Nobody ever said weeding was easy. Literally nobody has ever said this, because it would be crazy to say that. Weeding is the hardest thing that anybody anywhere has ever done since the start of time.

First of all, weeds generally grow pretty close to the ground. That means that you’re going to have to bend over to pull it. You may be thinking, “oh, that doesn’t sound so bad, I have to pick stuff up off the ground all the time”.  Bending over to pull a weed isn’t so bad the first time; Heck, even the second time isn’t so bad. By the 50th or 60th time though, you start to question what you did in your life to bring you to this point. How did all of your decisions lead you to this? What did you do to deserve this? But by the 200th or 300th plant, all the pain has washed away. You’ve entered a state of enlightenment. Where does the weed stop, where do I begin, aren’t we all everything anyways? This state of positivity lasts for maybe a hundred plants or so, then the aching back starts to worm its way into your consciousness.

Second of all, lots of weedy plants are either pokey, or like to grow near other plants that are pokey. And in my experience, pokey plants aren’t that much fun. On a related note, some weeds like to grow near the biggest bummer of a plant there is, poison oak.

Luckily for me, I’ve got help in my endless battle against invasive plants. I have been working with some high school aged kids to help remove invasives. Not only am I grateful for all the help, and the company (misery loving it and all that), but it has been a fascinating insight into youth culture. I’ve learned all sorts of interesting things. For example, if something is lit it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s on fire. It could just be fun and or good!

At the end of the day despite the sore backs, scratches, and rashes, it feels good to remove weeds. It feels good to know you’re making a positive impact on the ecosystem and the world. I’m not saying weeding is easy, but it is pretty lit.

Colin

BLM, West Eugene Wetlands

After a great week in Chicago at the CLM workshop, I have come back to the Buffalo field office to find a pile of work that has accumulated in my absence. Along with the field work entailed in abandoned/reclaimed well inspections, comes the necessary paperwork, so I’m not particularly surprised. Luckily, even the paperwork can be pretty interesting sometimes. With multiple operator changes, operators going bankrupt, and abandoned sites over 10 years old, it can be pretty big puzzle to piece together and each group of wells has its own challenges.

View riding home from the Buffalo Field Office.

There’s also often the added factor of split estate, where surface and mineral ownership is divided among multiple parties. Due to the Homestead Acts, particularly the Stock-Raising Homestead Act (1916), many wells have private citizens as surface landowners, with the federal government owning a portion or all of the mineral rights below. This is obviously important in the permitting process, but it is also key for any reclamation on those sites.

Heading down from the two-track to try and find the original well site.

While the BLM has conditions and requirements for a well to be released from bond, when it’s on private surface we defer to the wishes of the landowner for how they want the site to be reclaimed; this may also mean the site does not go completely back to its original, pre-development state, as it does on Public lands.

Ultimately what this means is a lot of research before going to a site – what’s the well’s status? Has the necessary paperwork been filed? What operator is responsible for the reclamation? Is there a landowner – if so is it the same landowner? And plenty more that are too long to list. All of this creates a framework for what we expect to see when we get there.

View from the old well site once we found it.

Often a site visit can bring up further questions, but it’s always great to go to the field and see a site that has successful revegetation, wildlife habitat/activity, and has finished the reclamation process. When you go out to the field and have trouble finding the original well site because of how well it has rejoined the surrounding landscape, it’s a good day.

After catching up on all the office work, the rest of our week was spent in the field – visiting reclamation sites, and joining some of the Environmental Protection Specialists (EPS) and Natural Resource Specialists (NRS) on their inspections and monitoring. They each have numerous projects going on so it’s always a great opportunity to learn more, plus they’re all a lot of fun to work with. I’m looking forward to some of the new projects we’ll be jumping on these next few weeks since they all have a different focus/involve a different work-group then we’ve experienced so far. It should keep things interesting!

