Winterwonderland

The touch of the summery sun that used to fill me with heat has cooled with the passing days to a merely luke-warmth, the green leaves on the trees have turned bright reds, yellows, and oranges and have since fallen to the ground, to be been covered by snow! I have enjoyed what the Idahoan winter has had to offer me. I have gone snowboarding and sledding as well as enjoyed the snow showers and inspections of the intricate designs of tiny snowflakes (awe-some!). As I was removing the snow off the windows of my car one morning before work I realized, “I am definitely living in the thick of snow…how cool!” I had a more profound realization one evening after work when I was stuck in the snow in the parking lot! Eventually I was freed, but not without assistance (apparently you’re supposed to kick the snow out and not into the back of the tires. Whoops!). What a learning experience! Now if I could only get over my fear of driving in ice!

The first few weeks of my internship at the Bureau of Land Management State Office in Cheyenne, Wyoming were packed full of reading procedural manuals and scientific articles, deciphering acronyms, shaking new hands and attending meetings.  It can be described as nothing less than a fire hose of information to the face. I found that the only way to make sense of the planning process was to dive in head first and hope that I made it up to the surface for air. After weeks of long days in the office, hours of reading, countless cups of coffee, and dutiful guidance from my supervisors, I am beginning to grasp (and even apply) some components and processes of land use planning.

These "snow fences" along highways are a novelty to me and took me a few miles to figure out what they were during my drive down to Cheyenne.

Upon my arrival to Cheyenne, my focus has been directed at a land use plan amendment and associated Environmental Impact Statement for six of Wyoming’s Field Offices. These amendments will revise Sage Grouse and sage brush habitat management for 15 million acres of public land. The purpose of the amendment is to address needed changes in the management and conservation of Greater Sage Grouse habitats. The need for these amendments is partly due to the Greater Sage Grouse being classified by the Fish and Wildlife Service as a species that is warranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but precluded by higher priority listing actions. The bird is currently listed as a candidate species. Because the BLM in Wyoming manages over half of all remaining sagebrush habitat in the United States (more than 57 million acres), these amendments will play a crucial role in the preservation of Sage Grouse habitat. The goal of the amendments is to prevent the Sage Grouse from becoming listed as a threatened or endangered species, as this listing would have a “significant adverse effect” on the economy, customs, and culture of Wyoming. Sage grouse numbers have been decreasing in part due to loss, degradation and fragmentation of sage brush grassland habitats. Causes of habitat fragmentation and loss include but are not limited to oil and gas development, mining, and wind energy developments. Currently, the BLM is in the process of finalizing a list of management action alternatives that will be applied to designated key sage grouse habitat areas in Wyoming.

While working on the Sage Grouse amendments, I have found that communication, clarity, and consistency are key components for creating an effective, usable amendment. The Sage Grouse amendments may only apply on BLM- administered lands, but dozens of other organizations/ agencies are working side by side with the BLM providing information, input, and advice on issues at hand. The ability to communicate effectively not only within your own agency, but externally with numerous other agencies is instrumental for the progress and development of these amendments.

Communicating clearly is important if the Sage Grouse amendments are to be applied in the context at which they were intended to. Management actions need to be written in a way so that they cannot be interpreted in multiple ways. This is much harder than it sounds! A single phrase may yield multiple changes before the right tone and intent is achieved. This art of “wordsmithing” obligates planners to parse out what needs to be communicated, analyze how the words could be interpreted by other people, and consider who will be applying this language specific to a particular resource. The resulting language should be a clear and concise statement that can be easily understood and implemented by all parties involved.

Consistency has also been a matter of contention while working on the Sage Grouse amendments. First of all, any management actions the BLM implements must be consistent with any previously enacted laws, statutes, acts, etc. The amendments also need to be consistent with existing BLM policies. While crafting the amendments, planners also need to be consistent within the document as well. Definitions of terms must stay the same throughout the document, and these terms cannot be changed. For example, the words “variance” and “deviance” have a similar meaning. However, these two words could be interpreted differently in the amendments when applied in different ways. Therefore, consistency throughout the amendments not only contributes to the clarity of the document, but also effectively communicates the intended message to the reader.

Sagebrush grassland gives way to the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in southeastern Wyoming.

After spending 2 months in the Wyoming State Office, I finally had the opportunity to leave Cheyenne’s city limits and explore some of Wyoming’s BLM land. I was in awe of the abundance and diversity of the species that I observed utilizing sage brush habitat. Scattered between the pronghorn, coyotes, deer, rabbits and raptors, were the footprints of human activities utilizing the same resources. I observed oil pads, natural gas compression stations, a surface mining operation, wind turbines towering 500 feet above, cattle grazing, roads, fences, and transmission lines among the sagebrush landscape. Seeing how many uses this land offers reminded me why a land use plan with the goal of “multiple use and sustained yield” is so important (and difficult). In some areas, in order to protect the resources needed by Sage Grouse to persist, other resource uses may be limited. Additionally, in some areas, other resource uses must not be compromised. Observing this delicate balance of resource use first hand was an eye opening experience, and gave me a better perspective of the purpose, need, and goals of the Sage Grouse amendments.

-Katie Klein

BLM, Cheyenne WY

Days have grown shorter, temperatures colder, field work more scarce, but opportunities for education remain. At this point in the internship (whether your five months have nearly run out or an extension has you still truckin’), some part of the required work has likely become repetitive. Maybe even mind-numbingly dull. But that is no excuse to cease learning something new every day.

