Major support for Oregon Field Guide is provided by... [ ♪♪♪ ] [ man whoops ] Who's that?

[ warbling ] Excellent!

Oh!

[ wind whistling ] [ boy exclaims ] [ all laughing ] NARRATOR: Tonight on Oregon Field Guide: The Banks Combine Demolition Derby pits husband against wife.

[ metal crashes ] MAN: Hopefully our two are the only ones running after all those, and then it'll be marriage counseling on the track.

Yeah, whatever.

[ both laughing ] Then, can a scientist save Crater Lake's whitebark pine trees from an invasive fungus?

We've gotta fix the problem.

So to me, it's a puzzle.

And people who know me, I leave kind of no stone unturned.

But first... I'm here at the Oregon coast at Cape Arago during low tide, and we're exploring tide pools today.

And it's filled with so many wild and really weird creatures: sea anemones, sea stars.

But the one that I want to show you today is one of the smallest and weirdest of all.

WOMAN: When I was little, Mom showed me a hermit crab in a tide pool, and I was totally hooked on the ocean.

And so I've been coming out here since I was 10 years old.

That's one thing I love about marine organisms: You have to enjoy the world of the very small.

Nudi... You look and look and look.

Nobody's home.

IAN: It's just after dawn, the lowest tide, and Nancy is looking for a creature about the size of a contact lens.

And you have to look and look and look again.

Let's see here.

Where are you, buddies?

Sometimes they're here and sometimes they're not.

Oh, wow!

Hey, cool.

Yeah!

First nudibranch.

There you are.

She is in search of nudibranch, a type of sea slug known for its wild shapes and colors.

Hi there, guys.

How we doing?

So this one, it's really beautiful.

It's white, and then the tips of the cerata are colored orange and they kind of glow in the dark.

Nudibranchs have eye spots where they can sense light and dark, but they cannot see.

Come here, lady.

[ shutter clicks ] It's such a shame that they can't see how beautiful they are.

Nancy makes detailed notes for each of her findings.

And if she needs to, she'll temporarily take a nudibranch back to the lab to identify.

I hate to disturb it, but... you'll come back tomorrow.

And, by the way, Nancy has a special permit to collect these nudibranch, which she'll return the next morning.

There you go, bud.

The really tiny ones are sometimes so hard to ID in the field, I have to take them in.

But I bring them back.

[ keys jingle ] Here we go.

Who's that?

Everybody's so pretty.

[ ♪♪♪ ] So nudibranch literally means "naked gill."

And their gills that they get oxygen from stick out of their back end, and they have fluffy butts.

Their gill plume looks like a little flower coming out of their rear end.

And the anus is in the middle of those gills, which is very odd because you're pooing where you breathe.

But... hey.

There are some 3,000 variations in oceans around the world, and Nancy has observed 69 species here in Oregon.

I think the thing that catches you the most is the nudibranchs' insane coloration varieties.

They're like the flowers of the ocean.

You can have nudibranchs that are solid black, nudibranchs that are fuchsia pink and glow in the dark, nudibranchs with spots, stripes, giant, feathery kind of forest-like cerata.

It's crazy.

Some of them have gizzard plates inside their stomach, like little teeth inside their stomach.

Some of them have huge, giant knobs all over their body.

Some of them you think, "Really?"

[ chuckles ] "Where's the head?"

You know?

And some of them look so odd that you just can't even figure out how evolution would produce that thing.

Their colors and crazy shapes are just part of their weird skills of survival.

The horn-like projections on their heads, called rhinophores, are sensors to smell food and find mates.

And as hermaphrodites, after mating, both participants can come away pregnant.

Their bright colors are not merely for style points but rather a tricky way to make predators think the nudibranchs taste terrible or are even poisonous.

And some even go a step further, actually stealing stinging cells from sea anemone.

Over time, they've evolved the ability to collect those stinging cells from the prey they're eating.

The stinging cells are then packaged and put into the nudibranch's skin.

And they keep those toxins in their body and those toxins kill the predator or they taste so bad that they'll spit them out or whatever.

It's crazy!

[ grunts ] Whoa!

Early the next morning, Nancy comes back at low tide.

She'll return the nudibranchs that she collected from yesterday right where she found them.

It's very important to never overcollect, always return what you can.

Always leave it exactly as you found it.

There you go, bud.

Because you want to monitor changes, I go through the same exact process every time, the same places, in the same order.

Because that way, as things change over time, I'm quantifying in the same way.

If I looked in different places all the time, then I wouldn't get a sense so much of the changes.

