It’s been awhile since my last post.  Time has been flying, once again faster than I thought possible.  The halfway point of my internship very suddenly became less than a month remaining.  It’s equally exciting, terrifying, and sad that my time in Lakeview is nearly at an end!

My crewmate and I hit our target of 35 seed collections almost a month ago now, but that hasn’t slowed us down one bit.  We are continuing to collect seeds for SOS (including one that turned out to be a misidentified non-native – oops!), as well as making several collections for local use.  We have also been doing some large collections for the other office in our district, in Klamath Falls.  I’m glad we hit our collection target when we did, because outside of riparian areas, most every plant around here is crispy to the point of disintegrating.  Very different from my home, where the summer monsoons are pushing up fresh blooms even now!  That said, I am super excited for some sagebrush collections we have coming up!

The other advantage to hitting our target early was that it allowed us to shift focus a bit, getting the most out of the experience and networking opportunities this internship provides.  My crewmate and I were trained in a couple different riparian habitat assessment methods.  We have also been doing a lot of vegetation inventories, as well as planning a pollinator-friendly garden.  Working with a new variety of people has served as great networking and has also helped break up the job and make it exciting!  I’m always eager to learn new things and meet new people.

We also got to visit the Bend seed extractory, as well as some native plant nurseries in the region.  Both visits were super exciting and informative; after doing seed collection for a few months, it was nice to see the other sides of the business and the ultimate result of our efforts.  It has also inspired me to start looking at nursery work during the off season!

I have learned so much these past few months, about plants, land management, and most importantly, myself.  I’m excited for a little bit of rest once my season is over, but I can’t reiterate just how good a step taking this internship was for me.  Here’s hoping the last few weeks are smooth and enjoyable!

Brennan Davis, BLM – Lakeview, OR

Hi all,

August was such a great month of collecting for us. Our month started with a 2-man, 2-day trip of Jake and I to Merchant’s Millpond SP, Alligator River NWR, Mattamuskeet NWR, Swanquarter NWR, and Pettigrew SP. It was my first trip as a pair instead of a whole group, and I think it went really smoothly! We actually made six collections in just two days! We collected Cladium mariscoides (NOT mariSIcoides – no), Bolboschoenus robustus (… of course), Schoenoplectus pungens (also of course), Borrichia frutescens (NOT frUCtescens – no), and Hibiscus moscheutos.

Cute little snake ready to take my life.

Our second trip was a longer 4-day affair. We went to some amazing places, but I think my favorite was Presquile NWR. Which is funny, because we spent hours attempting to get through to a wetland area to no avail. We fought swamp-butt, poison hemlock, briars and spiders… and we lost. BUT – the place is absolutely beautiful and has a ton of amazing plants. We actually found a goldenrod we had been searching for – Solidago juncea, so that was worth it! I also saw my first passionflower – Passiflora incarnata – in the wild at Presquile! It was beautiful and beginning to fruit! Our collections here include Teucrium canadense, Schoenoplectus pungens, Schoenoplectus americanus, Pontederia cordata, and Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani.

Pontederia cordata +1

False Cape State Park

Jake on our boat ride to Presquile NWR.

Passiflora incarnate as Presquile.

Pink hands from dying my hair Pokeweed purple (all the rage with the kids) and milkweed seeds!!

Jake and Caroline at Rappahannock River Valley NWR in Virginia.

Back Bay NWR – Jake and Caroline

Next up, a short trip to Jockey’s Ridge SP, Pea Island NWR, Currituck Banks Reserve, and Mackay Island NWR. Here we collected Bolboschoenus robustus, and Schoenoplectus pungens… plus I found out that I am a skilled photographer and that eggs get nervous.

Model – Sammy W (plus egg)

Currituck Banks Reserve – majestic maritime forest.

Our last big trip to end August started with a Tripsacum dactyloides collection – wooooo! I actually love collecting Tripsacum… something about the way it just breaks off into your hand when you touch it (weird?). Anyway, we collected it at Lake Anna State Park which is beautiful. Just look…

SEE!?

