Clear Creek looking NE towards the Ciervo Hills

August here in the Hollister field office has seen a continuation of my projects from July: seed collection and processing, and soil collection for the seed bank study. Since I’ve already written about these things, I thought I would say a little about the areas administered by the Hollister BLM office. I have been living in California for 8 years, much of that time on the central coast, and still many of these places are new to me. Furthermore, most California natives that I talk to have neither been to or even heard of that places that I work. I suppose this is not too surprising, as California is a large state and contains so many scenic and fun to explore places. However, the BLM (and surrounding) lands of this area have much botanical, geological, archeological, and historical value…so here’s a shout out to some of the underappreciated BLM lands of Central California:

                  Panoche, Monervo Dunes, New Idria

Panoche Valley is located in eastern San Benito County and the Panoche Hills are in neighboring Fresno County just east of Pinnacles National Monument and west of 1-5. The Audubon Society describes the valley as a “sparsely-populated and remote region of California consists of vast, grassy ranches that extend up over chaparral and oak-covered ridges, interspersed with dry washes with intermittent water” and designates it as a globally Important Bird Area. (For any other birders out there, a great little blog on a day birding in Panoche Valley can be found at http://shearwaterjourneys.blogspot.com/2011/10/san-benito-county-birding-panoche.html :)) Along with the Carrizo Plain to the south, it is one of the last remaining intact San Joaquin Valley habitats. Most of these habitats have been supplanted by agricultural production, giving this area special significance as a haven for rare valley endemic species such as the Blunt-nosed Leopard-Lizard, Giant Kangaroo-Rat, San Joaquin Kit Fox, and San Joaquin Wooly Threads. You really can’t begin to understand the San Joaquin Valley without understanding the history and significance of agriculture. Good information about agriculture in the Central Valley, water allocation and other environmental impacts, etc. can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region9/strategicplan/sanjoaquin.html and http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/WAP/docs/report/ch14-cvbd.pdf (especially check out the map on Page 16). According to the DFG the Central Valley has lost 99.9 percent of the historic native grasslands, 99 percent of valley oak savanna, about 95 percent of wetlands, 89 percent of riparian woodland, 66 percent of vernal pools, and 67 percent of San Joaquin Valley shrub lands. Understanding how little of this type of valley habitat remains really underscores the importance of this area. New threats to the Panoche Valley include the proposed Panoche Valley Solar Farm ( http://savepanochevalley.com/environment and http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/news-blog/2012/jun/14/proposed-panoche-valley-solar-farm-heads-to-appeal/ ) and shift from dryland farming and grazing to orchards and vineyards. Within the boundary of the Panoche Hills are two Wilderness Study Areas (WSA’s) and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) managed by the BLM.

Panoche Hills (photo courtesy of Tai @ Aerophant.com)

Panoche Valley and the surrounding hills were once part of a vast inland sea. Today fossils of vertebrates such as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and marine turtles can be found. This area is also known for it’s mineral and oil resources, including Benitoite (BaTiSi3O9) which was first discovered in here San Benito county in 1907 and subsequently named. It has since become California’s state gemstone. More information on this beautiful and rare blue mineral can be found athttp://www.benitoite.com/benitoite/benitoit.shtml . Panoche Valley is home to a number of ranches and also the historic Panoche Inn (still in operation..mainly as a bar). Recreational uses (besides birding!) include OHV riding, shooting, botanizing (mainly in the spring) and stargazing.

This unique area is often underappreciated, but visiting Panoche Valley this summer has allowed me to feel like I am stepping into another world. When you are there, one cannot believe how close they are to 1-5 and the Bay area! I can’t wait to visit again in the spring and see what it looks like after a winter with some rain.

