As September rolls in the field season is starting to roll out. We still have some work to do in the field, mostly range tasks. This includes checking on range improvement projects and utilization. Range improvement projects are things like troughs, cattle guards, and exclosures. We drive out to them and evaluate how successful they are. For example we check to make sure the cattle guard hasn’t filled in with dirt, which would allow the cattle to cross it. This has involved a lot of driving through a lot of new country. This can be challenging because a lot of the BLM roads are either not marked or not in great condition.  Some days were more successful than others. Utilization involves looking at the height of grazed and ungrazed grasses to see how much of the forage has been consumed. The University of Idaho has developed a tool to estimate the percent of weight consumed by looking at the height. We did several of these transects, then visually estimated the percent utilization across the pasture.

One of the more fun things we got to do was go out with a group from the office to do a proper functioning condition (PFC) evaluation on a stream in Muldoon Canyon. This area is a beautiful part of the field office, where there are stands of both Douglas fir and aspens. Getting to see how a PFC works was really interesting. A PFC evaluation is more of a qualitative evaluation than a quantitative one. A plant list is made and then various aspects of stream condition is looked at. The group goes through a list of conditions that should be met for a healthy system and then discusses if they are met or not. It was really interesting to see how this process works.

We also got to go out and do a tour of a fire area that burned a couple of weeks ago. There was a large fire in the field office that burnt part of the field office near Crater’s of the Moon National Monument. We went out with people from Idaho Fish and Game and the Agriculture Research Service. There are some state sections inside the fire and Idaho Fish and Game came out to coordinate their rehabilitation with what the BLM was planning to do. The ARS came out because they are going to set up some test plots inside the fire to look at what types of grasses do best. It is extremely important for the BLM to be able to get perennial grasses out after a fire to prevent cheatgrass from taking over, the ARS is looking at different cultivars, natives and near native cultivars to see how they do competing against the cheatgrass. It was really interesting to hear about the fire rehabilitation plan and to hear about the planned experiments.

In exciting news we found a new occurrence of a special status plant and didn’t even know it! We did a plant clearance for a project along a spring near the Snake River. We were doing the survey  for the Chatterbox Orchid, in addition to finding the orchid we found a new occurrence of Sand Verbena. The Sand Verbena is a new addition to Idaho’s rare plant list. We are now going back and adding it to the plant clearance next years interns will have to do a full survey for it.

When I first told people I accepted a job in Shoshone, ID I received a lot of interesting comments.  From, “isn’t the whole state just potatoes,” to “are there even people there?” For this post I have decided to compile reasons why Idaho is more than potatoes, and why it has grown on me.

I have found Idaho to be an excellent home base for exploring the west. I have had the opportunity to visit Crater Lake, the Wallawas, the Avenue of the Giants, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Craters of the Moon, and Glacier National Park. I feel that it is fitting that I have been able to visit so many of our National Parks during the park service’s centennial year. I am also excited that I got to see one of Glacier National Park’s 25 remaining glaciers, which are predicted to disappear as early as 2030! Something else I have enjoyed doing is comparing the photos I have taken at these places to pictures from 1961 that a past professor has been sending to me as I visit them. As you can see below, not much has changed at crater lake in 45 years except the photo quality.

Grinnell Glacier today

Grinnell Glacier in 1961

Wizard Island in Crater Lake today

Wizard Island in Crater Lake in 1961

Phantom Ship in Crater Lake today

Phantom ship in Crater Lake in 1961

The gem state also has a lot of “small hidden gems” that don’t exactly fit into the precious stone category. My fellow CLM interns and I have stumbled upon a hand carved Tibetan prayer wheel blessed by the Dali Lama (one of two in North America), the widest main street in the nation (right here in Shoshone!), the jump site for when Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River in 1974, the Perrine bridge that people commonly base jump from, Shoshone falls (which is 45 ft taller than Niagara falls!), the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America (Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park), Hells canyon which is the deepest gorge in America, the first city in the world to be powered solely by nuclear power (Arco), and the site of the first nuclear power plant and nuclear meltdown in the world (Atomic city).