We also hit up Gunpowder Falls State Park, where we went on a few mile hike to a pond area that wasn’t actually a pond area anymore. BUT the hike was nice and the view on the way wasn’t so bad either.

Ahh, nothing like the silhouette of Equisetum.

Our full collection for this trip included: Tripsacum dactyloides, Bolboschoenus robustus, Fimbristylis castanea, Teucrium canadense, Hibiscus moscheutos, Panicum virgatum, and Borrichia frutescens.

Eastern Neck NWR starring Sammy W and Rhexia

“I got paid for thiiiis” (sung like Beyonce’s ‘I woke up like this’). Eastern Shore of VA NWR / Spartina heaven.

Last but DEFINITELY not least is Conoclinium coelestinum – blue mistflower, my favorite.

I can’t help but think about how fortunate I am for this opportunity every single day, and I can’t wait to see what this internship still has awaiting! Thanks for reading!

Melanie

California’s hot and dry summer season is finally changing to its less hot, but still dry fall.  September has arrived, and I’m starting to need a light sweater on my morning bike ride to work. Who knows, maybe we might even get some rain soon (fingers crossed). Even though the weather is cooling down, all the plants are gone, so that makes me really sad. This is a huge bummer, since forensic botany is more frustrating and dissatisfying than exhilarating. I’m already looking forward to next spring, so I can use my Jepson and Sierra Nevada Laws book to key out Calochortus amoenus, Calochortus venustus, Calochortus clavatus, Pedicularis groenlandica, and Aquilegia pubescens. 

Lately, we haven’t really focused on Seeds of Success, because there isn’t much to collect anymore. Instead, we’ve been helping out with SSP (special status plants), Juniper mapping, and water rights. Sometimes our routine days feel monotonous , but I usually can count on seeing interesting wildlife. Nature is unpredictable, and you never know when you’re going to hear a hidden rattling rattlesnake a few feet away, but it sure makes a forgetful day unforgettable. And sometimes nature’s unpredictability is less dangerous, like when I saw 40+ sagegrouse on my way to a Juniper plot. Or like the times, we saw a badger on our way to Skeddadles and a squirreltail monster on our way to Bull Creek. You’re probably wondering about the latter. Well, if you ever read Goosebumps as a kid, imagine the slime monster from Monster Blood, or a very large squishy sea cucumber. The way it rocked back and forth with the wind made it seem like it was breathing, and then it would pick itself up like a dust devil, and join forces with other squirretail haboobs. It was kind of incredible, and I wish I had a video of it, but alas, I don’t. Then, there are the times, when field work is just downright weird.

Marilyn Monroe visiting Susanville

When I’m not in the field, I’m usually working on my answer to the commonly asked, yet dreaded “So what’s next” question. I’ve spent the last week, debating whether I finally have an answer. I was offered a position in Irvine, as a field crew assistant doing invasive species removal and other related restoration projects. There are obviously so many benefits to having a job, like getting paid. If I accept this position, I will also be closer to a climbing gym (only 10 miles, instead of 90), ocean (<20 miles, instead of 300), and my family and friends (70 miles, instead of 600). But if I take the position, I will be further away from the Sierras, the cool Sierra plants, and no traffic. But nothing is flowering anyways, so I shouldn’t make my decision based on the plants, even though it should be a huge factor. I should also mention that this is a great position, but I doubt I will be gaining any additional field and technical skills, that I will likely learn at other jobs (if anyone starts hiring). As you can probably see, I’m very back and forth about this position (I’m starting to feel like the squirreltail monster). I’ll probably have an answer by my next blog…but I’m already overwhelmed with the subject, so it’s time to move on.

I spend my free time reading books (from my long ambitious summer reading list), cooking, and learning about plants. I’m really enjoying the subtle transition to adult-life. A few years ago, I used to cringe at the idea of living a structured and balanced life. I remember wishing to live off the land or in my SUV, away from all the noise and people. It’s really funny how people grow, and therefore change (Bridesmaids reference). In the last year, I’ve noticed that I’m a lot happier when I have goals (career and adventure), and the way I balance my life, usually determines whether I will accomplish said goals. I think I really struggled with this in college, because everyone was so “chill” and carefree. After taking some time off from school, and now, living in the middle of nowhere, I’m learning to balance both lifestyles. I guess you could say my motto is “work hard, play hard.” I’m starting to use backpacking as my outlet to live the free and untamed life I ached for when I was younger. Soon, I’ll be going on a ten day trip to Yosemite, and will be backpacking for six days and camping for four. Then, I’ll be going to Tahoe, for the Tahoe Rim Trail…I’ve accumulated a lot of comp time.