Monervo Dunes Research Natural Area/ Monocline Ridge

Monocline Ridge

This area is located to the south and east of Panoche Valley in what is known as the Ciervo hills and is accessed from I-5. My time spent here has been for collecting ephedra seeds. During this time I have also found Native American artifacts such as mortars, pestles, and chirt flakes. Hiking around these dunes is grueling, but the view of the central valley is spectacular. The BLM website does a better job than I could of describing this area so I will include it here:

“The Monvero Dunes are characterized as a residual sand ecosystem dominated by plant species that occur in sandy areas in the Mojave desert, including Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides), Indian rhubarb (Rumex hymenosepela), and several sand-dwelling annual plant species. Mormon tea (Ephedra californica) is also scattered throughout the sand. The hillsides of Monocline Ridge in the Ciervo Hills are open annual grassland with scattered native annual plants, perennial grass (Poa secunda), and shrubs such as goldenbrush (Ericameria linearfolia) and matchweed (Gutierezzia californica), typical of the Ciervo Hills ecosystem. The Monvero Residual Dunes distribution is narrowly restricted to hilltops and ridgelines along the Monocline Ridge in the Ciervo Hills that occur in the lower Inner South Coast Range in western Fresno County, generally between 1,500 and 3,000 feet elevation. These hilltop sand accumulations are thought to have weathered in place from Miocene sandstone formations in place. These sands have been identified as the Monvero soil series. The residual dunes in western Fresno County on Monvero soils is a special case of a more widespread series, but study is needed throughout the range of vegetation to develop association-parent material relationships. The California Native Plant Society and California Department of Fish and Game identified the Monvero Residual Dunes of the lower inner South Coast Ranges in Fresno County as habitat that is likely to occur largely on BLM land. Several federally endangered species targeted in theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Plan for Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley are known to occur within or along the edges of the proposed Monvero Dunes RNA. These species include the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila) and the San Joaquin woolly-threads (Monolopia congdonii). The proposed RNA is also within the habitat range of the federally endangeredSan Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and theCiervo aegialian scarab beetle (Aegialia concinna).

New Idria Mine

New Idria Ghost Town

The remnants of this ghost town (much of it has been lost to vandalism and a fire in 2010) can be found south of Panoche and just to the north of the Clear Creek Management Area. Mercury was first discovered here in 1854 and at its heyday in the 1880’s the New Idria had around 3000 residents. Today the area is listed as a superfund site due to contamination from mercury and mine tailings. More information and pictures can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Idria,_California ,and http://www.new-idria.org/ .

Laguna Mountain

a view from Laguna Mountian

“The Laguna Mountain Area consists of somewhat rugged terrain with rolling hills covered in dense brush. The area’s vegetation is characterized by classic chaparral habitat, oak forests, and grassy meadows. Laguna Creek flows through the area most of the year, accompanied by a series of scenic waterfalls in the Gorge.” (BLM website : http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister/recreation/Laguna.html) This area located between Pinnacles NM and I-5 is certainly rugged to hike around. It contains a number of rare, endemic and well, just really pretty plant species and I have seen a wide variety of birds including Phainopepla, Poor-wills, Bald Eagles, and Hummingbirds. Currently, the trails in this area are under construction (as of August 2012) and are not very well marked, but trail work and new signage are in progress. The best time to visit this area would be the spring in order to take advantage of wildflower viewing and to hike down to the Gorge to see the waterfall. Also, since much of this area has been subject to prescribed fire between 2007-2010, it is currently a good place to see early succession stage fire followers. There is a still a lot to see in summer, but the heat and lack of water and shade do not recommend it for summer explorations! There is free camping at the trailhead.

     Clear Creek Management Area and Condon Peak

This area is currently a much contested area in San Benito County. For many years it was a heavily used OHV area until 2008 when the EPA issued a Human Health Risk Assessment for the area that resulted in its temporary closure due to exposure to naturally occurring asbestos. This issue is still being resolved, and an internet search will reveal much information on this topic, but here I want to focus mainly on the natural history of the area.

