Leadership in Central Oregon

Oregon Hwy 22 near Marion Forks (above)

Mount Washington (above) and the North and Middle Sisters (below)

A bit earlier this year, I applied and was accepted into a Leadership Seminar that the BLM covered tuition and costs for.  It's a tremendous opportunity and the first meeting of the seminar was this week.  The seminar is broken up into four segments - each centered on an unrelated case study.  The first case study looked at everything surrounding the Malheur Basin and the High Desert Partnership.

Three Finger Jack from US Hwy 20 (above) and US Hwy 20 between Brothers and Burns (all pictures below)

First, I drove over to Burns.  As far as a drive to the middle of nowhere goes, it was actually really scenic and the weather was absolutely perfect.  I stopped at the Mount Washington Overlook which is always gorgeous, in Sisters for coffee like I always do, and again in Riley because I just didn't have the oomph to get all the way to Burns without stretching real quick.  I got to Burns right at dusk and got checked into my hotel.

Aspen, pine, and blue skies in the Malheur National Forest (above).  Buena Vista Overlook in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (below).

BLM-administered land east of Buchanan (above)

The Palace in Burns (above and below)

For the rest of the week, I was in a combination of seminars, discussions, and field trips with other natural resource professionals from a handful of governmental agencies.  And throughout the week, we focused on the efforts of the High Desert Partnership as a means of bringing the community together, focusing on commonalities, and offering diverse experiences for the community.  All very inspiring.

US Hwy 20 just west of Burns (above) and The Three Sisters from US Hwy 20, east of Bend (below)

At the end of the week, I headed home, but made plans to meet up with Stephen Green, whom I hadn't seen since middle school.  He lives in Bend and saw on Instagram that I was in central Oregon and suggested we get together.  We met up for a snack and drink and chatted and got all caught up on life; amazing how much people can change over time.  It was still great to see him and get caught up.  Unfortunately, we stayed chatting pretty long and I only got to Sisters by the time dusk settled in and ended up going over Santiam Pass in the dark which I wasn't wild about, but I did get home just fine in the end.

Stephen and me at Medvejie Hatchery in Sitka, Alaska in spring 1996 which was the last year we saw each other before he moved to Bend, Oregon.