Oh, and I’m also starting to feel like a botanist, which is a really sick feeling. I think it’s so cool when I see a plant, and either know what it is, or can key it to Family or Genus, without a field guide. I get hella stoked when I see Calochortus and Penstemon. I especially love Penstemon newberryi, because it’s pink and grows all over the Sierras. If I take the 36 to the 89 and hang a right, I can usually find a fat population of Penstemon newberryi growing along the granite rock edges. #shakabruh

P.S. My housemate is from the East Coast, and finds entertainment in my Californian vocabulary. This last paragraph was inspired by Jillian Sarazen.

My internship has concluded and it was a very good experience.  I had to leave earlier than I expected, which meant I didn’t get to visit every place in the park I wanted to, but things happen.  Perhaps I will visit again.  I found over 20 new populations of state-listed plants in the canal including 4 entirely new rare species.  I also found a population of Ptilimnium nodosum (Harperella) which is a federally-endangered plant.  Check out my previous entry for more details on that find.

I learned a lot about managing a large database of rare plants.  The amount of rare plant records for this park meant that I couldn’t possibly survey for all of them in one field season.  One challenge was prioritizing which plants to survey for.  I gravitated towards the shale barren habitats within the park.  I found these to be the most interesting to survey.

My last trip into the field was to survey a shale barren habitat.  I found a new population of the globally-vulnerable (G3) Trifolium virginicum.  This is one of the discoveries I was most excited about.  I can’t quite explain it but I really enjoy seeing this plant.  On this field trip I found a population with newly established clumps and one clump that had seedlings sprouting.  I was pretty excited when I saw this and considered it a fitting end to my internship experience at the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park.

Trifolium virginicum. One clump of a new population I found on my last day of field surveying.

This picture shows the habit of the seed heads to hang down around the base of the plants. They blend in very well with the shale talus.

This is a closer view of the seed heads. If you look closely you can see the seedlings sprouting.

Coleman Minney

Field Botany Intern

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

This past week we were able to experience some new things in the field office. On Monday and Tuesday, Brian and Laura came from Chico to do some mapping on the Skedaddle mountains. They are working on a large vegetation mapping project, which aims to map all vegetation in California. It was interesting to hear about their work. Our main purpose was to help them get up to the Skedaddles. I never appreciated what Jeeps are capable of until working with the BLM. I sort of compare the Rubicon Jeeps we drive to full suspension mountain bikes that can roll over a pile of rocks with relative ease. Nothing could have prepared me to understand how much off road driving we would be doing in this job, but now it seems only normal to bounce around in the car every day. Once we got up to the Skedaddles (around a 2 hour drive) we got out and hiked to their random vegetation plots. This was the first time we had hiked through aspen groves. From a distance it doesn’t look possible for there to be deciduous trees on these quite bare and rocky mountains, but sure enough in the wetter spots there are some beautiful green groves of aspen. They look at species within 30 meters of the random point and take soil texture samples. At non-tree/shub vegetation plots they also make a 10 by 10 meter square and do visual estimates of plant cover. We were able to help with the soil texture samples, which was fun because we got to get our hands dirty. Coming down off of one of the Skedaddles on Tuesday we got to see a little bird nest in a sagebrush with baby chicks! They were very cute. The best part of accompanying and transporting the mapping crew was that we got to have two gorgeous views from the top of two different peaks of the Skedaddles both days (>7,000 feet). The first day we had a stunning view on a windy summit looking east into Nevada. It was fun to see a very blue looking Pyramid Lake, which none of us had seen before. The second day we were able to see the dry bed of Honey Lake and more of the familiar spine of the northern most Sierras. This week was cooler than it has been, but it was also such a temperature relief to be up at a higher elevation.