Another benefit of working in the Shoshone field office is that the staff is amazing. There is never a shortage of garden fresh veggies or fruit for us to take home, they are extremely helpful with career advice, looking out for new opportunities for us, and can always be counted on to give great recommendations for weekend recreation. From the beginning they have all made us feel welcome. Both my mentor, Danelle, and the other CLMs’ mentor, Joanna, deserve a special shout-out. They have gone out of their way to make sure that we get the most out of our internships, which I feel like is a challenge since there are 5 CLM interns in the office.  Even though I was hired for Seeds of Success, the list of projects I have participated in takes up almost an entire page, and I expect it to continue to grow until I leave in November. We recently received the excess from our collections back from Bend. The amount that we got back shocked me, since it feels impossible to gather over 10,000 seed when you are actually collecting. However, turns out that we well surpassed that limit on 6 of our collections, and still have one more to send in!

The excess seed from our collections. It is so satisfying to see how much we got back!

Perideridia gairdneri collection

There is never a dull moment here. As I was finishing this post the woman who works the front desk came into our cubicles, and told us a bull snake was in the hallway by the break room. Marissa, one of my fellow CLM interns, sprinted down the hall to wrangle the snake. Being the team player that she is she, in her own words, “threw her body in the way to protect everyone in the office,” and as you can see he was truly terrifying.

Marissa after capturing the snake

Our Thursday afternoon visitor

I’m going to assume that quite a few, if not most, of the people in the natural resources field grew up in a family that spent time in the outdoors.  Whether it was camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, bird watching, or visiting National Parks, it seems that most people in this field are influenced by childhood memories.  I know I am in this field because of my upbringing.  My dad has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for over 30 years, my mom owned a pet grooming business, and as a family we spent all our free time outside.  I’m lucky and I know it.  Now, I’m married to a man that currently works for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department doing some of the coolest research on bears and wolverines.  Our free time together is spent outside, mostly hiking and fishing.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Unfortunately, not everyone was granted the opportunities to get outside and develop a love for the natural world.  

I called this post “The Things We Take for Granted” because of a recent trip my husband and I took through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.  To us, seeing a bison, elk, or bear is common.  It doesn’t phase us.  We were there for the scenery and hiking opportunities.  Watching all the people there stop in the middle of the road to take a million pictures of a bison seemed silly.  We were mad that the traffic was stopped all because of one – not that impressive – bison.  But, then we got to thinking.  How can people grow up and not know their animals?  How can someone be in their 40’s and not know what the difference between a white-tail deer and a mule deer is?  We had taken our upbringings and current experiences through our jobs for granted.  We were fortunate that we had people in our lives that took us out into the woods and taught us more than a course in college ever could.  We have backcountry skills.  Seeing the other tourists in their yoga pants and flip flops in 45 degree weather makes us cringe.  But, they don’t know any better.

My job with BLM this summer has allowed me to be outside almost every single day.  Through rain or shine, I’m outside.  I haven’t seen anything new in the way of wildlife, but I have gotten to know a new area that I have developed a love for.  I get to watch the antelope fawns grow up.  I get to see the circle of life feed a hungry golden eagle.  I get to continue to be blessed to be outside and increase my knowledge of the natural world.  I’m lucky and I know it.  I know I take things for granted, but I know I’m one of the luckiest people in the world.  I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.  I hope all of you are enjoying your jobs this summer as much as I am and I hope you know just how lucky you are.  Keep up the good work, everyone.  The world is counting on us.    

The night air is cool in the desert. Leaves rustle, the sky darkens, and thunder rumbles quietly in the distance as this evening’s storm gathers. The field season has continued to progress well, presenting inevitable challenges and unexpected delights along the way. Countless conservationists have crossed our paths, each leaving a significant impact on my ecological outlook. Everyday experiences with this landscape have been similarly impactful. Recently I encountered my first endangered species, Ipomopsis sancti-spiritus (holy ghost ipomopsis), in the Pecos National Forest. I appreciate the balance of the inexplicable delicacy of this endangered species with the incredible majesty of the night sky in the wilderness. Weekend adventures intensify my connection to this landscape- climbing through slot canyons, trudging through gloriously lit sand dunes, and exploring the hidden mysteries of ancient cave dwellings. I am looking forward to seeing what the fall brings!

Ella Samuel

Santa Fe, NM BLM

One of the recent projects I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in is raising Monarch butterflies. Monarchs are under a variety of threats including loss of habitat, particularly milkweed. Although there are a variety of types of milkweed, this is the only group of plants that monarchs lay their eggs on and monarch caterpillars eat. Monarchs also have a variety of predators and parasites, including the tachnid fly, a parasite that lays eggs inside monarch caterpillars and kills them.