And as I get older, it gets harder and harder to do.

The more time you spend, the more you see.

My research and surveys basically go into quantifying who's there, how many are there, what kind of habitat they live in.

And that information is really important, because it is a snapshot in what we have now.

This part of the Oregon Coast is important for researchers like Nancy because it's where biological zones meet.

So the information that Nancy tracks of the very, very small can show changes on the scale of the ocean.

And so one of the uses of our data is showing how that overlap changes.

What we're seeing is the range shift of more southern organisms coming into this transition zone.

As the nudibranch diversity goes down or changes, that's indicating a demise of the whole thing.

So I think that they're a very good measure of ocean health.

With the tide rolling in quickly, Nancy needs to head back.

The spots where Nancy looked earlier are now underwater.

So there's a beautiful nudibranch down here, possibly too deep for me to get.

I knew he'd be here, but, whoa, I'm not going to be able to get to him!

She'd stay out here all day if she could.

And the tide is really the only thing that has the force to push her out... at least for now.

It's a joy.

It's a driven joy.

And when it comes to where I belong, it's the Oregon coast, but especially Arago.

And, um... it still makes me choke up every time I come.

[ gulls cawing ] It's a passion, and it goes beyond that.

It's a way of connecting to yourself, connecting to something deep inside you.

For me, it's clearly marine biology, but especially marine biology of the inner tidal zone and the creatures and seaweed that live there.

[ camera shutter clicks ] Oh, they're so pretty.

And I think what gets me is when I go out in that tide pool and I see those lovely nudibranchs, I just am amazed.

There they are, doing their thing for thousands of years, and now I'm part of that.

[ ♪♪♪ ] These old combines aren't much good for harvesting wheat these days.

But they're perfect for a different, more destructive task.

[ metal clanging ] [ welder sizzling ] NOAH: Jeff Duyck and his brother, Dave, are modifying this combine tractor, but they don't intend to harvest any wheat.

We're taking these derelict combines and we're reinforcing them so that we can go out and crash and bang them together and have some fun.

--a bit more of that sheet metal off of there, so it sits down in there.

They're preparing for the 25th annual Combine Derby.

It happens every summer in Banks, Oregon.

Kind of like a destruction derby, car destruction derby, but we just do it with bigger toys.

Dave started the competition back in 2000.

Back then, there were only five contestants, but each year it grew more popular.

REPORTER: The annual Combine Demolition Derby highlight of the weekend.

NOAH: A generation later, it's a bona fide tradition.

[ saw whirring, then shuts off ] It'll be Jeff's second year in the derby.

He's making sure his combine's ready to take a beating by reinforcing it with metal plates.

His wife, Candace, is also participating in the competition.

Good morning.

It'll be her first time.

I've watched a whole bunch of years, so it's one of those things where I'm going to do it.

She's also making history, at least in Banks.

She'll be the first woman to compete since the derby started 25 years ago.

Pretty!

CANDACE: That's pretty cool.

I used to watch "Wonder Woman" when I was a kid growing up and everything, and the kids love the superheroes.

Turn it a little bit.

This is your forward and back.

Okay.

Hydrostatic.

Go out there and practice with your turning brakes, doing some spins.

CANDACE: So I haven't been in a tractor or a combine in a long time, so I need to run out here and spin some cookies in the field before I head down the road and make sure it's good to go.

JEFF: They're just outdated.

We can't afford to run them anymore.

And so we make toys out of them.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ upbeat music plays on film reel ] In the 1940s, the country was growing, and so was the demand for grain.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: It's a friendly sound when the motor whirs... NOAH: Farmers needed a way to harvest a lot of it... fast.

Enter the self-propelled combine, a machine that, well, combined multiple jobs in one pass: reaping, threshing, and winnowing.

[ engine rumbling ] But like all machines, they eventually become outdated.

So instead of collecting dust in a shed, they get a second life, smashing into each other.

[ horn honking in distance ] JEFF: We're in Banks, Oregon, of course.

Tractor pull, truck pull.

Just a big happening, big family weekend.

[ ♪♪♪ ] MAN: I've already gone for seconds.

They really go just full bore, and it's just a great day.

[ people chattering ] Drivers all have helmets, 410.

And they know it's a two-minute heat.

Do some good head-ons.

Don't run over a flagger.

JEFF: I just can't wait to get out there today and just have some fun.

We're all geared up to smash and crash and get her done.

The derby has three rounds, or heats.

The first two each pit four combines against one another.

The final round is a free-for-all with whatever machines are still running.

