My internship in Kemmerer, Wyoming is coming to a close. All in all, it has been a very productive summer and fall. I am so thankful that I got to experience the work of a professional wildlife biologist. Even though paperwork is everyone’s least favorite part of the job, I really appreciated that my mentor taught me how to complete some of it. This will be very important in my career.

This internship has been integral in helping me narrow down what I want to do for graduate school and the rest of my life. Even though the funding prospects are not promising, I am getting a lot of positive responses about my field work and qualifications for graduate school. I am depending heavily on my field work and work with a government agency as the unique factors that will set my application apart.

I will always remember this experience and the memories I have made here. Thank you to my mentor, all the people in the office, and the CLM program for making this possible!

In the last few weeks I’ve come to realize that my time at the BLM is almost up.  I find myself looking at the calendar and ticking off the remaining work weeks on one hand. How did that happen? Wasn’t it November 1^st, like, yesterday?

No doubt the time has sped by due to some of the interesting projects I’ve worked on in the last month.  One experience in particular led me to ponder some basic questions about botany, as well as its future as a field in the United States.  Eli and I were lucky enough to attend the New Mexico Rare Plants Technical Council Meeting at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden in Albuquerque earlier this month.   We were representing our mentor, the New Mexico State Botanist, who (literally) holds the key to the BLM’s Sensitive Species list for New Mexico.  The attendees were a small, passionate group of professionals from various backgrounds: academia (UNM and NMSU), government (Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife), and private business.

Like the couple other botany events I’ve been to in New Mexico, almost everyone was over fifty.  I don’t say this to disparage, I mention this only to draw light to an alarming theme.  Younger generations are largely absent from the plant sciences and botany.  Within the last few years, numerous articles have chronicled the demise of botany at universities or the merging of plant science within the larger disciplines of ecology or biology.  I’m not sure if youth just aren’t interested in botany because of our culture’s preoccupation with technology, convenience, and the artificial or if this lack of interest stems from a rift in early education where these passions should be cultivated.  I’m inclined to think (and hope) that it’s the latter because then it’s an easier issue to solve.  Even at this meeting, the issue was acknowledged – people are needed to collect the retiring generation’s institutional and local knowledge before it’s too late.

Ok- that was a brief tangent- onto the pressing meeting issues!  Two subjects held the majority of the meeting floor- instituting a new ranking system for rare plants and deciding upon a hybrid policy for the Council.

In regards to the ranking system, it is very difficult to give native plants a rarity ranking because, well, they are rare.  Often little is known about a species and no documentation exists.  Categories that must be considered for ranking are range extent, population size, population trends, threat impacts, and more.  Natural Heritage New Mexico is a division of the University of New Mexico that maintains a rare species database that uses a species ranking calculator.  The Technical Council decided to do a pilot project and utilize the calculator on 30 well-documented rare species to see how accurate or useful such technology would be.  The “pros” of a calculator are that the process is data-driven (less human opinion) and that input factors are documented.  The “cons” of the tool are that populating all the categories is a lengthy process and unknown factors could skew the calculated outcome.  In my personal opinion, I’m confident that the calculator will be useful and will help standardize the ranking process among larger areas because different states and agencies also use a similar system.

Hybrid policy- now this was a point of contention in the group.  What constitutes a hybrid? At what point does a hybrid constitute its own species?  However simple this questions appears at first glance- it’s not, think about it more.  Say two species cross and create a hybrid.  Ok, this is just one weird plant, no biggie.  But what if this happens ten more times throughout the population? Ok, still not a problem- you might say- those hybrids are spread throughout the population and probably won’t pass along their unique genetic makeup.   But THEN, what if all of these hybrids crop up in the same area and being reproducing primarily with each other? It’s now a hybrid swarm, and if you decide to call the population a new species haven’t you got a new rare plant on your hands?  Can every hybrid swarm be considered rare?  Ok, ok, that’s a lot of questions but hopefully you see what I’m getting at.  It’s difficult to define when a hybrid becomes a distinct species, and then it’s difficult to decide if it should be protected or not.  At the meeting, someone raised a great point- looking at a plant is simply looking at an evolutionary snapshot whose endpoint we cannot see.  Therefore, we must reference whatever data has been published and work on a case by case basis as hybrids are brought for review.  The council generally agreed that a hybrid is a species if it is reproductively independent from its parents, but they would only acknowledge a new species if someone had published the data to support it.

