July 31 – August 1 Fremont Co. Fair Riverton, Wyoming

Megan McPhaden and I went to the Fremont County Fair to assist the NRCS Field Office for several days while they participated in a cultural resources training in Lander, Wyoming. The entire trip was more than a success between the hospitality the local field office gave to us and the people of the community who wanted to truly know more about what we do as an agency made me believe that our work did not go unnoticed.
At some of the fairs that I have worked at it seems that most people just look to get the free "give-a-ways" from the booth and never really ask what the agency does or how we could help them. The people in Fremont County noticed that we offered a lot of programs and wanted to know more. It was great to know that you reached out to someone and created a change in their life. While my time here for the summer is short it was very cathartic to me to do that much. For those who were interested, we referred them to their local field office to work one on one with an employee who could give them more help.

USDA-NRCS booth

Megan McPhaden, small acreage programs intern working the Fremont County Fair booth

Haley Lockwood, public affairs student intern at the USDA-NRCS booth

We did enjoy one of Wyoming's greatest sports...RODEO!! This was Megans third rodeo to ever attend and we enjoyed it with several NRCS employees and their families.

Megan and I watched the rodeo with fellow NRCS employees

Having a great time at the rodeo!

We spent two days at their fair working the booth, meeting new people, and also learning more about what the Riverton Field office has been doing in the county. Several hours were spent looking at different projects that they have been focusing on and some issues that they have been facing. Several questions have been asked on one project in particular. "If we kept working on this project would it be worth the time and money put into it in the future?" That was the main question for the Ocean Lake project. This lake is essentially man-made due to the amount of irrigation in the area and the lay of the land. The geography of the land makes a "bowl" shape where several ridges drain into this low area. Because the area doesn't receive very much precipitation the main water source is irrigation water. Several issues face this lake like lack of natural habitat like rocks, debris, and organisms. Free particles float constantly due to this fact making it hard for fish to live in the environment. Ocean Lake will eventually dry out in the future which is why they wonder if they need to keep putting money into this project.

Eric Schlilt and Megan McPhaden look at an irrigation lateral north of Riverton

Irrigation lateral

A good sized Mule Deer buck out on wheat pasture

Irrigation lateral spilling into a creek with a concrete spillway

Megan and Eric discussed different advantages to filtering irrigation water.

Overall, this trip to Riverton was a huge success. We came back feeling like we made a difference by talking to community members about our work and the benefits of working with the NRCS.