The last combine moving is usually the winner.

JEFF: How you doing there, man?

Good.

So you driving?

Just that little green one there.

[ man laughs ] Oh!

And she's driving the big orange one.

MAN: Oh, Lord have mercy.

I'm gonna be in the first heat of four.

She's gonna be in the second heat of four.

Hopefully, our two are the only ones running after all those.

And then it'll be marriage counseling on the track.

Yeah, whatever.

[ both laughing ] [ ♪♪♪ ] [ announcer speaking indistinctly ] Fire up your engines!

Get her done!

[ air horn blares ] [ ♪♪♪ ] JEFF: [ chuckles ] Got him.

[ crowd cheering ] Oh, Jeff, don't take out the front tire.

JEFF: Yeah!

I love it!

Too much fun.

[ air horns blaring ] [ crowd cheering ] Did I sustain any damage?

DAVE: I don't think you did.

JEFF: Yeah, we're in good shape.

ANNOUNCER: --we got Wonder Woman.

Who wants Wonder Woman?

[ crowd cheering ] Driven by Candace!

And then the Silver Bullet, a three-time winner here at the Banks Combine Demolition Derby.

CANDACE: Oh, [ bleep ].

There we go.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ air horns blaring ] The second heat just finished.

Unfortunately for Candace, her front tire's valve stem snapped.

CANDACE: Does that mean I'm out?

I can't run it anymore then?

Can't run anymore.

You have a flat tire.

Without a working front tire, her combine is basically done.

You know, if I had a spare here, that would've solved my problem today.

Yep.

But, no, I don't have one.

So it's all good.

I'll be back next year to show these boys how it's done.

Jeff had better luck.

His combine's damage is mostly cosmetic.

And luckily for him, no one's judging on presentation.

[ ♪♪♪ ] [ air horns blaring ] At this point, the field is littered with scrap metal, shredded tires, and unidentifiable parts.

And the combines look like they've been through a war zone, but the competition presses on.

[ air horns blaring ] When the dust settles, there are only two combines still running, Jeff's being one of them.

The announcers turn the decision over to the crowd.

ANNOUNCER: Who votes for Hulk?

[ crowd cheering loudly ] For Hulk!

[ announcer speaking indistinctly ] In only his second combine derby, Jeff takes home the win.

Jeff you won.

I did.

How does it feel?

Well, better than last year.

I got second.

That's right.

What's gonna happen next year?

We're going to come back and do it again.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Oh, that way.

There we go.

There we go.

Now that the competition's over, the contestants focus on getting the combines off the field and back home so they can fix them up for next year.

JEFF: That's the strategy, is to take out the back end so they can't steer or they can't move.

Didn't take names, I just stopped them all.

I mean, I had no idea what kind of an adrenaline rush it would be until you're in that seat.

You can call the combine derby chaotic, reckless, or downright absurd, but Jeff and Candace just call it fun.

Yeah, it's as fun as it looks.

Absolutely.

It's more fun.

[ ♪♪♪ ] Two decades ago, Field Guide reported the outlook was bleak for the whitebark pine trees at Crater Lake National Park.

But since then, scientists have been working on a solution.

And now there's new hope.

CASSANDRA: For Richard Sniezko, the scenic rim of Crater Lake is also a battleground.

This is a whitebark pine, and it's right on the rim of Crater Lake, and you can see this branch has a major canker from the white pine blister rust disease.

He's fighting to save these trees from an invasive fungus called blister rust that came from Europe.

Oh, here's another one.

So, geez, like, there's one, there's one, there's one, there's one there.

They will grow down to the stem of the tree and affect the stem of the tree.

They will then girdle the tree and they can kill the tree.

Those spores are orange, and so it looks like a blister, and so it's called blister rust.

The whitebark pine trees at Crater Lake National Park are iconic.

They're one of the only tree species built to survive the harsh conditions on what's left of Mount Mazama.

And Richard is on a decades-long quest to keep them there.

We're kind of the triage.

We've got to fix the problem.

So, to me, it's a puzzle.

This will be another one that we're following.

And people who know me, I leave kind of no stone unturned.

The threat of blister rust is nothing new for Crater Lake National Park.

Field Guide detailed the problem way back in 2002.

STEVE AMEN: Park ecologist Dr.

Michael Murray says small warts on whitebark pine trees are as deadly as chainsaws.

MICHAEL: The way I see it right now, the extinction of whitebark pine in the park is imminent.

I expect us to lose about 90% of the whitebark pine in this park at least.

Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone on the park staff can do to stop trees from dying.

There's no doubt that we're being beat here.

[ sighs ] CASSANDRA: Back then, the outlook was bleak.

But not everyone believed there was nothing they could do.

You can see a young Richard testing a possible solution by intentionally infecting young pines with the blister rust fungus.

We collect leaves of currants and gooseberries from the wild that are infected with the disease of blister rust.

These are the spores that we'll be dropping on the pines that will infect the pine trees.

So now, more than 20 years later, we're checking up on this problem.

Are the trees surrounding Crater Lake still doomed?

This is one that shows the orange.

First off, the work hasn't really changed.

Richard still grows lots of whitebark pine trees in the same greenhouse, using seeds collected from the forest.

Ready?

Then, he tries to kill them.

This fog chamber provides the optimal environment for the disease to progress, for the spores to fall and infect the pine.

Yeah, we'll go down here first.

Richard then watches the trees for years to see how they respond to blister rust infection.

This is whitebark pine.

What you're gonna see now is which seedlings have cankers and which ones have needle spots and which ones don't have cankers.

This one probably has about ten different cankers on it.

There's a canker.

There's a canker.

Canker, canker, canker.

Probably in three months, all those cankers will grow together, and then next spring or summer, the seedling will die.

Within a year, we know the most susceptible ones, okay, because they're usually 100% cankered.

They will start to die soon after that.

Just looking over here, you can see massive mortality from blister rust.

But not all of the trees die.

Our best whitebark pine might have seven survivors left out of ten.

At this point, he's grown tens of thousands of trees from forests across Oregon, Washington, and California to test them for genetic resistance to blister rust.

And he's found quite a few survivors.

As we started seeing the level of resistance there, I think that surprised almost everybody.

But growing a forest of surviving trees requires some extra work.

These tree climbers are part of a plan to crossbreed the surviving trees.

Testing shows this tree and its offspring can survive blister rust infection.

So tree climbers scale the tree to pollinate it with pollen from other resistant trees.

MAN: Slide this right through where your carabiner is.

They cage the pine cones to keep them from getting eaten by birds.

The Clark's nutcracker depends on eating their seeds.

And they collect the resulting cones to grow more seedlings.

Got all our cones, still in cages.

RICHARD: These are the first crosses made out in the wild in Oregon and Washington between two resistant trees of whitebark pine.

You can actually see a seed in there.

All right.

So this is a good spot right here.

You can see, growing here just fine.

So we chose this.

We would go down further, but it's too dangerous.

This is the spot!

Thousands of the surviving seedlings have been planted on the landscape over the past ten years.

Park biologist Thomas Allen is tasked with planting 600 of them this year.

Whitebark pine is critical to the ecosystem at Crater Lake National Park, and these trees are still in decline.

But park staff hope to plant enough new resistant trees that they'll replace the older trees as they die.

Hopefully it grows up to live many hundreds of years.

It's exciting, you know.

Trial and error.

Some days it's one step forward, two steps back, but then we can have these little "aha" moments and say, "Well, this is working."

It's a hope.

This ancient pine is known as the grandmother tree.

You can only estimate just how old it is, how majestic it is.

I'm thinking 6- to 800 years.

It's so beautiful.

We don't-- We don't want to see it go.

We see no signs of blister rust here.

I mean, it's just a grand old lady.

Thomas says this is the future he wants for the trees he's planting.

These resistant trees were planted in 2009.

They're part of a future forest that's more likely to withstand the blister rust invasion.

I think there's 302 trees that were planted here and there's now something like 76% survival.

THOMAS: A lot of them are holding on and looking good.

Richard and park staff are still watching these trees and learning from them, especially when they get infected.

RICHARD: How many of these will survive over time?

And so we have an expectation, but out in the wild, it could be completely different and it could happen over 20 or 30 years that this is happening.

So it's not something that you have the results in five years.

Whitebark pine was listed as a threatened species in 2023.

And other threats still loom for them, especially in a warming climate with declining snowpack, like the mountain pine beetle that killed this tree.

And if we go over here... But thanks to decades of genetics work by researchers like Richard, they're no longer facing imminent extinction here at Crater Lake National Park or across the Northwest.

Blister rust in many areas will be more a minor nuisance rather than a major problem that threatens the existence of the species.

It's gratifying to have that type of accomplishment.

You can say, "Hey, you solved the blister rust problem."

[ ♪♪♪ ] Major support for Oregon Field Guide is provided by... Additional support provided by... and the following and contributing members of OPB and viewers like you.