Measuring a red fir tree in the Sierra Nevada

This is Teodora Rautu. She is a Biological Science Technician on the field crew for USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project.  She is measuring the diameter of a red fir and trying to navigate the tape through the branches.  All of the trees in the Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics plots are measured every 5 years, not only for determining the size of the trees but also for tracking tree growth rates.