Summer is usually when people take vacations and head off to new places. Jack Strang came home. It was his first time back from college and our first internship, so we were happy to learn together.
Growing up in Bend helped Jack Strang become a landscape photographer, trail runner, and outdoor enthusiast. He is now a sophomore at Boston College, majoring in environmental studies with a concentration in environmental justice and policy. Jack was eager to fill his 2022 summer break learning how a land trust operates and feels he gained valuable experience through outreach and conservation efforts.
“In the field, I discovered the importance of ODLT’s mission to connect wild and working land, as well as the value of listening to different perspectives to make measured decisions,” shared Jack.
In prior summers, Jack trained at high altitudes in the Steens Mountain Running Camp. This year he felt fortunate to watch pronghorns race together across our South Hart Jack Creek property. He helped change out wildlife cameras, inspect burrowing owl mounds, investigate water sources and learned about birds in the wet meadows at Trout Creek Ranch. His avian interest was revitalized and he gladly joined in restoration assessments of this critical area along the Pacific Flyway. It will be a focal point for volunteer projects in spring.
“Shadowing the wet meadows tour introduced me to a variety of experts in different niche fields and taught me the importance of collaboration between land trusts and neighbors,” Jack explained. “Furthermore, the tour introduced me to acronyms that I never could have imagined myself using, like BDA (beaver dam analog) and CCAA (candidate conservation agreement with assurances). Witnessing the beautiful, vast lands that ODLT has worked tirelessly to conserve left me feeling inspired and eager to contribute.”
Jack enjoyed being in the field, but a lot of his time involved data entry, research, and administrative tasks that help support projects outdoors. From renaming thousands of images, to stamping hundreds of envelopes, he still felt the work was impactful.
“Office work, while at times less glamorous than fieldwork, is the backbone of the Land Trust’s conservation efforts. My time in the office with the ODLT staff taught me how powerful a group of hard-working, like-minded individuals can be. Although ODLT only has four employees, I have witnessed first-hand the ambition that the organization has to adhere to and improve upon its mission.”
Jack cares deeply about his home state and aspires to work in environmental law. His time in the office also helped cultivate his curiosity in new areas of interest. Hours were spent researching the history of homestead patents for each subsection of Trout Creek Ranch. He also read and was fascinated by Wilson Wewa’s book Legends of the Northern Paiute.
“I feel that I grew tremendously as a person and an environmentalist,” Jack shared. “I feel fortunate to have worked with such an amazing organization that welcomed me with open arms and always treated me with kindness and respect.”
Tatza is a word for summer in the Northern Paiute language, among others that are shared in Wilson’s book. ODLT is thankful that Jack volunteered during this time to learn more about the land, its people, and how we can all steward it together.
We’re grateful for many collaborative efforts last season with neighbors, researchers, writers, facility managers and other partners and friends. They continue to reveal countless values of the land and its people. As we enter each fall, or yabano, we look forward to deepening more connections throughout the high desert.
Feature image by Jack Strang: A Swainson’s hawk flies near the Trout Creek Mountains
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