– Christine

Buffalo, WY Field Office

Spill site an EPS in our office is monitoring. It has gone through bioremediation, and is starting to recover, but there’s a long way to go.

We are right in the thick of seed collection, here in the West Desert. It is hot and dry and I absolutely hate all the cheat grass seeds in my socks and shoes, but there is still something so satisfying about meeting goals and making collections.

Life is good out here in the desert!

BLM Salt Lake Field Office

Rolling into my 9th week, I am getting more comfortable with my surroundings and the lay of the land. Thanks to the SOS workshop I can more confidently scope out for possible seed collections and have a better grasp on what I need to do.

As time progresses us more into the summer the temperatures are increasing. Last week and all week long temperatures peaked at 112 degrees Fahrenheit. To deal with those temperatures, we had to be in the field early, before the heat took over. Thank goodness this week had highs of only 95 degrees, although I see another heat wave in the near future. With increasing temperatures, things are drying out quickly. Much of the Redding’s BLM land is covered in invasive grasses. They are now dried to a crisp and create fields of golden yellow-brown.

Sacramento River Bend Recreational Area

Seeds are starting to ripen with aid from this heat! Another collection has been made of a California fescue. This is particularly exciting because A) it is a big population of this fescue and has not been taken over by non-native grasses and B) it would come in handy for any future restoration projects. The collection was done under the canopy of grey pine so it was nice and shady when collecting and I did not have to stand out in the sun. This most definitely will not be true for other collections but at least there are some that can be done out of the sun.

California fescue collection sight

I have had one failed collection so far. I started a collection of Arnica discoidea before the training week. When I came back more well informed, I realized that this population was not big enough for a 10,000+ seed collection. Most of the seeds had been predated on or aborted and what I thought what a 50-60 seed flower head was more likely a 20-30 seed head. Oh well, it was a good experience learning the plant and now I know for future collections!

Some other issues have arisen in this past month as most of my collection plants start to ripen. I still feel as if I am not confident on when some seeds are ready to collect. Ceanothus integerrimus has explosive capsules, so I need to make sure to get there before the seed explode out of the capsule, but when would it be too early? Also, predation is a thing! My whole Kotolo milkweed population got wiped out by grasshoppers. All the flower heads had been eaten and only the vegetation remains. It will be hard to get seed from that one without any flowers! Looks like i’ll have to do some more scouting for more milkweed or just possibly another plant that has a large enough population!

This is the beautiful kotolo milkweed that we would of gotten seed from if not predation!

So being not a very picture oriented person, I have not taken too many photos of the field from last time I posted. But, I do have a nice photo of a Pyrola aphylla. This is seeming to pop of everywhere now and is always fun to see as it adds color to a brown landscape.

Pyrola aphylla

Cheers!

• Amanda at the Redding Field Office- BLM

Last Wednesday I left Indianapolis and made many stops on the way out to Buffalo-my home base for the next 5 months. I hiked at Badlands National Park, saw tons of wildlife in Custer State Park and the Black Hills, did some rock climbing in Spearfish Canyon, and stared in awe at Devil’s Tower for an evening.

Bison in Custer State Park

Devils Tower National Monument

Monday, my first day at the BLM Buffalo Field Office, was filled with learning including new names, acronyms, protocols, and more about the area. Despite all of the required training, I was still able to spend hours out in the field, even on Day 1!

Petrified Tree- one of the BLM sites in the Buffalo Field Office range!

The fact that my position entails being outside and exploring this beautiful country every day is what excites me most about the upcoming 5 months… So far, so good!

New England Wild Flower Society—27^th of June 2017

I am not new to fieldwork, but I am new to domestic fieldwork. This summer marks the first time I am muddying my boots, avoiding itch-inducing insects and learning the native flora on the lands of the United States. Previously I have worked in tropical forests, where it is no secret that hundreds of plant species can be found in an area smaller than the size of a football field. The tropical forests are diverse by all measures—it is something I have been hearing my whole life. This is why I didn’t give much thought to the diversity of New England plant life before beginning my internship.

