A male downy woodpecker looks out while cleaning to the bole of a small ponderosa pine tree.
I let myself get distracted by a male downy woodpecker today. Have you ever watched a robin breathe? You should. That's good homework for tomorrow.
There's a couple of fields full of them right now along 19th St heading into Philomath near where the railroad crosses that you should check out (assuming your photo isn't from there)
Cover of report "Mission Aborted: how NASA illegally implemented the president's budget request without congressional approval. Minority staff report, prepared by members of the committee on science, space, and technology, us house of representatives, April 2026
This report came out today by minority staff of the House science committee on how three NASA missions were aborted due to NASA illegally following the FY26 president's budget request instead of congressionally approved budget. Very important reading. 🔭🧪 democrats-science.house.gov/staff-report...
Map of Oregon stating that 4.4 million migratory birds will be flying during the night on April 18. The graphic encourages reduction of light at night.
Lots of birds in the sky these nights. Turn off those porch lights and close the shades so they can see the stars.
the basic theory of DOGE was that if powerful people said it was fine it didn’t matter what the law said.
I think proving that theory wrong is worth significant effort
Looking through tall trees at an overcast sky and blue-green mountains cloaked in fog
View from a steep talus slope. Looking out into a forested valley bordered by mountains, the tops of which are obscured by clouds.
Where my job took me this week
@dendromecon27.bsky.social
Solid and accurate reporting on our current situation.
Siuslaw National Forest 2013
There's also a significant number of folks in R&D who spend more time in the field than most forest/district staff do. While it's not a competition (both field and office work are necessary to the mission), the narrative that all R&D staff are desk jockeys is just plain wrong.
The U.S. Forest Service is shutting down research stations around the country, including centers in Portland, Seattle, and Wenatchee, Washington.
Excellent news: We're one step closer to reopening Johnston Ridge to visitors of Mount St. Helens.
@wsdot.wa.gov will begin work on the State Route 504 South Coldwater Creek bridge replacement this week.
More info from KGW 🔽
Article about R&D office closures that interviews my old work colleague, Ali Urza. She left last year for a non-federal position during the DOGE turmoil.
www.kunc.org/regional-new...
This is such a real experience. When I first did vernal pool/amphibian work in Maryland after growing up in Florida, there was a mental time lag in the recognition that I could wade into tannic pond water without needing to maintain awareness for alligators or cottonmouths.
Enjoy your national forests folks!
Thoughtful and relevant talking points about USFS Restructuring from National Association of Forest Service Retirees-NAFSR.
nafsr.org/advocacy/202...
I've now confirmed at least 100 different bird species across my study sites for my thesis 🐦🎉 my questions focus more on what those communities look like than species richness, but it's still fun when number go up!
I feel like this is an extremely accurate description of me and my team too lol (at least from ~April-Oct)
After 6 days of hiking narrow/steep stream drainages with abundant downed logs to scramble over and subsequently getting some of the best sleep I've had in months, I unfortunately have to agree.
Collaboration with people who have different skillsets/expertise is one of my absolute favorite things about my job.
new fun drinking game: take a shot every time a coworker says, “i’m scared for this fire season”
(please don’t do this. you’ll be teleporting to a waffle house by 10am)
Things that help calm the nervous system, quickly:
- Box breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4, repeat)
- Immerse your face in cold water (activates mammalian dive reflex)
- Humming (stimulates vagus nerve)
- Exercise (anything helps, outside even better)
- Impeachment and removal
Science is inherently political due to the fact that politicians are actively trying to stifle science in the US. Agency science. Academic science. all of it.
Google street view of USFWS facility co-located with USFS R&D site.
Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (Pacific Zone - Hawaii and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands) Through research, knowledge sharing, and partnership the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (IPIF) provides scientific and technical information needed to restore, conserve, and sustain tropical forests and wetlands of the Pacific. Overview Since 1956, IPIF has been serving the research, development, demonstration, and technical assistance needs of the US Affiliated Pacific, a highly diverse geographical area the size of the continental United States. The Institute meets the diverse information needs of natural resource managers across the Pacific, as well as leading cutting edge tropical research, through the work of Institute-based research staff, who lead core science programs in a wide range of problem areas including: restoration silviculture, wetland systems management, invasive species control, ecological management of invaded ecosystems, the ecology and recovery of threatened, endangered, and at risk species (TER),
R&D site to close in Hilo, HI is co-located w/ USFWS Big Island Nat’l Wildlife Refuge:
The Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
research.fs.usda.gov/psw/programs...
What cost saving is gained closing a site shared w/ another agency?
@duckworth.senate.gov
@schatz.bsky.social @tokuda.house.gov
A purple Camas lily with one bloom open and two soon-to-open buds, with deep green stem and leaves against a green wetland floor background.
The Moon is great, but it's also Constantly Changing Wildflower Season, where every day looks different if you let a piece of grassland sit unmowed in the Pacific Northwest. Today, I saw the first of my favorite wildflower, the Camas lily. I'll savor the next month or so with them. #bloomscrolling
A few have suggested that some aspects of this mission--joy, international teamwork, diversity--are being played up to stick it to the hateful attitude of the administration. But I don't think it's that. I think it's just that those things are essential to and inseparable from a mission like this.
Screw em. Our work is important and necessary and as long as the work itself and the people I share it with continue to make it feel worthwhile, I'm also staying in roach mode 🪳
📉 FY2026 is worse.
NIH has made 10,195 awards so far. NSF has made 613.
Six hundred thirteen.
Congress appropriated the money. The agencies are not spending it.
Grant freezes. NOFO collapse. Staff RIFs. Review cancellations. You can win the budget fight and still lose the funding war.
🎯🎯