The past two days this week we went out to learn about lentic AIM with a crew from the Eagle Lake Field Office and the Alturas (Applegate) Office. The BLM is trying to create a new protocol for collecting data on the vegetation and condition of springs. It was interesting to hear different people bring up ideas and introduce thoughts on how the protocol can be developed in the next few years. It is easy for policy to be written, but implementing it in the field is much more challenging. What happens if a pedestal (where soil has been lost due to cow trampling) is sloped at an angle, or has less than 50 % vegetation? How do you measure it and where do you measure it? How long are the transects? How many transects can you do? Where do you prioritize your work? Which springs do you visit and how often? These questions and many questions like these were what the group grappled with for the afternoon. It was encouraging to hear that those working to develop the protocol, one being Melissa from the NOC Colorado office who visited us, are trying to integrate methods from other protocols that already work well. Visiting trampled springs always makes me feel somewhat at a loss inside. It’s pretty depressing to see what once was probably beautiful and green just a strip of trampled grass with significant soil loss. All of the spaces between the pedestals are where soil has been lost. Although we are collecting a lot of native seed for restoration, we have all agreed that there really isn’t any point trying to put it here unless these springs get fenced. It was nice to have the perspective of the range technicians because they were able to explain how areas have to be fenced with consideration for how the wild horses will access the water. Pat, one of the range managers, explained how you would need to create a fence in a “V” shape in order for them to go around the fence without running through it. It seems like there is a fair amount of fencing that needs to be done before some of the riparian seeds can be effectively used for restoration.

The next spring we visited had a very springy bed of grass in the channel, which almost felt like sphagnum moss. Melissa called this a fen, and estimated that the amount of organic matter (perhaps 30 centimeters) would have taken over hundreds of years to form. Unfortunately it doesn’t take that long to destroy. Valda, our mentor, said that the sides of this channel used to be crisp and vertical so that the cows did not go down, but now the banks have eroded so that the cows are able to come down to the channel with water and create trouble. Apparently the area around this site was an archaeology site, so no fencing could be put in before the area was surveyed. It will probably take a while for this to be done. I wonder what the condition of the spring will be by then.

A few days ago, Jocelyn and I had quite an adventurous day in the field. We set out to collect mimulus seeds, but were unlucky in finding pods that still had seed in them. The pods of the seeds are somewhat see through, and all of the very small seeds are visible in a thin black line at the bottom of the pod if they are still there. The pods were dried and the wind had blown most of the seed out by this time. We have definitely struggled somewhat with timing for seed collections. The other day we went to collect Lotus corniculatus, but we were too early, and most of the pods were still green. Though Lotus corniculatus is not native, it is a forb that the sage grouse enjoy eating, so we have been asked to collect it. However, we were successful in coming across a rattlesnake for the first time in the field while walking around. It rattled consistently; we paused, and then turned around. It was frightening mostly because we couldn’t see where it was or if it was moving. Upon returning to the office we were told that only baby rattle snakes rattle continuously, and they are also not able to control how much venom they use. Needless to say, we felt pretty lucky to have escaped unharmed. While we were driving out to our next site to check for more Lotus corniculatus, we happened upon a pot garden. It was on private land, and these sites are not usually as dangerous as the ones tucked away on BLM land, but it still freaked us out a fair amount. So the two things I’ve been wondering when I would see in the field office were seen in one day!

I forgot to mention that last week we had some small earthquakes here! It’s exciting to experience small earthquakes, but still a bit shocking when they wake you up from your sleep early in the morning. They do serve as a nice reminder of the interesting geologic setting we are in. The geology is pretty stunning in the west. Our field office manager has a background in geology, and it has been fun to talk with him about how much this place rocks.

Well, time seems to be going so fast, I already only have about 5-6 weeks left! Since my last post we have begun only one new project: counting juvenile sucker vertebrae (using the x-rays of specimens collected from 2006-2008), to determine if there was a presence of Lost River Suckers spawning in rivers above Upper Klamath Lake. You can figure this out by counting the spinal vertebrae and if there are 45-47 this means that the fish is a Lost River Sucker, the other non target species will have less than this, and the majority of what we counted only had counts of 41-42.