A month in, I must admit that I still have not learned to identify every plant. In fact, a few New England genera include hundreds of species. (As a quick reminder, a genus is the first part of any organism’s scientific name. The species is the second part.) With almost 200 species, Carex takes the top spot as most speciose genus in New England. Since beginning our program on June 1^st, we have only spotted and identified about ten Carex, a mere fraction. Even those I need to study more.

As a hiker we met during one of our field outings exclaimed, It takes an expert to distinguish among the Carex. Fortunately, we always carry a handy book to help us in the field and back at the office with our pressed vouchers; Sedges of Maine: A Guide to Cyperaceae, which is written by experts. Sometimes, we flip through the Sedges of Maine until we find something that looks like the Carex standing in front of us. Sometimes the species is not even listed in the book. Still, we try our best to determine the correct species from the hundreds of possibilities.

Rather than order a copy (though it’s a great resource for anyone interested), read on for a quick introduction to Carex. As the title suggests, Carex are in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Sedges may be mistaken for grasses by an untrained eye, but sedges often have angled edges and may be triangular. Most grasses are round. Among sedges, Carex have one unique structure that sets them apart. The perigynium (PEAR-ih-GIN-eeyum) is a bottle-shaped structure that sheathes the female flower, which later becomes the Carex fruit. The Carex fruit is like a tiny nut and the perigyium shelters it from wind and animals until it is mature. Several perigynium, or perigynia, stack in a spiral shape along the Carex tip. The variation in species is often best seen by examining the texture or arrangement of the perigynia on the Carex. These are some of the first details we examine, but the width of the leaves, the height of the plant and the orientation of the perigynia are also important. Shown below are some examples of the diversity in Carex. Learn more on Go Botany.

Because the Carex are so diverse, they are found in several different habitats around New England. Our internship aids coastal restoration projects, so we will focus on the coastal Carex, but it is humbling to recognize the diversity in the genera and in New England. As well as the ease of which we can lose ourselves in the search for the right species name.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

P.S. My brother helped me with the title. Thank you, Daniel!

Carex stricta should be one of our first seed collections (Exeter, NH)

The perigynia of Carex comosa are very spiky and sometimes painful (Exeter, NH)

Compare the number of perigynia between Carex intumescens and Carex lupulina (Exeter, NH)

Well, another 3 weeks have flown by! It is hard to imagine that so much time has passed. As the title of this post implies, I have had countless experiences. I will just touch on a few I found most meaningful.

First, attending the CBG Workshop in Chicago was by far one of the greatest learning experiences I’ve had thus far. The knowledge I’ve gained gained on plants was heavily reinforced and jogged many memories from my graduate classes in Nebraska. Also, simply the real-talk on getting jobs after this internship were beyond beneficial. I feel slightly more prepared to apply for and get a job after the CLM Internship.

Second, we began monitoring the riparian systems the allotment we were assigned for the field season and continued monitoring the cattle. Having never worked on a riparian system, I was excited to learn whatever I could from my mentor and the permittee that accompanied us the first day. Just hearing the permittee’s thoughts on the land and management practices was amazing. The plethora of knowledge he had was quite surprising as well. I believe that his accompaniment further enhanced the learning process. He even went so far as to test us on the land formations around us after he taught us the names. That was unexpected pleasure and helped ingrain the names into my mind. My partner and I practiced saying the names of the formations while doing compliance checks for cattle.

Surveying for Cattle Compliance Within a Previously Burned Pasture

Last, the amazing views and critters I have seen while monitoring have been awe-inspiring. The abundance of Pronghorn still surprises me. The young of the year have grown so much in the past few weeks. It is interesting seeing how many are very timid and run at the sight of our truck but others wait until we get fairly close before bounding off with their mother.