In order to avoid parasitism and enable tagging, one of the biologists in the Klamath Falls USFWS office collected monarch eggs and caterpillars from patches of milkweed in the area to rear in captivity. Within 1-5 days of being laid eggs hatch into caterpillars which spend the next 10-14 days eating milkweed and becoming exponentially larger before forming chrysalises. The monarchs then develop inside the chrysalis for 9-14 days before emerging as adult butterflies.

The monarchs I raised are the fourth generation of the season meaning they will migrate to Southern California and Mexico. Once the monarchs became adult butterflies I placed very small polypropylene tags with unique letter and number combinations on each butterflies wing before releasing them. These tags are linked back to a researcher at Washington State University. If these tags are sighted as the monarchs make their journey Southward researchers will be able to determine where that monarch came from and learn more about monarch migration.

Below are some photos of the developing monarchs:

Monarch caterpillars munching away on milkweed.

A translucent chrysalis just before the butterfly emerged.

A monarch dries its wings having just emerged from its chrysalis.

Tagging a monarch before releasing it into the wild.

A polypropylene tag on a monarch’s wing.

Hello, everyone! I’m checking in for the first time from Carson City, Nevada. I moved here at the end of June to become a botany intern with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) only 2 months ago, but I already feel at home. This is a pleasant surprise, considering how different Carson City is than the town I just moved from. It’s amazing how drastically the landscape shifts during the 4-hour drive east from home to here. Ferns and redwoods fade to sagebrush and juniper; ocean breezes dry out and are tinged by smoke. Among the differences, though, there is a familiarity between plants of the desert and of dunes at the coast. A reprieve from the newness of the Great Basin that lies east of the Sierras.

A species of Astragalus that looks a little like the plant we searched for in the Pine Nut Mountains.

In any case, I like it here. The town, which is the capital of Nevada, is calm and simple. The sagebrush steppe is parched by sun and heat, but is a perfect array of pastels. The mountains stacked to our west (the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada’s) are mostly brown, but the pines lining their peaks promise an escape from the sun. We often work in shrubby sage and rabbit brush communities, but sometimes diverge toward these cooler mountains west of the BLM office. I love sagebrush, and the bright red cicadas that shoot out of its branches when you approach too quickly, but I really enjoy our time working in pine-covered mountains.

I first experienced these mountains in my second week of work. We drove to the Pine Nut Mountains and surveyed about 400 acres for a tiny, yet vibrant, rare plant in the genus Astragalus. Ecologists were worried about the fate of this community. They feared that the mixed sage, pine nut tree, and juniper habitat was being dominated by juniper and pine nut trees. Long ago, mild fires frequently passed through and killed tree seedlings growing among sagebrush. The larger juniper and pine nut trees tolerated these small fires well, and a balance between sage and tree-dominated communities was preserved.

Two wild horses silhouetted in the Pine Nut Mountains

But more recently, humans have taken steps to prevent even the smallest burn. Without the thinning capability of fire, trees grow among the sagebrush and gradually replace sage communities. To prevent this encroachment without fire, ecologists hoped to use a large machine to “masticate” the offending trees and give the sagebrush communities a chance to thrive. First, they wanted our help to make sure their plan would not hurt any rare plants that may have been living among the offending trees.

We spent two days combing the hilly pine nut tree understory for the small plant. We found none. During our first night of camping, though, I found a different species iconic to the area. I took a short walk down the dusty two-track we drove in on to enjoy the evening breeze. The dust seeped into my tennis shoes and between my toes as I scuffed along. Turning a corner, I heard a snort. Squinting ahead through the sunset, I saw a fair-haired stallion standing, offended, between me and his chestnut mare only 20 meters away. I dropped to a crouch behind a sagebrush, afraid to startle them more and make him charge, and listened. To be honest, I should have left as soon as I saw them. Wild horses are dangerous, and deserve to be left alone. I knew, and ignored, this fact. I stayed in a crouch, separated the sage with my fingertips, and watched until the stallion reluctantly returned to grazing. He still stood between me and his mare, still occasionally snorted, and still perked his ears in my direction.

Collecting Elymus elymoides, squirrel tail grass

As I crept away to have my own dinner, I considered the difference between this new state and my previous home. The wilderness here is an expanse of sage, pines, wild horses, and predators that wild horses have to be cautious of. It dwarfs the presence of occasional shooters, ATV riders, and BLM botany interns who pass through. I don’t know why I’m so surprised by its vastness; the BLM public lands cover over 60% of the state of Nevada.