  Clear Creek and the New Idria Serpentine Mass

Serpentine Barrens at Clear Creek

Serpentinite is California’s state rock (despite efforts to strip it of its title in 2010). It is a formed in subduction zones and is rarely seen on land. Serpentinite is high in toxic metals and low in nutrients and soils that form from serpentine minerals are usually sparsely vegetated and often contains high numbers of endemic plans. This is true for the New Idria Mass which is the largest exposed serpentenite mass in the South Coast Ranges of California. From the BLM website: “Serpentine soils provide a very rare habitat, occupying less than 1% of the land surface area in California. Serpentine (ultramafic) soils are extremely stressful for plant growth due to low nutrient levels and high levels of magnesium and heavy metals. Plants that grow on serpentine soils often contain special adaptations to tolerate their extreme environment. Some plant species, termed “serpentine endemics,” grow exclusively on serpentine soils. Many serpentine endemic plant species have very limited distributions and as a result are rare, threatened, or endangered, such as the San Benito evening primrose. Serpentine soils often create varied vegetation patterns. Perhaps nowhere else in California is the change in vegetation on serpentine soils more dramatic than at the CCMA where dense chaparral grows immediately adjacent to stark, moonscape barrens absolutely devoid of vegetation. At higher elevations, serpentine chaparral and barrens alternate with conifer forest.”

Clear Creek Management Area

I have spent quite a lot of time on the New Idria Mass surveying for the rare and endemic plants that exist here. It is certainly a remarkable area and, though it is currently closed to the public, worth noting for its unique geology and flora, and its austere beauty.

Condon Peak

Lupine on Condon Peak, April

Condon Peak is located within the Clear Creek Management Area, but is not in the asbestos hazard area and is still open to the public. At 4,964 feet, it is the 2^nd highest peak in the Management area and offers wonderful view of the surrounding hillsides and areas to the south. Spring is especially nice here and offers chances for wildlife and wildflower viewing (including San Benito Evening Primrose). There is a free campsite and a trail that leads to the summit.

To conclude, the value of land is so often seen from the perspective of how they can benefit us either from a production standpoint or as a place of dramatic scenery. While I believe places like Yosemite and the Redwoods are wonderful and valuable places, I also think that we often take for granted areas of our country that are seen as marginal and do not treat them with the respect that they deserve. There are not as many spokespeople for places like the Panoche Hills and the way they are treated by those that use them is a reflection of this. High rates of illegal dumping and vandalism are obvious to those who visit these areas and reflect attitudes of people towards the land. It is unfortunate that we are not able to appreciate these places more.

On a more positive note, working in these areas this summer has reminded me how many relatively unknown and unvisited places exist in our country. They are usually uncrowded and often free and provide many opportunities for exploration. This is true even in a state as crowded as California! A little extra time spent looking at maps and wondering what is out there can reveal many surprises and take one away from the crowds of the national parks and other well-known landmarks to discover your own unique experience.

The quick and direct answer is the easiest to understand, but often the hardest to give. I find this to be especially true when discussing plant population trends. It’s extremely tempting to draw conclusions about what is happening in an area after collecting only a year or two of data, but this is dangerous! Populations undergo natural annual variation, something that is especially apparent in Colorado this year. We’ve been returning to many of our permanent monitoring plots around the state, checking out how different rare plant species have been reacting to the extraordinarily low moisture levels this summer. Generally, the plants, like many common species, have been struggling. If we looked only at the number of individuals in some of our plots last year (a very wet year) vs. this year, we might be tempted to conclude that the populations were declining dramatically. Luckily, we have more data than that for many of the species. Looking back at previous years’ data, it becomes clear that the number of individuals in a plot has tended to fluctuate up and down the entire time the team has been monitoring.

