Spencer Duran '13

I drove out to Idaho, and arrived in Ashton in early June. When we first arrived we lived in the old HFF office on Main Street, but we were later moved into an intern house right behind the old and new HFF offices. We were lucky enough to meet and interact on a daily basis with the entire staff of HFF. Our main bosses however were Anne Marie Emery and Matt Cahoon. Our main project this year focused around restoration efforts with the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Our duty was to travel to various tributaries located all around the watershed and use electrofishing to survey the trout populations. We were surveying sites that hadn't been looked at for 5-10 years so we were trying to see where Cutthroats had held their positions and which spots the Cutthroats had been displaced from by other non-native trout species such as brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout. We also worked on a stream bank restoration project, as well as education and outreach programs within the local community. I would strongly recommend this opportunity ti anyone who has interest because for me it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. Please let me know if you need any more details. I know that I James, Chase, Chris and I are all willing to help with some sort of a presentation, if that is in the works for Winter Term. I hope all is well and maybe we could go fishing sometime soon before it gets too cold out.