Other critters we’ve seen thus far include sage grouse (with young!), Golden Eagle, Lark Sparrows, Lark Buntings, Mule Dear, and horny toads! I thought a horny toad was horny, toad but was surprised to find out it is a lizard (I honestly have not heard of them until coming to Wyoming). The horny toad was super cute and made our day in the field that much more pleasant.

Horny Toad Found While Doing Vegetation Monitoring

Photo from “Above the Rim” Near Our Allotment

I look forward to the weeks ahead in the field. Fingers-crossed we don’t get stuck or have a flat tire anytime soon!

Until next time,

– James Noyama
Bureau of Land Management – Lander Field Office                                                 Lander, Wyoming

A beautiful day on the Gerber Reservoir

Spring has quickly progressed to summer here in the Klamath Basin. Nights are still cool, but the daytime temperatures have gotten to be a very comfortable 75-85. With the warming weather, work is shifting from in the office to in the field, a most welcome change. Although I will admit that Marissa and I recently remodeled our cubicles, and they are both looking mighty cheery these days. Speaking of Marissa, at the time of this writing she is off at a conference in Hawaii, and I’m holding down the fort here in Klamath Falls.

On another note, I would like to point out that cattle love to poop. It must be their favorite hobby. Either that, or standing in the middle of whatever road you find yourself driving down. Biologists are generally less concerned with why the cow failed to make it all the way across the road. We like cow poop. Sometimes cattle poop in unfortunate areas, like in and along streams and ponds. And where there are cattle, there are cattle trails. Cattle can expedite the process of erosion, change the composition of the riparian habitat, and decrease water quality. In the case of streams serving as critical habitat for endangered species, these effects are notably unwelcome. A few weeks ago, a few of us from the office set off on a mission to confirm and/or deny that cattle were accessing certain stretches of a few remote rivers. Ladies and gentleman, enter the enthralling sport of cow-pie hunting. We would leave early in the morning, drive four-wheel drive roads, get lost, encounter snow, hike off trail, and be deterred by dangerous river crossings. All in the pursuit of poop!

Heading off into the Williamson River delta with a boatload of wocus plants ready to be transplanted

Getting ready to sink an array of wocus plants

Poop is fun, and so is underwater gardening! Just this week I donned a dry suit and hopped in a roadside wetland. Submerged up to my neck, I followed the stems of lily pads down to the muddy sediment below. In this rich muck, I felt blindly for the big, hunking tuber of the wocus. With a circumference larger than a coffee mug and a texture resembling a pineapple sans spines, I would scrap, pull, push, chop, wiggle, and heave at the often several-foot long tuber to free it from its benthic home. Once free, the tuber would float on the surface, giving no indication that in fact prefers to be buried several feet down below the surface. These wocus plants will be transplanted to a Nature Conservancy property in an effort to reestablish the natural wetland areas that were once there.

Pulling in a fyke net to sample for suckers!

Whether poop hunting or extreme underwater gardening, the field season here sure is heating up. Other activities have or will soon include electrofishing, zooplankton sampling, larval fish studies, goose banding, and fish netting. I’m glad my work here has offered up plenty of opportunities to explore, learn, gain professional experience, and hone my underwater gardening skills.

The last week of June has been glorious in terms of weather but the rest was very hot and humid.  I had the opportunity to participate in a few non-plant related activities recently.  I assisted with a breeding bird survey and tagged along with the park’s geologist intern to visit some caves and poke around for fossils.  I still got out to do some plant surveying though.

One plant that occasionally gets overlooked by some is Polygonatum pubescens (Hairy Soloman’s Seal).  It grows alongside and appears very similar to another species within this genus, Polygonatum biflorum (Soloman’s Seal).   Fortunately, once you are aware of the two species they are easily distinguished even without flowers.  The leaves of Polygonatum pubescens have lines of hairs on their underside while Polygonatum biflorum’s leaves are glabrous throughout.