Phacelia formosula. Photo by Peter Gordon

I really noticed this distinction last week when we traveled to northern Colorado to monitor Phacelia formosula. At the first plot we visited, the plants looked great! It was the first plot of anything I’d seen this year that looked noticeably better than it did last year. There were many plants, and the majority of them were in flower. With excitement building, we moved on to our next plot. Alas, there were almost no plants here! The third and final plot seemed to take the middle road, with approximately the same number of plants we had seen the year before. Looking at these three plots it was obvious that populations fluctuate, and not always in the same way as their neighbors just a small distance away. We left with another year’s worth of data, secure in the knowledge that several years down the road we may be able to notice meaningful trends.

Sama Winder
BLM Colorado State Office

It has been another whirlwind summer. It seems that whenever the busiest part of field season finally winds down sometime in July, there’s not much time left before fall. I can’t believe it’s September already! My summer started out with golden eagle nest monitoring and lots of seed collecting, and now it has come down to more seed collecting, sage grouse data analysis, and a variety of surveys: powerline and fence surveys in sage grouse core areas, rare plant surveys in the wild horse management area and elsewhere, and surveys of stock tanks to determine the presence or absence of bird escape ramps. No powerline survey has yet been done in the field office, save for just a couple of lines, so it’s always nice to be a part of a new project that is valuable to the BLM here.

I started acquiring this information for my mentor, the wildlife biologist, for analysis of human infrastructure impact on sage grouse, who don’t like lekking near powerlines. The information can also be used for the benefit of raptors. While I roam the “office,” I record whether the particular powerlines and poles I’m surveying fit the standards of the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee, which create and disseminate guidelines on how to protect raptors from electrocution. There are many things that power companies can do to modify poles that pose hazards to raptors. By knowing what kind of pole and what modifications (or lack therof) are present, the field office will now be able to pinpoint hotspots of unsafe powerlines and can correlate this with raptor observations to judge which areas will be most likely to have unfortunate interactions between raptors and powerlines. Although the modifications cost money to install, raptor deaths also cost money under enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Companies whose infrastructure causes eagle deaths can be charged up to $250,000 per eagle, so it behooves them to employ methods of protecting the raptors. I am glad that I am involved with this project, which will hopefully benefit raptors and at least help to make a more accurate assessment of the impact on sage grouse. It can be easy to lose sight of the purpose behind some projects, but it’s important to hold on to the underlying purpose – like wildlife protection- because this will motivate you to do a more thorough and diligent job, and makes it worth every day’s effort.

The most recent month of my internship has been the quickest yet, which has made me realize how short five months really is…I don’t want it to end! I literally pinch myself every day because I feel so lucky to have a job I love so much.

Given that I live in the mountains, near a lake relatively close to the ocean, the surrounding landscapes of the San Bernardino National Forest are not as dry as some in the Great Basin where my CLM compadres are. We have been getting afternoon thundershowers nearly every day, making some plants that I have been surveying bloom for a second time when they normally just bloom in the late spring or early summer. It’s crazy!

The past month has been pretty mellow; I’ve been chipping away at cleaning up our geodatabase with field checks of rare plant occurrences. In other words, I’ve been going on daily treasure hunts in the mountains for beautiful, little-bitty plants, most of which are endangered.  Much of our current geospatial information we have was created by my botanical predecessors (before my boss’s time) by judging from aerial photographs where certain plants were likely to occur. For the most part, the plant polygons are close to correct, but some are fixer-uppers. I haven’t had a field partner for two months due to a reorganization after budget cuts, so I’ve been going out in my green Chevy Tahoe all alone. Although it would be fun to have someone with me, I’ve been glad for the challenges that have come with flying solo and being completely unfamiliar with an area’s flora. I have become very self-sufficient and resourceful in my work ethic.

Other than looking for tiny plants that normal people wouldn’t notice or care about, I’ve been doing the GIS work that corresponds to my surveying project  and working on my wildflower book of the San Bernardino National Forest.

