By karl meyer, CPM
One morning in 2007 I decided to go for a sunrise hike before work. Back then I was living in Avalon, California, the only incorporated city on Catalina Island (part of the Channel Islands archipelago off the southern coast of the state.) The trail took me up a series of switchbacks to the rim of Avalon Canyon, perched high above the still sleeping town. Dense fog blanketed the sea and up the gulch, steeping the grasses and wildflowers in dew, which wetted my sneakers and ankles as I passed by. I breached the mist a few hundred yards before the summit, revealing an ocean of clouds that completely surrounded me on my little island peak in the sky.
As I stood there, catching my breath and soaking up the first rays of sunlight, I realized that I was not alone. Curled up in the grass alongside the trail was a Channel Island fox, about the size of a small cat. I must have woken it with all my huffing and puffing because it stretched, yawned, and then glared at me as it wrapped back up into a sleepy little ball, more or less undisturbed by my presence. The whole situation, the clouds, the fox, the sunrise, all seemed very surreal — like a dream I just couldn’t let slip away. Later that week I started volunteering for the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, and my freshly hatched passion for conservation began to grow.
Fast forward to a hike seven years later, my (now) wife Laurel and I were holding hands atop Kamiak Butte, and I was struck by how much the rolling hills below reminded me of the sea of clouds on Catalina. It was my first time visiting the Palouse, we were here to see Laurel’s parents, whose roots here dig back to a homestead from the late nineteenth-century. I fell in love with this region on that trip, and we promptly made Moscow our home the very next year.
I started classes at the University of Idaho in spring of 2016. As a non-traditional student, I wore many hats on my path back to college. I’ve been a barista, a cook, and a farm hand, just to name a few. When I heard that the U of I had one of the best natural resource programs in the country I was sold. I knew I had found the road to a fulfilling career!
Initially I majored in Wildlife, then switched to Forestry after scoping the local career prospects, then finally landed on Natural Resource Conservation during my Sophomore year when Dr. Dennis Becker plugged me into an internship with the Clearwater Basin Collaborative Group. It was there where I realized the importance of collaboration and community within successful natural resource management, and I haven’t looked back since. The College of Natural Resources also introduced me to the role technology plays in conservation, which I have fully embraced with my “Remote Sensing of the Environment” certificate.
I take pride in having honed my conservation skill set while working throughout my academic career. Aside from my internship with the CBC, I’ve worked as a lab tech at both EcoAnalysts Inc. and the Tree Physiology Lab on campus. I worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the CNR Policy Analysis Group, and also as a technician and intern for Latah County Parks and Recreation.
I was actually connected to the Palouse Land Trust through one of my professors, Dr. Chloe Wardropper, after a particularly engaging lecture about the role Land Trusts play in conservation at the local level. I knew Laurel and I would be staying here in Moscow after graduating, and was itching to find a conservation oriented job here in town. I knew PLT was a perfect fit after my very first chat with Lovina, and fortunately the feeling was mutual!
So here I am, the brand new Conservation Projects Manager, absolutely thrilled to put my education and experience to use on the ground of this very special place. I graduate with my B.S. this coming May! While not working or studying you might find me wandering around Virgil Phillips Farm County Park with my wife and dogs, or, perhaps, at one of our nation’s many National Parks during our quest to visit them all. In the meantime, feel free to pop your head into my office and say hi — let’s grow this conservation community together!
All photos courtesy of Karl Meyer