Andrew Clements

This week, I interviewed Andrew Clements, of Cortez, Colorado. Drew works for the state, but the program also does work for the US Forest Service in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah. Here, he shares an encounter with a grizzly bear in the Yellowstone National Park, while he was part of a team collecting forest health data near the confluence of the Thorofare and Yellowstone Rivers.

Drew told me that a fair amount of logistical work goes into planning for his field season. He tends to hit locations of lower elevation early, then chase the snow up to higher plots before being pushed down lower, again, by the snow, in the fall. Drew figures during any given year, he hikes four to seven hundred miles and is hoping to keep on keeping on until his knees give out.