A sedge (Carex sp.) collected near Indian Creek

Over the following few weeks, we collected seeds and searched for native plants in the far corners of this territory. I still haven’t become accustomed to the hugeness of BLM land. Though our efforts sometimes seem unfruitful (like not finding the rare Astragalus in the Pine Nut’s), I have been impressed by the BLM’s strength in protecting both the ecological and cultural resources of such a massive area. For example, officials recently stopped the proposed project in the Pine Nut’s. Not because we found Astragalus (which we didn’t) but because the pine nuts themselves are an important source of income for local folks. It feels meaningful to be a part of this group of dedicated people.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

Mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus ledifolius, in the White Mountains

I have written all about the work that takes place here at the Shoshone Field Office, so I thought I would go into a few details about some of the amazing adventures I’ve been fortunate enough to have while living in Idaho!

Within the beautiful state of Idaho itself I’ve experienced several miles of trails throughout the Sawtooth, Boise and Salmon-Challis National Forests. I’ve biked the 25-mile Boise River Greenbelt, which is a rail trail running through the city and extends outside of the city both ways. I’ve kayaked the Snake River in Twin Falls to beach caves, waterfalls and underwater lava tubes. I’ve gazed upon dozens of breathtaking waterfalls all throughout the state and I have big plans to bike the 71 miles of paved path from high mountain splendor, through the historic Silver Valley into the chain lakes region, along the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, over the Chatcolet Bridge to Heyburn State Park, and finally climbing to the Palouse prairie in the Idaho Panhandle sometime soon!

Alpine Lake in the Sawtooth National Forest

Biking the Boise River Greenbelt rail trail

The Boise river off of the Boise River Greenbelt rail trail

Kayaking the Snake River to beach caves, underwater lava tubes, and waterfalls!

Inside one of the beach caves on the Snake River during my kayaking trip.

Can you find me? Taking in Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho

Mt. Borah! The tallest peak in Idaho at 12,662 ft. I gave the peak my best effort but I chickened out at the notorious “Chicken-out Ridge” one thousand feet from the summit

Outside of Idaho I have been lucky enough to see some pretty incredible sights. One of my favorites has been Glacier National Park! From panoramic views to frolicking wildlife, it is easily one of my favorite places in the world. I’ve visited the park two times and have put in over 50 miles of hiking. I have also biked a portion of the infamous “Going to the Sun Road.”  I have seen more bears than I ever have in my life (an adult grizzly bear, a grizzly bear cub, and a brown bear), four moose (one of them a baby!), two ptarmigan, several mountain goats (I even witnessed a male-to-male fight!), and one billion deer! The surrounding areas around Glacier National Park, including Flathead Lake and National Forest, Swan Valley, and several other lakes are all equally breathtaking. Montana took a small part of my heart.

The rocks at Glacier National Park are so rich in color!

The views on the Highline trail at Glacier National Park are unlike any I’ve ever seen.

Wild Goose Island at Glacier National Park!

Beautiful Iceberg Lake (minus the icebergs, I was too late in the season).

Little grizzly bear cub!

Mother moose and her baby!

Just recently I took a short trip to visit my sister, who lives on Whidbey Island in Washington. Along the way I stopped to visit the beautiful Columbia Gorge, which is jaw-dropping in its beauty with waterfalls and winding rivers every which way you look. I also had the great pleasure to hike through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest to the Talapus and Olallie Lakes. Upon visiting my sister, we made a short day trip adventure to Olympic National Park, where the green forest was so vibrant it almost hurt your eyes. My sister and I spent a lot of time seeing the surrounding sights on Whidbey Island, hiking near the ocean, and playing with her hyperactive Boston Terrier!

Wahclella Falls in the Columbia Gorge

Relaxing at Talapus Lake in the Mt.Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

The sister and I at Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park!

I like bridges. Olympic National Park.

A beautiful ocean sunset to finish off my last night on Whidbey Island, Washington

I am so filled with thanks and over-joyed at the opportunities I have been given during this internship. I will never forget the experiences I have had and the people I have met. Every day I realize more and more just how beautiful the world really is.