Polygonatum pubescens (Hairy Soloman’s Seal)

Polygonatum pubescens (Hairy Soloman’s Seal) A close-up of the leaf underside showing the rows of hairs along the veins. Folding it over the finger like this seems to be the best way to see them. A hand lens is not required to see them.

I feel obligated to mention that distinguishing the genus of Polygonatum in a vegetative state from other similar genera took me several seasons to learn.  Some of the genera that can look similar to Polygonatum in the eastern U.S. are Maianthemum spp., Uvularia spp., Prosartes spp., and Streptopus spp.  It’s also worth mentioning that the synonym for Maianthemum is Smilacina while the synonym for Prosartes is Disporum.   Distinguishing these genera when in flower is a lot simpler.  However, typically Polygonatum spp. can be separated from Maiantheum racemosum by leaf margin characters and these two genera I just mentioned can be separated from Prosartes spp. and Streptopus spp. by whether or not their stalks are forked.  I have never personally seen Streptopus spp. in the field.

I also found Ruellia strepens (Limestone Wild Petunia) in flower this month and realized just how inconspicuous it is when it is not in flower.  The common name of this plant is slightly misleading.  Although it may grow predominately in limestone areas it is not limited to them.  One of the populations I found was around the Potomac Gorge area in a floodplain forest.  This species is listed in Maryland as a S2S3.

Ruellia strepens (Limestone Wild Petunia)

Ruellia strepens (Limestone Wild Petunia) The calyx lobe width is an important character in distinguishing species within this genus.

Not far from where I found the Ruellia I checked out a rocky river outcrop along the Potomac and found two other state listed species.  One of those species was Trachelospermum difforme (Climbing Dogbane) which I discussed in a blog entry last season and is an S1 (Endangered) species.  The other was Hibiscus laevis (Halberdleaf Rosemallow) an S3 (Watchlist) plant.  I guess the interesting thing about the photos I took is that they show each plant in an immature state.

I should note as I stated in my previous entry that leaf shape for climbing dogbane is listed as “variable” in the manuals.  To my eyes the young leaf grow was linear and narrow with more vigorous/older stems showing the orbicular and wider leaf shape I was used to seeing.  With that said I can’t be certain if these young “narrow leaves” will retain their shape as they grow or morph into the orbicular form.  I also can’t be certain whether or not this narrow growth is a result of physical damage to the stems.  The stems are exposed to potential damage from flooding and visitor trampling.  Additionally, in my previous post I neglected to mention that some species descriptions for climbing dogbane state that milky sap is not always detected when its tissue is broken.  As with all populations I have encountered on the Potomac, these plants did have milky sap.

Trachelospermum difforme (Climbing Dogbane)

Trachelospermum difforme (Climbing Dogbane) The population was in fierce competition with Campsis radicans, Toxicodendron radicans, and the non-native shrub, Ulmus pumila.

Halberdleaf Rosemallow is not especially uncommon along the Potomac River.  The pictures I took captured it at about the half way point in terms of its growth height.  The leaf shape is very distinctive.  It could be confused with Hibiscus moscheutos (Crimsoneyed Rosemallow) which can have slight lobing of the basal portions of some leaves.  Typically Halberdleaf Rosemallow holds true to its name and possesses well defined lobes throughout.  One of the interesting observations I noted from this population was the deformities in the leaves as seen in the pictures.

Hibiscus laevis (Halberdleaf Rosemallow)

Hibiscus laevis (Halberdleaf Rosemallow)

Hibiscus laevis (Halberdleaf Rosemallow) This picture shows an example of the leaf deformities I observed. This type of deformity occurred in every clump of plants though varied in abundance on each stem.

I’ve crossed the halfway point of my internship once more.  July will be a busy month because many of the G1-G3 priority species on my list are flowering in that period.   July on the Potomac is particularly exciting for me because the decrease in rainfall that usually occurs opens access to certain islands and scour bars on the river where so many interesting and rare plants grow.