Hi All,

I’m stationed at the Cosumnes River Preserve just south of Sacramento, CA.  If you don’t already know, California is experiencing a sever drought right now.  Despite the wonderful upper 60’s lower 70 degree daytime highs, this could potentially be very bad.  Although this is supposed to be our rainy season, we have not had any precipitation in over a month, and forecasts are already predicting no rain in the month of February.  The Folsom reservoir, which supplies water to the greater Sacramento area, is under 20% full for this coming “dry” season.  The water is so low in the reservoir that a city that was flooded in 1955 with the creation of the lake is now once again becoming visible.  The city of Sacramento has already asked residents to begin reducing water usage by 20%.  This is going to be an especially dangerous fire season in California if this dry weather continues.

The unusually dry weather has also had a major impact on the wildlife migration patterns in our area.  The Preserve acts as a major winter refuge for birds using the pacific flyway.  This year, the birds just haven’t shown up.  The wetlands here would typically be blanketed with a solid covering of birds this time of year.  Unfortunately, we have yet to see any substantial numbers in our bi-monthly bird counts.  Many birds further north are not making the trip down this year thinking they are still in summer season, while others that have already made the trip to our area are heading back north thinking winter is over.  These birds seem to be very confused, and it is disconcerting to think of how this might impact future populations.

My tasks here are never ending (I am perfectly happy with that).  Most recently I’ve been working on GIS maps, facility maintenance (gutter repairs, sign installations), invasive plant recon, permitting for some of the restoration projects I am working on and equipment maintenance in anticipation of the outdoor work (summer) season.  In addition to my primary responsibilities I typically help with general tasks here like wetland water management, and all activities relating to our integrated pest management program.  I should be federally certified as a pesticide applicator by the end of February.  That being said, life is good here (at least while the water lasts).

Great trainings, great experiences, great employment preparation. CLM

Stay warm-

After spending eight months in Carson City working for the BLM I can say that I have learned a lot, I have met some awesome people, and I am ready to move on to something else. At times it was a lot of hard work, at times it was difficult to deal with exhausted and grumpy people in the field, and at times I felt like none of us knew what we were doing. However, these are the kinds of challenges that you are going to face over and over again throughout your life! Once you get over being uncomfortable and learn to work through whatever you’re facing, that’s when you really start growing as a person.
During my time here, I have gotten a lot of practice keying and verifying plants, and I learned lots of new techniques for classifying and quantifying environmental characteristics. I have gotten some serious practice with GIS and navigation in the field. I have a much clearer understanding of how the BLM functions and what they have to deal with every day.
Highlights: seeing a super cute bear cub, finding lots of obsidian arrowheads (even a 3” spearhead), plenty of beautiful scenery, and LOTS of good times with the great people I was working with.
For future interns: stay hydrated, keep a level head in the field at all times (no matter what the conditions), enjoy yourself, enjoy the great people, and enjoy the beautiful lands all around you!

With the new year rolling around additional tasks have been added to the list I am responsible for. One of those tasks is to look into how to implement habitat into some modeling and finding such models in the literature to utilize for this task.  Along with the habitat information, additional climate information needs to be found and added to all of the other parameters that will be a part of the model by the end.  The issue is to determine the best way to monitor the species of interest and the best way to implement that monitoring across bureau lines, specifically with the Fish and Wildlife Service.  We want to establish a monitoring protocol that is simple and functional so that usable data can be collected, compiled, and used to better manage and monitor the species.  With this additional amount of collected data, potential problems within the species population might be detected earlier and actions might be able to be implemented to resolve the problem.

Along with the additional responsibilities, other opportunities have become available for me to take advantage of. Workshop on the BLM’s National Invasive Species Information Management System (nisims) and the opportunity to get an applicator’s license are just two of the potential resume-enhancing opportunities that have been made available to me.

I am looking forward to the upcoming year and all of the potential career-building opportunities that this internship will provide.  I am thankful for all of the experience it has given to me during the first part of the internship.

Regards,

Nathan Redecker

BLM Colorado State Office

Lakewood, CO

The beginning of 2014 has found me lucky enough to still be working at the Safford, Arizona BLM office. While the funding has been rather up in the air since the government shutdown, my mentors have been fighting to keep me working out here, and for that I am grateful. I was able to travel home to Arkansas for the holidays to visit my mom and friends which was wonderful. Even got a healthy dose of winter weather thanks to the polar vortex! And now I am ever so pleased with the 60 degree and sunny weather that Safford is maintaining.

The end of December found our team finishing up our SOS work; we got all 44 of our collections sent to Bend before the New Year. If we ever get any winter rains, our spring collection season will begin in late February. Non-native removal efforts in Bonita Creek continue.While the days are warm here, the nights and early mornings are quite brisk. This makes removing fish early in the AM quite cold. I will be happy when the water warms and we don’t have to wear three layers under our waders.