Since my post has already passed the maximum length that can hold my reader’s attention span- I’ll only address one more exciting event.  (Although many of you might not think this qualifies as exciting… I mean KEEP READING THIS IS SOME THRILLING STUFF).  A soil scientist from NRCS came to the office a couple of weeks ago and gave a tutorial on “Creating Soil-Based Thematic Maps and Reports Using Soil Data Viewer”. I was at first, skeptical, of how much I might get out of this training but I was mistaken.  The speaker introduced us to an alternative to Web Soil Survey (an online soil data database that is notoriously slow- cue painful memories of late night studying for Soil Science in college).  Soil Data Viewer is faster, easier to navigate, more informative, and did I mention faster?  There are so many different attributes you can explore and the program can rank these attributes of the various soils in an area and spit out a fantastic report.  So you want to know what areas in Doña Ana County have the best soils for sinking fence posts? Done. Want to know which areas have vegetation cover best suited for cattle ranching? Done.  This resource could be useful to a vast majority of government and private agencies concerned with land management and other fields.  Hopefully, it will be used for improving our knowledge and appropriate use of different landscapes- in addition to the entertainment value of the pretty, vividly colored maps that I use it for.

Oh, and one last thing – IT SNOWED! I’m from Sacramento, CA and have never woken up and seen snow outside.  Needless to say I was pretty excited.  Pictures galore!

Cheers,

Kate

This will be my last week as a botany intern with the Carson City District Office in Nevada.  During the last 10 months, I have learned a great deal about myself while developing my professional skills and my understanding of land management practices in the west.  My greatest professional growth has come in the form of improved communication with co-workers and supervisors.  Prior to the start of this internship, I worked primarily alone or in small groups.  It was a huge adjustment trying to coordinate with nine other people and get organized and mobilized for field work.  I quickly learned the value of clarity, brevity and repetition.  As a perfectionist, I am somewhat predisposed to micromanagement, but I am working on trusting my co-workers and delegating tasks.  I hope that I have become a better team player as a result of working in a large group. 

One of the most important learning experiences was the significance of field safety, such as following safety protocol and maintaining communication within the group.  I believe that all of us will leave this internship with a greater awareness of the risks associated with field work, as well as a better understanding of how to avoid or minimize those dangers. 

I was also given the opportunity to strengthen my botany field skills and develop a plethora of new skills and experiences.  For example, I am far more comfortable and efficient with ArcGIS, and I have a much better understanding of relational databases.  In addition to the methodology and plant identification that we covered as part of our field training, we attended a variety of conferences and workshops.  My favorite by far was the Rapid Vegetation Assessment/Relevé training in Truckee, California.  After focusing so much on transects and square meter frames, it was refreshing to change my perspective to the vegetation community as a whole.  The internship exceeded my expectations in terms of the skills gained, but I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed by the amount of office work that we had to tackle.  I was expecting to spend far more time in the field.  However, the time spent in the office did give me some insight into the inner workings of the federal government.

Since getting back to work over the last several weeks we have been playing a big game of catch up here at the PMC! Its been really crazy trying to get everything done and its meant some long hours, but we have been doing a pretty good job systematically catching up to where we need to be.

Last week we spent most of the week planting the National Soil Health Study area of the PMC. It was a lot of work and went much slower then anticipated due to some calibration issues we seem to have had with our No Till Drill and getting the right amount of seed out of it. We think that in the end it should be ok though, since we were able to work out most of the kinks. We had to pre-water the soil so it would have some moisture and be soft enough to even drill into.  Since the soil was nice and moist the seeds have already germinated and are coming up! I always get excited when I see new life coming up out of the ground!

