This month I have been able to spend more time exploring and monitoring the Coso Wilderness.  It is quite a surprising land.  The Coso Mountains are known for their abundance of prehistoric rock art and the wild horse and burros that roam the area.  During my explorations, I did manage to see one small herd of wild horses and one pictograph site.  Though,  I have discovered the variety and depth of treasures that exist in these desert mountains.   I have spent a couple of month visiting the area, recording the boundary conditions, and making recommendations for restoration.

This wilderness has shown me signs of the past, signs of life and of death, the power of natural forces, and the beauty of its natural landscape.  There has been snow, sand dunes, active mines, abandoned mining site, lithic scatters, pictographs, dry lake beds, snakes, horses, pack rats, birds, bone and skulls, historic cabins, gorgeous views of the high sierra, the famous location of the U2 Joshua Tree,  large stands of Joshua tree, cars now acting as permanent fixtures of washes, roads completely washed out and/or missing, rocks displaying brilliant red/orange/yellow colors, and many more small wonders. My time hiking and exploring the Coso Wilderness has really strengthened my appreciation for the unique value found here in the Mojave Desert and has gotten me to reflect in its beauty.

I have learned that there are many who may consider this desert a dead and barren land; a place that has no life and no use; one that can be ridden over and used without care or consideration.  I will admit, I was ignorant to the desert before moving out here.  I came from a land that is green year around and has rain a majority of the year.  The initial visual impression of the desert was shocking to my eyes.  I saw brown, various shades of brown, what looked like dead vegetation, lack of trees and limited water.  I saw what wasn’t here.  Now, after living here for almost 2 years, I have begun to see what is here.  The unmatched sunrises and sunsets, the open expanses, summer thunderstorms and flash floods, the smell of creosote when it rains, the variety of colors (not just brown), the variety of vegetation and their amazing adaptations, the seasonal blooms, the unique wildlife (Mojave green rattlesnake, tarantulas, scorpions, desert tortoise, ground squirrels, burrowing owls, and others), the fascinating mining history, and that is just to name a few.  It is a place that hides nothing and exposes all.   I have really discovered the life, value, and beauty that exist here in the Mojave Desert over the past 2 years being immersed in its reality.  Yes it is a harsh environment of extremes and a land where survival can be a struggle, but it is also so much more!

Owen’s Dry Lake bed

Coso Wilderness monitoring in the snow!

Coso Wilderness monitoring- old mining site

Coso Wilderness- this car is now the bank of a wash!

Coso Wilderness- monitoring discoveries

Coso Wilderness monitoring- Joshua Tree stand

Coso Wilderness- yes cattle once grazed here and still do in some places!

Joshua Flats hike- Coso Wilderness

Coso Wilderness monitoring- view of High Seirras

Coso Wilderness monitoring- sweet cabin

Coso Wilderness monitoring- inside of sweet cabin

Coso Wilderness- Marty and I

Coso Wilderness monitoring- It does snow in the desert!

Coso Wilderness monitoring- I have to cross that?!

Coso Wilderness monitoring- I crossed that?!

Basal rosettes of a puncturebract (Cienega Seca puncturebract?)

Ruby’s tail. You can see scarring (darker areas) at the very tip.

On Jan. 21^st, we visited a few areas on the forest in the vicinity of the Bighorn Wilderness, which is near the desert side of the SBNF.  The transition to Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) woodland starts a few miles east of the ranger station.  We visited populations of Acanthoscyphus parishii var. cf cienegensis, (Cienega Seca puncturebract), Eriogonum ovalifolium var. vineum (Cushenbury buckwheat, federally endangered), and Astragalus albens (Cushenbury milk vetch, federally endangered).  New finds for the day included a mystery Astragalus (possibly A. tidestromii, SBNF sensitive, or A. leucolobus, Bear Valley woollypod, SBNF watch) and also possibly a new location of Erigeron parishii (Parish’s daisy, federally threatened). We also saw a very large Tucker’s oak (Quercus john-tuckeri).  There was historically a lot of prospecting and mining in the area, and we saw several open mine shafts.  I enjoyed learning a bit about mining law.  Also in late January, we spent a day doing riparian monitoring in the vicinity of the Santa Ana River.     

