Matt Gaffney (left) and Bill at Spruce Knob, WV
Have you ever dreamed of ditching your day job and pursuing a career in the woods? Maybe working with wolves in the desert southwest or conducting plant surveys in the wilds of Alaska? Well, Matt Gaffney did it! Leaving behind a job in digital marketing, he went back to school to get his degree in environmental studies and went on to work a series of seasonal positions with the National Forest Service. Bill caught up with him in August of 2019 in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Join them on a hike on Spruce Knob (the highest point in WV) as Matt shares his adventures and advice on pursuing a career in the wild!
Special thanks to Matt Gaffney for giving up an afternoon to share his story and patiently watch Bill struggle with the audio equipment.
The episode was recorded on August 10, 2019.
Episode Notes
1. Matt said that in Alaska, moose kill more people than bears do. This is true.
How Stuff Works reports: Moose outnumber bears nearly three to one in Alaska, wounding around five to 10 people in the state annually. That's not a lot, but it’s more than grizzly bear and black bear attacks combined. Bill looked further into it, but had trouble finding fatality stats
2. Is the Chugach National Forest the world’s northernmost rainforest? It’s likely.
While it’s definitely the most northerly rainforest in North America (according to Wikipedia’s page of “northernmost items”) and other sources, some list Norway as having the world’s northernmost rainforest.
3. What is the difference between brown bears and grizzly bears?
From the Katmai National Park website:
All grizzly bears are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzly bears. The bears you are watching on the cams are brown bears. Grizzly bears and brown bears are the same species (Ursus arctos), but grizzly bears are currently considered to be a separate subspecies (U. a. horribilis). Due to a few morphological differences, Kodiak bears are also considered to be a distinct subspecies of brown bear (U. a. middendorfii), but are very similar to Katmai’s brown bears in diet and habits.
Even though grizzlies are considered to be a subspecies of brown bear, the difference between a grizzly bear and a brown bear is fairly arbitrary. In North America, brown bears are generally considered to be those of the species that have access to coastal food resources like salmon. Grizzly bears live further inland and typically do not have access to marine-derived food resources.
Besides habitat and diet, there are physical and (arguably) temperamental differences between brown and grizzly bears. Large male brown bears in Katmai can routinely weigh over 1000 pounds (454 kg) in the fall. In contrast, grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park weigh far less on average. There have been no documented cases of grizzly bears weighing over 900 pounds (408 kg) in Yellowstone. Additionally, grizzly bears seem to react to humans at greater distances than brown bears.
4. Matt mentioned dandelions being considered invasive where he was staying in Alaska. Here’s what the National Park Service page on invasives in Alaska has to say:
As harmless as they seem in the lower 48, the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) can completely take over a habitat in Alaska’s short growing season, by continuously reproducing and blocking native species’ ability to grow in fields and meadows. Dandelions are also potent because of their ability to drift from one location to another far away location in the backcountry, where it is much harder to reach and manage.
5. Why are mountains called knobs in West Virginia? Because they’ve eroded?
Dead end on this one, folks. After much searching online (and he even opened some *gasp* actual books!), Bill could not find an explanation for why mountains are called “knobs” in WV, although it does appear to be a regional thing; Wikipedia defines “knob” as “a rounded hill or mountain, particularly in the Appalachians and the Ozarks.”
6. Interested in finding an internship like Matt did? Visit:
The Texas A&M conservation jobs page