We have some restoration projects coming up in February and March. An American Conservation Experience crew will be out to help us get some of this work done. All and all it looks like 2014 will be a great year. I’m looking forward to however long I am able to stay in Safford and am optimisitc about other opportunities I may get to explore when it is time to leave Arizona.

I fondly remember how I packed my little blue car full of all of my belongs and traveled almost 2,000 miles from Georgia to Colorado. I finished my internship in late December. I am proud to say that I have been a Conservation and Land Management intern for 1 year and 7 months at the Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Office where I worked for Dr. Carol Dawson. I learned so much during my time here in Colorado. The CLM program is the best opportunity for recent college graduates interested in gaining experience in botany and wildlife conservation and land management.

My first field season in Colorado was a whirlwind of excitement. I enjoyed working with such an amazing team: Carol, Dr. Peter Gordon, and Sama Winder. With the help of Carol and Peter, we were able to expand our Colorado flora knowledge – and even fauna. During my second field season, I had the great opportunity to become lead intern of our team with Katherine Wenzell – who was always willing to be a team player. I was able to share my experiences and contribute my knowledge as a second year intern. I feel lucky to have had Carol as my mentor – she truly is the best. I am very thankful and grateful to have earned this opportunity. Overall, I have learned a lot about myself and who I am, I have become a stronger person and better botanist, and learned how to welcome the unknown and celebrate the feeling of leaving all things familiar to embark on a new journey.

There were many projects that I was involved in during my internship including outreach environment activities, seed collecting, vegetation surveys, rare and endangered plant monitoring and assessment projects, and plenty of retirement parties (it’s always fun to support those around the office…and eat cake!). I’m excited about all of the friends that I have made. I am sure I will continue to stay in contact with many of them. During my free time, I joined a Denver kickball team, learned how to ski, dined at Denver’s best restaurants, became a volunteer at the Denver Botanic Gardens, hiked part of Mt. Evans (literally), attended some pretty awesome concerts at Red Rocks, and visited the X-Games in Aspen.

To mention a few exciting events happening after my internship, I accepted a full-time, permanent position within the government working in a forensic laboratory in Denver. I’ve been happy to learn more about botany and wildlife biology; however, I am looking forward to getting back to working in a lab and becoming more directly involved in research. It’s been a fun and educational experience. Thank you to Chicago Botanic Garden and past employees – Krissa, Wes, and Marian. You are the best. Thank you again to everyone who supported me, the great friends that I have made, and I look forward to the new chapter of my life.

If you find yourself in Denver, I’m sure I’ll be see you around!

Happy Trails,

Darnisha Coverson

BLM Colorado State Office

Moving to Colorado inspired me to explore the west. I planned a trip and hiked my way into the Grand Canyon (seriously, this is the steep trail that I took).

Months after the Soldier Basin Fire scorched the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona in May 2013, I was lucky enough to pass through the aftermath while scouting out plants and collecting seeds with Steve, a skilled botanist and ecologist, and Gooch, a tracker and guide. While this mid-December walk was certainly a successful trip in terms of scouting and collecting from one of the major preserved canyons and intact drainages of the watershed, we also got to explore post-burn habitat.

As I peaked a ridge, the first observation that stunned me was the sea of crisp trees, covered with charcoal. They were in patchy patterns, with clumps of live trees, shrubs, grass and ground cover intermixed with armies of tombstones on bare soil.

Drainages were generally less scorched than mesas and open flats. While there were many plants that had been dislodged, namely succulents, many of the shrubs and trees were still rooted, holding back soil.

Most impressively to me, Manzanita shrubs were not only still rooted, but many were still alive when half of their branches had been burned off. Perennial grasses that had been burned down to the soil in the inferno were some of the most productive plants after a relative dry spell. Like the phoenix – out of death comes life.

Burnt Mesquite

Desert Spoon fire bomb

Steve and Gooch explore a burned landscape

This past weekend I participated in the nation-wide Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey.  During the winter many Bald Eagles migrate south from northern areas like Alaska.  The purpose of the survey is to monitor the status of Bald Eagle wintering populations.  Along with the amounts of Bald Eagles seen, supplemental data on where they were located and in what habitats they were located in were also recorded.  Across the country, non-overlapping designated routes are driven during the same time each winter.  Overall, we saw 12 bald eagles.  Unfortunately, country-wide data is not yet available.

Greetings,

Happy New Year. The holidays came and went pretty quickly. Since going back to the grind, not much has changed. I continued to work on the PowerPoint up until this last Thursday, when I finally completed it. In some cases, the results were as I expected, but in others, not so much. Probably the most surprising result was the lack of seeding of certain species. For example, just less than 110,000 lbs of Vavilov II (agropyron fragile) was distributed since 2011. Vavilov II is a popular seed to be planted throughout the Great Basin due to its drought tolerance. More recently, it has been a popular substitute for a variety of different species when they are not available. However, in three seasons, approximately 110,000 lbs was distributed across three states. In comparison to prior years, that’s quite the decrease in distribution. I think the fact that it is an introduced species plays a large role in how often it is used.

