act listing, is only found on one part of Oahu. After almost five years of planning and funding, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service began translocation of these damselflies, a project which Anela was eager to participate in.

She discovered the internship opportunity through a school colleague and shortly after found herself in the field using giant nets to capture and tag damselflies. She also helped collect their eggs via samples of vegetation. After the flies were collected, they were translocated to the Waimea Valley. This area is a historic site for damselflies and after working with landowners it was determined to be a suitable habitat to begin a second population.

Close-up of the tiny Orangeblack damselfly species.
Credit: David Eickhoff

A fulfilling summer

Spending days exploring the natural islands of Hawaii sounds like a pretty great gig for a student. "My favorite parts were just being out in the field capturing the damselflies. Sometimes it would take a while before you would see any, and being in the serene quiet parts of the stream away from everything else and concentrating on finding something so small was awesome," she describes, but there were some challenges too. Aside from strategically planning the  time of day, sunlight and wind so it is just right for capturing damselflies, "the stream at Tripler has many mosquitoes," Anela states.  It seems about right that a summer internship spent outdoors could only get as bad as a few mosquito bites.

Anela finds the perfect time of day best for
capturing damselflies.
Credit: USFWS

Passing along her story

When Anela wasn’t out in the field, she spent her days connecting others with the efforts of the Refuge and damselfly translocation project. She expressed her happiness to explain her project to curious visitors, some from all over the world, in an effort to pique their interest in nature. She even gave her own presentation to a group of visiting students from Chaminade College.

At the end of her summer internship, Anela looks back with hope that the damselfly translocation project will prove successful. And when asked about her overall experience as a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Intern, Anela shares, "The experience alone was wonderful. Having the opportunity to work alongside some amazing biologists such as Lorena Wada was a benefit for me in itself. She really showed me the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to undertake these projects. I’m looking forward to seeing how the damselfly translocation project plays out in the future. Hopefully we will have been successful in our efforts and I hope to see the rewards of our hard work by seeing more damselflies at Waimea. The work we did was an experience that I will always remember and one that I am very happy to have been a part of."

For more information on internships like Anela’s and other volunteer opportunities with the Service, please visit here.

“The Best Field Trip Ever”

Students and teachers on the Chehalis River sampling freshwater mussels
and recording data along the shore.

Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

“This is the best field trip ever!” is what I heard just minutes after arriving to the Chehalis River, before the hunt for freshwater mussels kicked off. Mussel Academy, as this exciting Connecting People with Nature/citizen science program is officially referred to, brought five student groups from Grays Harbor and Thurston County, Washington area schools, both middle and high school. The premise was for class representatives to learn about freshwater mussels and take their new knowledge back to school as “field experts” for their classmates.  

  

One student uses an "aquascope" to help him search for mussels
underwater.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS


The Scientist in Us All

Citizen science is an idea that has been adopted by a number of conservation and scientific organizations that allows for citizens, just like you and me, to participate in and contribute to scientific research. On paper it sounds formal, but when taken into the field with a group of intelligent, curious and energetic 12-18 year olds, the idea ignites a passion for natural science that future generations can depend on.

Keeping Science Exciting

On this day, our citizen scientists helped to survey freshwater mussels in the Chehalis River, a biological hotspot for three types of Pacific Northwest freshwater mussels – Floaters, Western Pearlshells and Western Ridged. These freshwater mussels have become a growing interest to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service because they serve as a long term environmental indicator species, or in other words – when they start to go, it’s a sign that other aspects of that environment will follow.  

Kicking off the day, Teal Waterstrat gives an exciting presentation to
the visiting students about the importance of freshwater mussels in
their local river systems.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

To start the day, Teal Waterstrat, Washington Fish & Wildlife Office Fisheries Technician, gave a presentation on freshwater mussels and their importance. With a natural knack for teaching, Teal had the students captivated within the first few seconds. A follow-up presentation offered the students some hands on-training to identify the different local freshwater mussel species, and randomly select plots in the river where they would be collecting, measuring and returning their finds. This classroom away from the classroom was not to be a boring one.



Two students carefully make their way down to our sampling site
on the Chehalis River.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS


“Today we are Scientists”

Next, a short, but slightly rugged trail took the group outdoors to our mussel survey site  “Can we skip stones?” one student asked while waiting for a pair of waders to keep himself dry across the 20 yard stretch of river water that would lead us to the survey site. “Today, we are scientists,” answered Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Basin Project Coordinator and co-lead for the day’s trip. Skipping stones would have to be for after work. What I soon observed, however, is that skipping stones quickly became an afterthought; this didn’t seem much like work at all.