Marissa – Shoshone Field Office – Shoshone, Idaho

A few weeks ago I got to go along with my mentor and an archeologist from our office on an all day trip out to survey one of our offices ACEC’s (Area of Critical Environmental Concern). Bordering this place in the Mule Mountains is a proposed solar development, and we set out to see if this proposed development could infringe on the ACEC or on historical sites of the indigenous people.

A place known as Alligator Rock, on the way to the Mule Mountains.

We turned off the main HWY and began down long sandy roads. Eventually we passed a slab of concrete where a lonely yellow couch sat.

The things you find out in the desert

After sometime we came to a place where we stooped to look at a few sites. We where shown Indian trails, old ceremonial sites, a dance circle, and also more recent things like fox holes dug out for WWII training

This shot up sign tells about the site

It’s unknown exactly what these formations here used for. There where many of them, all in U shapes, all facing towards the mountain, and all with a central point in the middle.

This one was not as well defined as many of the others but I wanted to include it as you can get a sense of the scale with my shadow included

WWII fox hole dug out for training exercises

Back in the truck and down the sandy road we go. I start thinking about how it could only be 100 or so years ago that the indigenous people were here. About this place with a dance circle, well beaten trails, and ceremonial sites. This must have been an amazing place to be when everyone would gather here.

Next stop:

It’s sad that signs like these even have to go up. People come out here though and vandalize the site. They carve in the rocks creating their own modern petroglyph, and they will attempt to steel artifices, often just destroying things in the process.

I had never seen petroglyphs before. This site had so many!!!

It was explained to me that the dark color on the surface of the rocks is known as desert patina and happens via a slow chemical reaction. This process takes thousands of years and because we know this, we can put a rough age on the petroglyph that we see. That is, when the glyphs are brand new the exposed rock is nearly white. In time it gets darker, and after a very, very long time (thousands and thousands of years) it can even show signs of erosion as you will see below.

Cut marks on the edge of a rock. I was told that this is something seen often at sites like these.

Next we go to visit a much older site. This place was only recently discovered and is completely undisturbed.

So this petroglyph dates back between 12,000-14,000 years old! You can tell the the desert patina has returned, and boy is it dark. Not only that, but the edges of the glyph show signs of erosion.

So many amazing things that I got to see that day. As it turns out, we will have to return to to complete our mission and see if the solar site will in fact impact the ACEC and archeology sites.  I was so grateful to be able to witness these sites and learn more of the deserts secrets and history.

It is mind blowing to think that this internship is halfway over already. My time with Seeds of Success has been flying by but the amount that I have learned in just a short three months is amazing. These past few weeks we have been focusing our time on collections around the Outer Banks, NC area and our time has been rewarded with an ever increasing amount of weekly collections. Our trips to the region occurred before and after Tropical Storm Hermine had rolled through. Fortunately the storm did not affect our trips and only shared a few showers with us and some ominous looking clouds. However, we noticed that it did have an impact on the region with areas of flooding and dune movements. Storms like this reminded my team and I how important our work is collecting seed in order to restore ecosystems, like the ones all around the Outer Banks, after tropical storms and hurricanes.

Ominous clouds rolling in at Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge

On our first trip we discovered some great populations of a Fimbristylis sp., Rhynchospora colorata, Fuirena pumila and more exciting species along a few roadsides and in a waterfowl impoundment at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and at Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary. As most of the species were not quite ready to be collected, we made notes on them and were prepared to make collections of them in a week during our next trip. Once next week rolled around, we all piled into our car and set off to the Outer Banks. Upon arriving at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, we discovered all of the species we had noted along the roadsides had been mowed. To make matters worse, once we arrived at Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary the entire waterfowl impoundment had been mowed as well. As disappointed as my team and I were, we were at least able to make other collections in the areas, but we found a new enemy known as the lawn mower.

Later in the week we traveled to Currituck National Wildlife Refuge and spent some time learning the plants in the dune ecosystem. This included species like Uniola paniculata, Ammophila breviligulata, Panicum amarum and more. I was thrilled to spend time learning these species and understanding how important they are for stabilizing dunes and for coastal restoration. Currituck National Wildlife Refuge was beautiful and this dune habitat has become one of my favorites due to the fact that these amazing plant species can grow and thrive in such nutrient poor soils and provide essential ecosystem services to stabilize our beloved beach habitats.

Wild horses seen on beach at Currituck National Wildlife Refuge

View from the dunes at Currituck National Wildlife Refuge

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