The time is now approaching to finish up our sucker rearing projects and we will be collecting the fish to be relocated to a separate pond for future study in the next 2 weeks. We have been discussing how the office would like us to write our final reports and will be jumping on that very soon as well.

A small side project my co-intern, Molly, and I have been doing is raising monarch caterpillars to butterflies. When they transform into butterflies they are being released with a sticker on them so that they can be monitored and tracked during their migration. A sample of scales from their abdomen are also being collected to test for a nasty protozoan parasite called OE, which exist as spores.  Also, if a Monarch Caterpillar has this it can cause deformity of development in the chrysalis stage, thus making the butterfly who emerges weaker and less likely to survive. This information is being collected for Washington State University.

In the last weeks of summer I have been trying to take every opportunity that I can to explore as much of the region that I can. I recently spent four days in the Redwood State parks in Northern California, one day at each park I was near including the Jedadiah Smith, Del Norte, and Prairie Creek. This trip was absolutely magical and I never imagined that anything like these parks existed in the United States. Even the sheer amount of vegetation on these areas amazed me (I have developed a strong interest in ferns since being in the Pacific Northwest). I also had an interesting experience happen while in the Jedadiah Smith. While coming back from the Boy Scout Tree trail I was alone with no one around and started to hear a flute. I looked around and did not see anyone nearby still and continued to keep walking, it was almost like the trees were singing to me. After walking a little over half a mile or so I then saw a woman standing behind a tree with a Native American flute. When i saw her I told her what I had thought and she replied that the trees were in fact singing to me because she was playing a flute made from the Redwood trees. I believe she was a member of the Yurok tribe in the area.

I have gone many other places with my time off but should probably not list them all for this would be too long of a post. All I know is that each day seems to be going by too quickly and I am not ready for either the summer or my position with the  USFWS to be over. This has been such a great experience and I am so happy to be learning so many different things and see so many beautiful places in the region.

Shilah Allen

with USFWS, Klamath Falls, OR

My third month here in Casper has continued to be eventful and informative.  The resources crew here at the BLM field office is slowly making the transition from the summer field season to the fall.  This means a relative break in field work in favor of data analysis and review; some of the less engaging activities at face value.

In terms of my own paperwork and projects, I have finished and submitted the end of the year summary report on raptor nesting activity for 2016.  It was a long project to complete, involving entering all of the observation report data into a geodatabase, mapping and documenting the discovery of new nests, and researching the history of active nests to compare to current nest activity.  This allows us to continue to ensure that development (oil and gas specifically in this area) does not disturb the raptors during this crucial period.   This concludes all raptor monitoring and analysis for the season, until the bald eagle roosting season begins in December.

We have also begun the data analysis process for all of the vegetation and cheatgrass monitoring data that we collected over the past three months (and even data from previous years).  We worked with specialists here in the BLM to develop a Microsoft Access database that allows us to input all of the data from our field sheets into the database.  Whenever we are not working in the field or are otherwise engaged, we work to enter all of the datasheets into the database.  Once this is completed, we will be able to analyze trends in vegetation data over past months/years, and detect vegetation response to certain treatments.  We are specifically interested in the response of cheatgrass to aerial herbicide treatments in the past, and in what areas require additional herbicide treatments.

I have also been given the privilege of being allowed to sit in on various meetings for many active projects in the BLM.  These projects include processing applications for permits to drill, free land use permits, and other land management proposals.  It has been very interesting to learn the process by which a federal wildlife biologist evaluates the ecological health of a certain area, and what stipulations can/should be applied to ensure any development of federal lands or minerals is done sustainably.  In fact, some projects, such as development of an oil well pad, require comprehensive reclamation plans in which there is a net conservation gain after all activities.  In other words, the BLM requires that the project location be restored to better ecological condition than it was before the development took place.  It is difficult to measure how successful these actions are, especially with native species such as sagebrush having such long developmental cycles, but it is encouraging to know that reclamation is a priority for land managers here.