The end of the week involved getting a germination study of a National Park Service Grass started to try and boost the germination.  We were getting rates like 2%, which when you only have about 100 grams of seeds, doesn’t bode well for planting an acre. They have been in for about 4 days now, and half of them will be cold stratifying for a few weeks, so we shall see how they turn out!

This week we have a whole host of things to do, the main one planting Bicolor Lupines for the National Park Service. Yesterday I spent most of the day on my hands and knees putting down weed mat and securing it into place for them, so hopefully we get really good, weed free results with them. I have found that I LOVE lupines. I can’t explain it, but they are such awesome plants with unique leaves and beautiful flowers. I would like to write a plant guide on the bicolor lupines like I did with California Fuschia, but I’m not sure if I will have time now. We shall see though!

Hopefully the rest of the week goes smoothly and we get everything planted and where it needs to be.  That would make life much easier and a bit less hectic. Until next time!

Jesse

As I write my last blog post, I’m sitting in my living room back in Kansas in the midst of a job search, hoping to find something that will tide me over until next field season. My internship in Wyoming is complete, and it was with a heavy heart that I left to start a new chapter. My time with the BLM was amazing, and I feel like I learned just as much this last summer as I did my whole undergrad career. From how to beat the sun where there are no trees, to what kind of food to pack for long field days, to which mud puddles are perhaps not worth the risk of driving through, my experience has given me the opportunity to learn many things about the world around me, as well as myself.

Certainly the hardest part of leaving my internship was saying goodbye to all of the wonderful people I met in Buffalo. I had the pleasure of working for some amazing people at the BLM, and I was very sad to leave them. Although they see new interns every summer, they still made us feel just as welcome as anyone else in the office, and they did their best to assure that we were involved in some very cool projects. It was also great working with Krissa and Wes (though I didn’t get the chance to meet them in person), as they were always very understanding and ready to help with anything we needed. Most of all, I will dearly miss my fellow CLM interns Sean, Nick, and Kelly. It was really great working with this crew, and we had an absolute blast this summer. I made many good friends in Wyoming, and I should hope I get the pleasure of seeing them again someday.

I really can’t say enough good things about this program. I had an amazing experience working with CLM and the BLM, and I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking for an internship in plant or environmental science.

Hi all,

Carrie and I finished collecting seeds for the SOS program in late October. Along with this came finishing our SOS paperwork and sending the final stacks of boxes of seeds to the Bend Seed Extractory—leaving our cubicle surprisingly spacious.

Our final project has been ground truthing possible spring locations for the office hydrologist, Landon. We were handed a map with numbered points, a GPS, and some data collection tools and went off to areas of our choosing to look for undocumented water sources at those points. This has been a great project to end our internship on. It’s different from anything we’ve been doing, and I’ve learned how to use a turbidimeter as well as some other ways to analyze water. It’s been a nice change after months of seed collecting and plant monitoring. Best of all, we’ve been able to visit some areas of the field office that we haven’t been to yet. On our first trip we went to the Buffalo Hills (probably my favorite part of the field office), and after finding the first 4 spots visited dry, we found 3 running springs—2 of which even had minnows. It was pretty amazing to see the tiny streams of clear, cool water which turn the surrounding plants a bright green amidst a seemingly endless hillside of dried forbs and basalt rock. And we get to name the springs we find. We’ve also checked for undocumented springs in the Smoke Creek Desert where we saw lots of jackrabbits. On our long hikes in search of springs, we’ve seen countless wild horses, some burros, and even a badger.

The final spring we surveyed at the end of Stone Corral canyon. By far my favorite.

