Hello Fence Marking/Removal Participants, Thank you for expressing interest in this weekends events that will be taking place at the Cimarron Bluffs Wildlife Management Area in eastern Harper County, Oklahoma. The events will begin with a gathering at the Selman Ranch Important Bird Area Saturday morning at 9am, at that point we will depart for the WMA. Attendees can show up as early as Friday evening, there is a bunk house at the ranch that Sue is allowing us to use. We have also received permission to use UCO's Selman Living Lab trailer, 5 miles away, for overflow if we need to. Both bunkhouses are heated, have warm water and generally comfortable living conditions. Please let me know if you will be arriving Friday evening so that I can start filling out the space in an organized fashion.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be provided Saturday. Breakfast will be at the Selman Ranch at 7:30 am sharp Saturday and Sunday, however only breakfast will be provided on Sunday. Saturday morning we will break up into a number of teams depending on how many attendees show up. Hopefully we will have two teams each for fence removal and marking. I would recommend those who are not afraid of getting dirty and breaking a good sweat to leave the fence marking for others that may not be as comfortable with that kind of work. For fence marking you will need to bring a reusable cloth bag or light bucket that can be filled and re-filled with sharp edged vinyl fence marking tabs. You shouldn't need gloves for the fence marking, however if you want bring along a light pair of gardening gloves to avoid any scratches from the vinyl material please do so. For those of you who are more daring and will be helping with fence removal bring along some heavy work gloves, I will supply safety goggles. I would recommend work/hiking boots and nice comfortable socks for everyone.
The weather seems to be going our way and it appears that we may see 60 degrees this weekend, however the mornings will still be chilly. I plan to dress in layers. Walking through the prairie warms you pretty quickly, but you can also start to sweat which isn't necessarily a good thing. So being able to take a layer or two off will help to make sure you don't sweat too much and then proceed to cool off too quickly when you stop. A good warm hat might also be appropriate for the mornings.
Attached (contact me if you did not recieve my email) you will find the Volunteer Waiver form required for anyone doing volunteer work on ODWC property. If you don't feel comfortable giving your whole SSN I would recommend only providing the last four, please brind a signed copy with you! This is what ODWC uses for their filing system.
The Selman Ranch is located about 22 miles north of Woodward in NW, Oklahoma. Follow highway 34 north out of Woodward when approaching from the south. If you plan to come across highway 64 from the east or west turn south when you reach highway 34 and travel about five miles. The ranch is located on the west side of the road and is marked with a short white/faded sign that also has an IBA sign attached to it. Please let me know if you need more directions, which I can supply as needed. It is actually not too difficult to find.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the event. We have received a lot of attention from many organizations about this event, and we are sure to impress. I look forward to seeing all of you either Friday evening or Saturday morning. Don't worry there will be plenty of time to bird, and I suspect the prairie chickens will be out and getting ready for the spring season.....so maybe some of you can pick a lifer up on this trip as well! See you then!
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