A couple of weekends ago, I attended a lichen and air quality conference that was hosted by the Jepson Herbarium for Region-5 Forest Service botanists at the James Reserve in the San Jacinto Mountains. It was a wonderful opportunity to network with other FS botanists. A lichenologist, Linda Geiser from Oregon, came down and presented on the methodology that she has developed that uses lichens as air quality indicators. A local lichenologist, Kerry Knudsen, took us out in the field for a crash course in lichen genera field identification. The latter entailed many a minute with your nose pressed against the rock with one eye squinted and the other eye looking through your hand lens. Lichenology is a much understudied field, as I learned, so if you ever want to describe a species of something, you should probably become a lichenologist! The whole weekend was a fabulous experience and I felt very fortunate to be included in it.

That just about sums it up around here. I hope everyone else is having a great time with their internship! Here are a few photos: 

Castilleja cinerea, my favorite paintbrush species and one of the threatened plants I survey/

A big Aspicilia lichen. It was huge!

Until next time!

Lizzy Eichorn, San Bernardino National Forest

Truthfully, monsoon season had never really crossed my mind. Of course I have known about this season but in the locations where I have lived before, there is ample precipitation, so heavy rains don’t have the same effect. It is a totally different story here in Roswell!

We were warned that monsoon season had arrived, but that statement did not carry as much weight as it does now. Let’s just say, monsoon season matters here! First there were a couple of light rains, which were pleasant, but when these light rains turn into normal or heavy rain it definitely makes a difference when you are driving on the back dirt roads! We figured this out rather quickly on one of the first days of monsoon season. We were surprised when the clouds opened up and rain came down hard and fast while we were in the middle of an allotment without a compacted road within miles…. we have learned to take monsoons seriously in Roswell, and here is the picture to prove it!

Evidence that monsoon season is serious in Roswell!

-Stephanie Burkhardt

BLM

Roswell Field Office

The work load of the staff at our BLM office is too daunting to fathom. Through observation and participation, I have learned two very valuable lessons about science, government work, and life in general: there is never enough time or money.

Instead of bitterly swallowing this reality I’ve decided to work these ideas into my everyday life in order to make myself more humble and…less in control. I cannot live my life in complete order, nothing I do personally or professionally will ever be so neat and tidy as task A leads to B and so on. Sometimes you have to skip down to X, realize you haven’t the funds, try to allocate them while you start on M, get turned away by your not-so-charitable donors, trash project X and right after ward you find just enough excess in the budget. All of life follows this kamikaze flight pattern and the longer it takes one to realize, or accept, then the more misery one can perceive life to be.

I am probably way off track with this assessment, but I think our mentor wanted us to learn this during our time here. I think he wanted us to walk away with the knowledge that systems that are put in place are imperfect because life is erratic and unpredictable, but success is possible and attainable through 1) understanding this fact 2) bobbing and weaving, ebbing and flowing. Its a struggle everyday in my life at home and at work to “let go and let god” so to speak, but I have the BLM to thank for motivating me to try to be free.

Several times this summer, my co-intern, Patrick, and I have been up to Lake County, CA to scout and collect seeds on BLM Land. The interior chapparal surrounding the San Joaquin Valley is the best habitat to look for unique plant species in the region, despite being decimated by the intense drought this year.  In Lake County, we had our eyes on a particular population of Western Redbud (Cercis orbiculata), and we had already factored it into our SOS list. We kept ourselves busy as we patiently waited for the seeds to mature, but we were definitely anxious to go back. Redbud has these excellent qualities that only other SOS interns can appreciate: the plants are easily identifiable and difficult to confuse; the fruits grow at eye level; there are plenty of seeds per pod and plenty of pods per tree; there are no spines, resins, or irritating hairs; and bags of seed are lightweight, pest-free, and odorless. Yesiree, we wanted that seed.  So when the time came to pack up the truck and head out, we were horrified to hear that the night before, two wildfires had spung up on either side of the collection site.