For two days, I helped our mentor, Valda, and archaeologist Marilla with an archaeological clearance of land that will be planted with bitterbrush seedlings. This involved scanning the area systematically for signs of an archaeological site (we found some projectile points and lots of obsidian flakes), mapping the area, and digging test pits. Once archeologically sensitive areas were identified and set aside, Valda was given the go-ahead on the bitterbrush restoration project. I also spent a few days creating labels and mounting herbarium specimens that Carrie and I collected both for SOS and personal collections to benefit our office’s herbarium. The last major project Carrie and I have been working on in the office is creating a more user-friendly plant list for future employees and interns to use. We’ve included photos, whether the plant is upland/riparian/perennial/annual/biennial, if it’s invasive, if it’s listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society, plus an area to make personal notes about the plant. It’s a great feeling to see the final list coming together, and I really think it will get a lot of use in our office! I’m a little jealous we didn’t have this list when we started our internship…back when we had no familiarity with Great Basin plants…it would have been quite handy.

It feels odd to be wrapping up our time here. Our friends and coworkers at the Eagle Lake Field Office have been so welcoming and easy-going that I fell instantly into place. I really do feel lucky to have been placed here in Susanville—even though I had no idea this place existed or what to expect from it before flying out here in July. I learned that field work is definitely what I want to be doing, but that working for the government may not. It can be frustrating. No matter how dedicated and passionate you are about your projects and the land, there are a lot of hoops to jump through, many of which are coming from offices far removed from the environment you’re working to manage. I’m glad I saw this first hand, and that my co-workers were honest about their experiences in the agencies. I have a much better idea of what I’m getting myself into if I pursue a career with the government. After all, there are some great benefits that come with managing a million acres of land. I’ve been able to do so many things: seed collection, rangeland monitoring, archaeological surveys, hydrological surveys, rare plant monitoring, and herbarium work. I even learned how to drive a stick. I’ve explored mountains, pine/fir forests, canyons, sagebrush scrub and the tiniest, most beautiful hidden springs. I’ve seen golden eagles, wild burros, colorful lichens and delicate desert plants. I’ve worked with people who enjoy their jobs and the company of their coworkers, even after 13-hour days in the field. And our mentor has been fantastic. No wonder the summer and fall seemed to fly by. It’s time to move on to the next great adventure, and if there’s anything my time out here has taught me, it’s that I shouldn’t hesitate to venture out in search of the things I love–no matter how impassible the road may seem.

Goodbye sagebrush!

~Deb

Eagle Lake Field Office

Such a roller coaster. Between moving from Chicago to Escalante, 800 people, to helping out with things such as: Hummingbird banding, bat mist-netting and paleo digs, to the shutdown. I wouldn’t trade one minute of it. I already miss the small town feel, limited dining choices and unlimited access to some of the most beautiful country in the world. With that I will leave you with some pictures that I hope will speak the 1000s of words I can not. Enjoy and if you are ever able to make it to southern Utah, do it.

The Alaska Committee for Noxious and Invasive Plant Management and the Alaska Invasive Species Working Group organize this conference annually. It was Fairbanks’ turn in the rotation to host this years conference from November 5-7, 2013. The event brings together a range of expertise in a forum for discussion and presentation of relevant research and management trends. I co-presented on behalf of the Central Yukon Field Office along with the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Biology, Tim Craig. I shared the results of our inventory and discussed the BLM strategic plan for managing invasive plants (particulary Vicia cracca and Melilotus albus). Tim looked at the management efforts from a historical perspective (click here to view sideshow). Tributaries of the Koyukuk watershed are vectors that threaten to transport propagules from bridge crossings into the Kanuti NWF. This has prompted the consideration of cross-boundary collaboration and the potential formation of a Cooperative Weed Management Area.

Opportunities to collaborate and network were abound. State and non-state organizations were represented, including researchers from the University of Alaska and keynote speaker Jason Fridley, Syracuse University.

