Prairielicious fishes

For the past couple of days I have been deep in the grasslands, working on frozen ponds and lakes to create fish habitat. We set out bunches of old Christmas trees with concrete blocks chained to them on the ice, so when the ice melts the trees will sink and the fish will have cover to spawn in. We also laid out some fence line to isolate a peninsula for duck nesting so the grazing cows can't trample them, checked up on goose nesting buckets, examined prairie dog towns, and met with local volunteers who do bird counts for us. Highlights include seeing pronghorn antelope zipping across the prairie, watching golden eagles soar over the grasslands, and spending the afternoon ice-fishing. Tonight I came back to Bismarck and met up with a colleague at a local restaurant/bar and drank brews/chowed on pizza/listened to a local jam band. All in all a great time out here, with scarce periods for sleep, and vast periods of awe at the big skies, wildlife, and wonderful people. Now I am delirious with sleepiness and have to get up in a few hours to head out to the badlands bright and early...