We’ve largely been continuing work on the invasive plant guide, and are now doing more formatting and editing.  I hiked up to the top of Mt. San Gorgonio on the weekend of January 10-12, and among other species, saw some Eriogonum kenneydi var. alpigenum. The next weekend, I explored the Deep Creek area north of Splinter’s Cabin near Lake Arrowhead.

The office southern rubber boa (Charina umbratica), Ruby, ate two baby mice yesterday (they were already dead).  Southern rubber boas are a sensitive species on the SBNF.  Ruby usually spends her time buried in the litter under her water dish (especially in winter), and so we don’t see her too often.  Rubber boas prey on young mammals, including on deer mice, voles, and shrews.  They are often attacked by the adult prey species in the process of eating nestlings, and so older rubber boas have scarring on their tails (this is visible in the photo).  I didn’t get a picture of her snacking, but it is much more exciting.   

Mountaintop Ranger District

Big Bear Lake, CA

So far, the new year has been relatively calm, as the West Eugene Wetlands is in its slow season. January consisted of a small amount of field work; last fall my partner and I began preparations for endangered plant species augementation. We set up three new macroplots in which plant species will be planted in the spring. We then covered each macroplot with shadecloth to control invasive species that may crowd out the endangered species. In January, we revisited the macroplots to make sure that nothing had happened to the shade cloth. At two of the sites everything was fine, but at one site, we arrived to find several sections of the shadecloth ripped up and what appeared to be a dead animal lying smack in the middle of the macroplot. The supposed dead animal was actually a very ominous and unnerving stuffed animal–a cat, with wide staring eyes that seemed to follow us as we examined the shadecloth. Under the stuffed animal’s scrutiny, we determined that the ripped shadecloth was most likely caused by a coyote looking for food beneath the shadecloth, which will require us to return and patch the holes.

Oregon’s unusual weather continues to persist, I woke up this morning, looked out the window to find a fine layering of snow on the ground. We’ve had our second snow fall in two months, which is nearly unheard of in Eugene. And while I am getting more experienced in driving in snowy weather, at the same time I can’t help but hope for the typical rainy weather of a Willamette Valley winter.

What an incredible opportunity to be able to work and live in the Great Basin! My name is Ethan Hughes and I am working out of the Carson City Field Office of the BLM as a botany intern. The vastness of this area is pretty amazing and I am very excited about getting to learn many new species of plants and animals. Carson City is a nice little town nestled on the edge of the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada range. What beautiful mountains they are indeed!

Today was our first opportunity for field work and we were able to look at the utilization rates of certain plant species by cattle. This field work took us to two really neat places on BLM land. Both were riparian zones and we were able to see Salix exigua, Populus fremontii and other interesting species of plants. The second riparian zone was very cool because it was higher up in Pinyon-juniper woodlands with Juniperus osteosperma, Rosa woodsii, Artemesia tridentata, Elymus elymoides and other species of plants that were very interesting, such as Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum. We also saw a White-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) and a coyote, which ran across the highway to test his legs!

I am very much looking forward to the great experiences that will be had here and the knowledge gained from this exciting new adventure!

Great Views

It is finally snowing here in Big Bear Lake, CA as I sit here writing this blogpost. It is long awaited as it has not really felt like winter at all in parched California with the warm temperatures and nonexistent precipitation. It is definitely going to be a dry summer full of fire.

Since my last blogpost I have been working on many things. Mary (my fellow CLM intern) and I are nearing completion of an invasive plant species identification guide for the Cleveland, Angeles and San Bernadino National Forests. It has been tough finding photos for the guide as it is January. We have managed to gather together a good many though.

We also have been helping Kerry Knudsen, a lichenologist out of UC Riverside, compile a lichen flora of the San Bernadino NF. This is a great experience for me because there are mostly crustose lichens out here because it is so dry. I am much more familiar with the large macrolichens from moister areas like northern California. I got to see a historical lichen collection from the late 1800’s from a southern California lichenologist.