Some of these projects require wildlife surveys for clearance, and I have been fortunate enough to perform some of these surveys.  This includes exploring the area and recording the presence of any wildlife, but paying particular attention to specific species of interest, such as the Greater Sage Grouse or certain species of raptors.  These species are protected under certain laws and therefore are of greatest importance in evaluating disturbance impacts.

Lastly, we have made some progress in our Wood Duck reintroduction project.  The aim of this project is to encourage wood ducks to repopulate nearby riparian areas and wetlands.  There are certain associated challenges however, such as the low availability of wetland corridors to reach appropriate areas of habitat, and the fact that those areas that are on public land can be very difficult to reach.  However, we have prepared two wood duck boxes (previously constructed by boy scouts and recently modified by helpful firefighters) to be set up once we can decide on the best locations.  I have contacted multiple other organizations who have implemented successful wood duck projects to ask for suggestions or advice.  If possible, I plan to set up a camera trap near the boxes to monitor their use by wildlife.

Outside of work, I have continued to explore all the amazing natural areas located in this region of the country.  Recently, I journeyed to Glacier National Park, where I experienced the most amazing views that I have ever seen in the U.S., as well as an abundance of wildlife including moose, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats (the first I’ve ever seen).  I plan to continue to take full advantage of every experience, personal and professional, that Casper has to offer, and I look forward to my last two months with the BLM!

Things have been busy here at the BLM Mother Lode Field Office in El Dorado Hills, CA.

Some background:

I am working mainly on the Pine Hill Preserve, which is a series of fragmented parcels, co-managed between 10 different agencies, including BLM. The Pine Hill Preserve (PHP) contains 8 rare plants and about 10% of California’s native flora in just 5,000 acres, which is highly fragmented due to urban developments. The diversity of the native plants in this area is largely accredited to gabbro soils of the rescue series.

On the preserve I have been familiarizing myself more with the area’s flora and scouting for seed collections for next year with one of the other interns here. I have also been collecting pollinators to put together a plant-pollinators list for the PHP, mainly for the native plants. This has been a very interesting project for me as the pollinators have showed me plants that I may not have noticed otherwise. Unfortunately, the worst weeds that we have, yellow star thistle and stinkwort, both bloom late summer, so there has been a healthy amount of weed pulling done as well, but it is nice to look back at an area and know that it is nearly weed-free after being a bit of an abomination. There have also been a handful of small fires on the preserve and luckily I don’t believe that anyone has been hurt. Fire is good for the rare plants but the disturbance of bulldozers may end up bringing weeds in, so it is a catch-22.

Off of PHP I have done a couple of raptor surveys with the Cosumnes River Preserve, which is about 30 miles south of Sacramento. The highlight for me was seeing a peregrine falcon perched atop a light-pole and then seeing it chase a small flock of pigeons. My group also saw a sharp-shinned hawk and some red-shouldered hawks, which I hadn’t seen in real-life, before, so that was really cool.

The most glamorous of all was the large trash cleanup that our BLM office did way up in the hills, where people are not required to pay for a garbage pickup service, so some of them take the shortcut and just dump their trash on BLM land. Slick idea except for throwing out trash that is/was addressed to their house. Hopefully a friendly visit by BLM ranger, or a ticket in the mail, will help them to change their ways. We cleaned up the mess this time anyway and it was pretty foul but I’ll save the readers from too much detail about the smell of a dead animal and then some other really pleasant stuff…

On that note I am logging out! Until next time!

Me standing in the burned area looking across the dozer line to the fuel break, which allowed Calfire to stop the fire.

A trail through the same burned area. There was not much in the way of living material left in the fires tracks.

One of the pollinators of PHP’s rare Fremontodendron californicum ssp. decumbens, loaded with pollen.

-Landon, BLM Mother Lode Field Office

Since our last encounter, myself and the other intern have camped in the Trout Creek Mountains in southeastern Oregon near the Nevada border. Our first night camping was the summer solstice, June 20^th. The sun set around 10:30 PM that night. Within the next hour, it was light again…but from the moon. The moon was the brightest I have ever seen in my entire 24 and half years of life. Camping couldn’t be any better…well maybe with s’mores, but fires aren’t allowed due to the fire band this year since it is so dry!