Highlights relevant to my personal and professional interests were:

• study of degradation rates of herbicides in cold temperatures
• community citizen science programs (Melibee Project)
• state and federal integrated vegetation management plans
• opportunities for CWMA partnership with Fairbanks district
• potential indicator variables for phenological monitoring
• best management practices for invasive plant management

The most intriguing concept relevant to my work at BLM was the need for long-term phenological monitoring data. Understanding the ecosystem vulnerabilities and management opportunities that anomalous climate years present in threatened boreal habitats could serve to reduce socioeconomic and ecological impacts.

Field season is rapidly coming to a close especially in the mountains, which is where most of our collections were made.  We have definitely been opportunists throughout this entire field season – trying our best to make each trip a productive one.

The blooming season has rapidly changed in the subalpine from the July to October. However, being away from the field for two weeks did not necessarily “help” our seed collection schedule – but we made the best of it.

Here are a few pictures below for your enjoyment:

Late spring in Leadville, CO.

Winter in Leadville, CO.

Parry’s Gentian (Gentiana parryi) capsules

Gentiana parryi seeds

There is plenty for us to do. In the next few weeks I will be preparing our herbarium vouchers to be sent to the Smithsonian and to other herbarium museums around Colorado. It’s always exciting looking through the many herbarium specimens and seeing the vast diversity of plant species that we have collected this season – this will be fun.

Until next time!

Darnisha Coverson

BLM – Lakewood, CO

Fall has certainly arrived. It has been getting colder around the Treasure Valley these last few weeks and I am fortunate enough to be inside the walls of the Boise Regional Seed Warehouse roasting away. Yes, there was a hint of sarcasm in that statement. Even with my unique experiences thus far, I am pretty jealous of all the activity my fellow interns have been able to practice outside the four walls of any building. After reading several blog entries, I am confident those experiences would not be traded in for my “desk job”. Even so, I digress, and will continue on with my personal extravaganza of late. Aside from the rather excellent seed decoration of my personal space within the warehouse, I have been working on calculating the amount of weed seeds that have been purchased within all lots of seed in the last year. Aside from noxious weeds, both prohibited and restricted, I have been paying most attention to downy brome (Bromus Tectorum), also known as cheatgrass. Surprisingly, some individuals believe that cheatgrass isn’t that bad of a weed and, in some ways, can actually benefit land after a fire has burned through. However, downy brome is detrimental to a variety of ecosystems. Not only does it quench beneficial growth of perennials and other natural vegetation, it can house rodents and other small insects that can harm the soils and any other grasses that still live. Even worse, it dries out very quick, resulting in an increased fire threat. It is obvious that fire has a negative effect on any portion of land that it burns. My work calculating the amount of cheatgrass seeds purchased within each pound of seed will help many researchers determine what portion of fire rehabilitation efforts add to the worsening of cheatgrass growth.

Once I have gathered all my research and input it into a worksheet, I will begin calculating the total amounts of the types of weed seeds purchased, the general area in which they were sold, and identify any patterns in amounts coming from specific regions of the Western United States. It will be very interesting to see how it all turns out. For my personal benefit, I am interested in seeing what amount of weed seed was purchased from any particular region, and if there has been an increase in weeds in the region where that specific seed was sold. Obviously, that will entail more personal research on my part, but since I have been working in the seed and fire rehabilitation business the last few years, I am interested in seeking out those results. A little less interesting will be the total lbs of weed seed purchased in relation to the total amount of seed purchased last year. For example, if the Boise Regional Seed Warehouse purchased roughly 1.5 million pounds of seed last year, how many pounds of that was weed seed? The results ought to prove interesting.

Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management, Boise Regional Seed Warehouse, and each state individually have very strict policies on what weed seeds can be bought and sold within any given boundary. It is also nice to know that no matter the amount of weed seeds purchased and sold, the good seed will most always outweigh the bad seed.

Hopefully next time I will be able to report my findings of this project. For me, any day can bring a new project with a higher priority than the one I happen to be working on. Only time will tell. Until next time, enjoy the freedom of the outdoors and the splendor it surrounds you with.

Boise Regional Seed Warehouse

Bureau of Land Management