I was happy to have a few field days that last couple weeks. One day we went out to the Bighorn Wilderness to see what kind of invasive plant species are out there and brainstorm about what species could invade next and in what areas. After the invasive plants guide we will be writing a wilderness management plan for the Bighorn. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place! Another day we monitored riparian habitats for disturbance and it was great to see some wetter areas of the forest.

I hope you enjoy these photos!

This is a good example of an infestation of invasive English Ivy (Hedera helix) in a riparian area.

The invasive tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca).

The flower of Nicotiana glauca.

Check out the berries on this manzanita! I think it is Arctostaphylos glauca.

Some awesome sandstone cliffs that we saw while out collecting lichens.

The giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata) that we spotted in a riparian area. I would never have expected to see a fern this large in such a dry place like the SBNF.

The view east of the desert from the Bighorn Wilderness.

A really deep mine shaft that we saw on the Bighorn Wilderness.

I’m not sure what this cool lichen is…maybe a Caloplaca or Candellaria…

Astragalus albens, which is endangered.

The sensitive species Long Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium longipes).

Dadder (Cuscuta sp.) is a beautiful parasitic plant that is vine-like.

The invasive castorbean (Ricinus communis).

A good looking Usnea phaea that is common on the SBNF.

Hey all,

I would like to introduce myself and give a short background of my work. My name is Jeremy Sykes and I have lived in Wyoming all of my life. I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in Range Ecology and Watershed Management with a Minor in Forestry.  I have always had an interest in the natural resources of Wyoming. It has been my career dream to work with a Government agency such as the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S.  Forest Service, as a Range Specialist. 

My first seasonal job was with the BLM in Rock Springs Wyoming.  It was a job filled with hard work mending fence. Last summer I worked as a BLM Range Technician at the Kemmerer Wyoming field office. This job was important on the basis of working on a cattle and sheep allotment conducting monitoring and compliance that will be used in litigation. I took it upon myself to gain respect from the permitees on this particular allotment, which did not trust government employees. I was also able to work with Anna Moller. She was a CLM intern working in Wildlife. She helped me on the Smithsfork allotment, monitoring riparian areas for move on use indicators. She was a valuable and knowledgeable resource, helping me when it was needed. We also spent many hours working on her CLM project, mapping springs, seeps, and reservoirs. The data we collected will be used in the future, for habitat improvement projects, as well as range improvement projects for wildlife, cattle and sheep.    

So here I am, back in Kemmerer, but this time I’m the CLM intern, working in Wildlife. So far it has been great but nothing too exiting happening in the dead of winter.  With a foot of snow on the ground it’s hard to get out into the field. I have been working on NEPA documents, using some of the information we gathered over the summer.  It will be another two months until field season starts, with the onset of sage-grouse lek surveys.  I am hoping to gain more experience with the CLM internship program, to help guide me in my career path.

Kind Regards,

Jeremy Sykes

Kemmerer Feild office, Wy

 Bureau of Land Management

Hello everyone, I started my internship in October and I am happy to say that everything is going well at the USDA Shrub Science Lab in Provo. This winter we are working with samples of Sagebrush that we collected in fall 2013. We have had good results in all our experiments of chemical ecology. Additionally my mentor is introducing me to new molecular techniques. I am still learning, but everything that we are doing is very interesting to me. Due to the weather we are on standby in the field, so instead I am working in the garden that we have in the lab.

I have been enjoying my experiences with the people of the lab. Recently I participated in a meeting where I was able to meet more people from the lab and get to know a little bit more about them.  There are a lot of things to do, but all my companions are supporting me in my assignments and experiments. My mentor is always teaching me new things, and I really appreciate all his efforts to make sure that I have everything I need to be successful in my assignments.  

I feel very good about all the things that I am doing.  But I feel more satisfied about all the things that I am learning. 

Hector

Provo, UT

USDA Shrub Science Lab

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!