The sunset.

The moon rise over the cliff we had to hike up the next morning.

The next morning, around 7:00 AM (Mountain Time)

Another night camping in the Trout Creeks. This was a beautiful sunset to watch.

Breakfast from the truck bed!

I really love the nights that we camp. I enjoy looking out into space, seeing so many stars, shooting stars, and satellites orbiting earth. Some weeks I’ve stay and slept at a BLM station. I’ve stayed in McDermitt, NV, Jordan Valley (Heart of the Owyhee’s), OR, and Rome, OR. These stations allow us to stay in the field and not have to commute every day from home – which would be 4 hours one way and it also allows us to not have to camp. There is this really great coffee place in Jordan Valley, called the Rock House. I have the frequent customer stamp card and yes I have gotten my free 11^th coffee. I get the lattes though, so good. I mean, I’m supporting the local business. According to Google, the population of Jordan Valley in 2013 was 175. Near Jordan Valley is Jordan Craters. McDermitt, NV is unincorporated. Google tells me the population of McDermitt in 2010 was 513. Rome, OR is also unincorporated. In Rome, you can visit the Pillars of Rome and the Owyhee Canyonlands. I have yet to do so.

To get to the field sites, we drive, A LOT! I’ve driven on gravel roads and on two-track roads, used 4-wheel drive, and have driven over large rocks. I haven’t hit the oil pan yet – and definitely plan not to. The idea is to drive over the rocks with your tires. Sometimes, you can’t even see the roads, since they aren’t used very often.

There are times when on the road, the two-track roads, are barely visible. This one time, myself and the other intern led the truck for a few miles, over very large rock and boulders hidden in the sea of large shrubs and thriving forbs.

Myself and the other intern guiding the truck through the valley.

The “road”.

Driving on public lands that allow cattle grazing have given myself the pleasure of seeing so. many. cows. So many.

Cattle and calves.

That’s the bull. He’s holding down the herd of cattle!

Cattle 🙂

Photos I have taken in the field to show you what we do in the field.

Here we are trying to get the roads to load on our GPS unit. When the roads wouldn’t load by adding the Base Layers, we would try to load the township, section, and range to figure out where we are and where we need to go.

Here we are mapping burned and unburned areas on the Trout Creek Mountains; commenting on which species of sagebrush was growing before the burn; if the site needed a planting or if there is good recruitment of sagebrush.

Setting up one of the transect lines, for the spoke, line point intercept surveys (at a vegetation site).

Determining the suitability of a lek site.

Always need to know where North points.

In this grassland, we’re trying to figure out what species of sagebrush this was.

Determining the suitability for a lek site.

Us conducting a line point intercept on a 25 meter transect (at a vegetation site).

Taking reference photos with the photo-board.

I am the official time keeper. I just keep track of the time. Also, I have a compass bracelet, given to me by my boyfriend, so I don’t get lost.

Field work views, sites, and experiences.

This is an ant hill we came across while hiking to one of our sites. Interestingly, the ant hill is surrounded by a species of Mimulus flowers (Monkey flowers).

I don’t know who’s idea it was to plant Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), but it was definitely a bad idea. We had to hike through seas of cheatgrass and if you don’t wear the correct attire, like I didn’t this day, they will get all into your pants, socks, and boots. The seeds are so sharp, they are painful when they start to rub against your ankles and boot while hiking. My roommate told me how one day she had to hike through a sea of cheatgrass and I did not understand what she meant. This day, I understood. I UNDERSTOOD!

Cheatgrass all up in sock and boot.

The field day gets exciting when you find deer antlers that have been shed off. But first lemme take a selfie.

Look tumble mustard! Look I’m a cheerleader!

While hiking around to lek and vegetation sites, we came across burned Mountain Mahogany trees. They got burned from the fires that occurred in 2012. This is at Trout Creek Mountains (near McDermitt, NV).

Well, that is all for now! I look forward to next time and sharing my Oregon adventures with you!

Myself at the Trout Creek Mountains near McDermitt, NV. with Disaster Peak behind me.

Cheers,

Michelle