The Wye and Walker fires blazed for nearly a week and we had no idea whether our areas of interest had been swallowed by the conflagration. Any attempts to contact the field office were answered only by messages of staff on fire duty. When the fires had been contained, there had, luckily, been little damage. Only two structures were destroyed and there was only three injuries.  The acreage burned, 7,934, was a flash in the pan compared to the larger fires seen in Colorado and elsewhere earlier this year, and all BLM areas were reopened almost immediately.

Being from the east coast, fire has never been on my radar. I had no idea what to expect. We drove up to the area and everything seemed normal, but as we rounded a corner, the scenery suddenly changed. The rolling uplands we had seen before had been transformed into an otherwordly landscape blackened, charred and covered with ash. What really piqued my interest was the realization that the fire had only engulfed one side of the highway. We were subsequently fortune in being able to complete our collections, but I couldn’t help but picture the fire crews working tirelessly to hold that line. It was amazing to me, truly-eye opening to see how a small stretch of pavement could make that difference as a fire break and how close this:

had come to looking like this:

Marc Bliss

California Plant Materials Center USDA – NRCS

While camping a few weekends ago, I was asked by another camper where I lived and I replied, “Richfield, Utah.” They immediately shot back, “Why?”  That pretty much sums up most people’s perspective of the agricultural town containing about 7,500 people.  But there’s a detailed answer to that question.

Most people know Utah for its homogeneous culture and lack of good beer.  Utah is also famous for its sandy canyons and stretching desert.  Intrigued by the words of Edward Abbey, one of the reasons I accepted this internship in Richfield was to experience the mystery and enchantment of the tablelands he experienced and wrote about. Watching the sunrise from our field sites, some of which are dubbed badlands for their lack of resources but possessing jaw-dropping beauty, I can’t help but feel fortunate.

My internship is divided into two parts; working with an endangered cactus species, Sclerocactus wrightiae (my love for succulents being another reason for accepting this position) and Seeds of Success.

Our typical day in the field involves revisiting known Sclerocactus localities and monitoring for cactus survival, including recording number of cactus found, size, geographic information, and several other variables to fully grasp the cactus habitat and environmental impact.  In the office, we spend time analyzing the large amount of data. This extensive study is successfully helping to ensure the survival of Sclerocactus wrightiae as well as keep BLM land monitored for multi-use purposes. Fortunately, the recent rains have perked up the cactus and provided quite an advantage at finding S. wrightiae! Although the dry spring in Utah did not pan out in our favor for collecting seed, as we drive throughout Utah our eyes are frequently peeled for large groups of plants that will potientially produce at least 10,000 seeds. There are some promising sites and we have collected vouchers. The seed is so close to being ready! I am looking forward to honing my plant identification skills and being able to recognize new plant species! If I haven’t mentioned it enough, again, I feel so fortunate that I am getting paid to play outside and contribute to environmental consciousness!

Much of my free time in the past month has been spent seed collecting and identifying plant species for potential collections.  Although many parts of California have dried out completely, there are still many flowering species here on the wetland.

We have had some very large scale drug operations on the preserve lately.  This has restricted my work and collections as entire sections of the preserve have been shut down to all types of operations.  It’s one more danger to add to the already substantial list of potential threats.

Between the weather elements, the unfriendly environments, and additional dangers of our jobs, it has become abundantly clear that seed collection is not always a walk in the park!  I’m sure this type of work is not for everyone, but for me, there’s nowhere else I would rather be.

The wildlife viewing has continued to be outstanding here.  I regularly see coyotes, owls, pheasants, snakes, river otters, minks, deer, turtles, quail, eagles, hawks, turkeys, rabbits, lizards, and ground squirrels, among other critters.  We also have a large population of feral cats inhabiting the preserve and although cute and fluffy, feral kittens are born dangerous!

Most recently we have been doing work to prepare for the fall “flood-up”, when our artificial wetlands are flooded for the large numbers of migrating birds passing by.  I am hoping I will have the opportunity to see these magnificant creatures arriving by the thousands.