A team effort between students and teachers to collect baseline data
 will help future freshwater mussel research.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS



From Student, to Teacher

There wasn’t an absent smile on the river as students one-by-one splashed their arms down into the water, triumphantly pulling out palm-sized mussels for sampling. I watched as they marched piles of mussels retrieved from their plots back and forth to their classmates who were busy measuring and recording data on the shore. After a couple hours of searching and recording, counts of about 400 total freshwater mussels coincided with the days end. Students, sad to leave the river, carefully returned the mussels to their plots, ready to take what they learned back to their schools where they would then become the teachers. This day, acting as scientists on the Chehalis River gave students the opportunity to have fun in nature, but also helped create baseline data for future freshwater mussel monitoring. Best field trip ever? I’d sure say so.

From Interpretive to Interactive

A view of Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge. This will be
one location for an interpretive sign on the medial trail.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

I hope after my recent blog entry on technology and nature (for those of you who missed it), you are all feeling a bit more confident about the future of technology and our connection to the natural world. For one U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Wildlife Refuge this connection is about to reach a new level. Through a Connecting People with Nature grant, Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, home to the endangered Columbian White-tailed Deer, is about to pioneer an all new interpretive media trail which will transform guests’ visits into interactive journeys. This past week, my supervisor Nancy and I took a trip west along the Columbia River to the refuge and learned a little more about this new innovation.

Reviewing one of the old signs, where a soon to be interactive media sign
will be placed.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

A New Era of Learning

Upon our arrival to the refuge, we met up with the masterminds behind the operation, Nancy Holman, Visitor Services Manager of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge Complex and Blu Chaney, summer intern with the Student Conservation Association for a crash course overview on the media trail project. Still in the drafting stages, they explained that QR codes (barcode like images that can be scanned by smartphones to send users to specific links) would be included on interpretive signs in five locations around the refuge. A scan of each QR code with a capable device (like iPhones or Android phones) would send users online to varying virtual sections of the trail, allowing them to interact with photos, videos, links, or narrations from refuge workers and biologists. These supplemental media guides will allow users to learn about the refuge and its history, while gaining an overview of wildlife they could potentially spot through a vibrant and exciting angle. In addition, "Wanderer Packs" which include tools like binoculars and hard copies of the QR coded presentations are available for check-out from the refuge and nearby businesses for visitors to use! This evolution from a single standing interpretive sign to a more engaged interaction will open up new windows for education and provide an opportunity for visitors to achieve a refuge experience like never before.

A Sneak Peak

After learning about the interactive signs, we hit the trail to get a feel for the potential locations of the 5 signs. Each location offered a pristine view of the refuge, while each media “chapter” focused on a different aspect of the refuge from significance in the journeys of Lewis & Clark, importance of the Columbian White-tailed Deer, and a celebration of women in conservation through the life of Julia Butler Hansen.

A Columbian White-tailed Deer spotted on Tenashillahe Island!
Credit: Blu Chaney/USFWS

Hitting Tenasillahe Island

Later in the day, after lunch at a local pizza shop in the small town of Cathlamet, Washington, we met up with Refuge Manager, Joel David, for a boat trip along the Columbia River to Tenasillahe Island to visit the last potential media trail stop. This was, believe it or not, my first time actually on the Columbia. A number of Columbian White-tailed Deer are transferred to this island to allow them a more private and safe habitat. Joel, however, informed us that the deer have been known to make the swim to and from the island without human help! After a bit of wandering, a single deer finally peeked its head out of the brush to assess what we four humans were doing snooping around their island. It made its getaway well before we were able to get close, but it was a great sight to see nonetheless.

Departing by boat from Tenasillahe Island, along
the Columbia; where deer have been known to swim.
Credit: Meghan Kearney/USFWS

The First of Many

With our overwhelming dependence on technology these days, this media trail represents the perfect balance between tech and nature. Visitors can come to the refuge and use technology to learn much more than they would be able to on their own, tech-free. And to offer a similar experience to those who do not have the proper technology – the media trail will also be virtually accessible online for visitors to check out from home or public computers before or after visits to Julie Butler Hansen NWR! Though this media trail is still in the planning stages, I am positive this interactive and wonderful use of technology will soon be seen incorporated into National Wildlife Refuges across the nation! An anticipated completion date for the media trail is in January of 2013, so stay tuned for your chance to make a visit to the beautiful refuge, spot some Columbian White-tailed Deer and pioneer this exciting and unique use of technology and nature!