Anatone (pseudoroegneria spicata), a bluebunch wheatgrass, had results that I expected. Since 2011, over 270,000 lbs of Anatone has been seeded in 8 different states. That’s twice as many lbs as Vavilov II in nearly triple the states.  Since it is a native species from South Eastern Washington, it is a more widely accepted species, with little to no controversial drawbacks.

After completing the PowerPoint on Thursday, I was able to jump right in to the next project of calculating historical seed prices for some of the most popular species to be sold from the warehouse. The species included bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg bluegrass, Wyoming big sagebrush, and a few others. Depending on need, the prices of some of these species changed in price by a little, or a lot. For example, Wyoming Big Sagebrush sold as low as $1.88 per lb during one seed buy, and went as high as $35 per lb in another seed buy. The final average over a 5 year period ended up being $11.56 per lb. Now, the increase in price (from $1.88 to $35) did happen over a period of two years, but when studying all the price changes over a 5 year period, the increase in price is considered to be a drastic one. On the other hand, Sandberg bluegrass had gradual increases and decreases in price. The low came in at $2.09 per lb and the high came in at $12 per lb. The average was $6.45 per lb. As you can see, some of the changes were huge, where others were not.

A couple weeks before Christmas, I completed an informational seed booklet. Upon completion, I had it copied professionally for distribution. Over the holiday, I received the copies and thought I would post a few pictures of the finished results.

Information about Basin Wildrye. Courtesy of NRCS.

Until next time.

Eric Livermore

Bureau of Land Management

Boise, Idaho

January 10, 2014

Las Cruces, NM

It’s always nice to end something on a high note. Seven months ago I kicked off my CLM internship with a field trip to the Guadalupe Mountains in search of the rare plant Dermatophyllum guadalupense, or the Guadalupe Mescal Bean. This location in southeastern New Mexico along the Texas border is a proposed ACEC, or Area of Critical Environmental Concern, and our mentor, Mike, needed a better understanding of the plant’s distribution in the region prior to completing the required paperwork. However, our strenuous hike up a canyon in 104 degree heat was in vain, for we did not find any new Mescal Bean plants.

This week- my last week as a CLM intern- Mike and I ventured back to search a different part of the Guadalupe Mountains that hadn’t been surveyed since the 1980’s. We spent two days in the field and located at least six new populations of the Mescal Bean, several with more than 300 individuals! We also identified other locations in the region that are also suitable for the plant due to similar geology. It turns out that the Mescal Bean is likely locally abundant in the Guadalupe and Brokeoff Mountains, or, as Mike puts it “rare everywhere but common somewhere.” Furthermore, the populations that we found appeared healthy, and the small plants scattered throughout the population suggested that plant recruitment is faring well. This finding was amazing. I cannot think of a better way to end my internship. This experience has truly come full circle.

Mescal Bean Habitat, Guadalupe Mountains

Mescal Bean Habitat, Brokeoff Mountains

Guadalupe Mescal Bean

Guadalupe Mescal Bean

I’ve come so far since the beginning of this internship. During my time in Las Cruces, I’ve destroyed a pair of hiking boots and driven about 25,000 miles while on the job. That distance is equivalent to driving from coast to coast across the United States about 8 times. More importantly, I’ve been able to explore and learn about a part of our country that I never would have visited without this internship. I cannot think of a better way to spend a few months after graduating from college.

These guys stuck with me til the end (barely)

On that note, goodbye New Mexico! It’s been real.
-Elisabeth Ward

A Cuscuta species (six are known from the SBNF) in bloom near City Creek, off of Hwy 330, on Jan. 3, 2014. (Most individuals had senesced)

At the Mountaintop RD, I’ve been continuing work on a guide to the invasive plant species of the SBNF.  It’s interesting to read through the literature and synthesize the available information.  I enjoy thinking about how to format and present identification information in a way that is visual and understandable, especially for species that are more complicated to identify (such as Myriophyllum) Along with the invasive species guide, we are going to begin writing invasive species management plans for wilderness areas on the SBNF.      

The holidays were relaxing.  I hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain with a co-worker on Christmas Day.  Among other pebble plain species, we saw Boechera dispar (pinyon rock-cress).  Over New Year’s I explored the northeast part of the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness.  Although not rare, Scutellaria mexicana (formerly Salzaria) was an interesting find.  It will be spectacular to see in bloom.  

My fellow intern and I have been collecting with a lichenologist from UC Riverside, who is compiling a lichen flora of the San Bernardino NF.  Because lichens are so under-collected, we’re finding a lot of species that haven’t been found on the forest before.  We collected near Keller Cliffs (sandstone) on January 3, and noted giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata) in the canyons on the way in.

Big Bear Ranger Station

US Forest Service