Don't let your mind collapse

Potential sources of new knowledge (may vary by field office):

1. Supervisor: He or she has likely been working on or has at least been thinking about the project you are working on for a greater number of hours than you have. Ask about details of the project that may have never been explained to you or up to this point have not been relevant to your specific task. Get to know the reason for your work on a deeper level—it may help you appreciate it more. Or it may lessen your interest in the project. So it goes. Your supervisor may have further education beyond a B.A./B.S./etc. If you’re considering further education, ask about his/hers. He/she also has plenty of books and articles that likely overlap with your interests, whether or not they are project-related. If your project has you burned out, take an hour (*but I didn’t tell you to) to read something new or further your understanding of something old.
   

   Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)

2. Co-workers: I would recommend at least a portion of your learning from this group stick to non-work-related topics, to keep the knowledge varied. Most of your co-workers are older than you. Experiences–good, great, or not-so-great–are worth hearing. You may also decide you don’t like the way a co-worker approaches a situation or handles an issue—that’s still education. You can avoid such an approach, or perhaps teach them something new.
3. Nature: As the snow falls, animal tracks become easier to see, find, follow, and learn. Study every track you see, follow it for a while. Is it straight, purposeful? Casual? Being chased by something? Stay quiet and you will undoubtedly find several of the tracks’ creators.
   

   Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis)

4. Your SELF: Rather than completely leaving your physical being for the euphoria of a daydream, speak to yourself in a foreign language. Even if you haven’t studied it since high school, spit out as many words or phrases as you can remember. Challenge your memory. Even if the language doesn’t exist, humor yourself by making one up. Or review multiplication tables in your head, or write a story or poetry. Bottom line: Challenge your brain, keep your mind fresh, and smile every day.

Northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens)

If you’re caught in an 8 (or 10) hour, day-in, day-out battle of computer-front tedium, it seems to me that you may as well LEARN SOMETHING!

Challenge yourself,

TYLER STUART

LANDER, WY

BLM

It has been over six months since I started my internship here in Wyoming and what a six months it has been. I had the fortunate opportunity to extend my internship and was happy to accept the offer. Now that the weather has taken a turn and the snow has prevented field surveys, my project has turned to data analysis. After close to six months of met tower surveys, every day, I can happily say it was a great experience. It seems that after a slow start to the field season, my partner and I started to find quite a few dead birds at our met towers, mainly during migration. Now we get to analyze the data and figure out what our findings mean. I look forward to finding out the results and seeing how much of an impact, if any, these met towers have on birds. 

As far as living here in Rawlins, it has been a different experience but absolutely worth every minute. Not only have I had the chance to visit Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, I have had the opportunity to view amazing wildlife and get in some great camping. I am now getting used to living here during the cold months. Being from Texas, I never knew that a place could have a constant sheet of ice on the roads for weeks in a row! I am learning fast how to drive safely in these conditions.  It’s been great so far and I have a couple of months left, lets see how those turn out.

Anna

Bureau of Land Management

Rawlins, WY

Anya Tyson
Buffalo, WY

Buffalo has been good to me—an office full of friendly, helpful coworkers, a backdrop of Bighorn majesty, and a job that’s provided me with a myriad of skills. I have had hands-on experience with radio telemetry, rangeland health monitoring, 4WD, GIS, seed collection, office decoration, a cave survey, aquatic sampling, and I’m sure the list could stumble on. Because my time here has been pleasant I sometimes forget that other aspects of what I have learned at this office have been less comfortable. The Powder River Basin has tremendous natural gas and other energy resources, and the Buffalo Field Office has been charged with stream-lining the permitting of such development. My friendly coworkers are asked to permit development plans at slippery rate, face-off with industry reps., and generally make tough decisions on a daily basis. I do not like what is happening to the landscape of the Powder River Basin- thousands of miles of new roads are quietly, almost benignly fragmenting an expansive landscape to pieces. Not enough people care, or have seen, the cumulative effects of this development, and so it continues quickly and thoroughly from east to west across this basin. When I was conducting range monitoring, I noticed that much of this country can boast of a robust native grasses, forbs, and big sagebrush, that is, when one steps slightly away from the weedy corridor that almost inevitably surrounds every road and disturbance corridor. I am concerned that the prospect of reclamation of these lands, once disturbed by increasing amounts of infrastructure, is not as neat and assured as it is written down on paper and told to land owners. I am concerned that sage-grouse may face local extirpation in this area that bridges important population centers for the bird in central Wyoming to Montana and South Dakota. Wyoming’s ratio of people to antelope (the latter outnumber the former) is one of the reasons I am in love with the state. It may also be a reason, in my opinion, why places like the PRB are being sacrificed for national benefit; there are not enough backyards out there to defend. Domestic energy development has to happen somewhere, and economically speaking, may often need to happen at a good clip. This position has challenged me to understand how politics and biology interact and prescribe land management. The introduction to these realities will be invaluable as I continue to pursue conservation, land management, and science. Thanks again Krissa and Marian for placing me in a beautiful state, in a position where I have gained many new skills, and in this office that has provided so much food for thought.

These past six months as a CLM Intern at the Vale BLM district office have been wonderful. The things I have learned, the people I have met, and the places I have gone have all made me a better person both professionally and personally. After completing this internship and collecting countless seeds, the number of plants I have learned to identify has doubled, if not tripled, and my love of botany has grown even more. Being stationed in Vale, Oregon allowed me to experience a part of the country that few people live in or ever think about visiting. Working everyday in such a remote place allowed me to really get in touch with nature and understand how a desert ecosystem operates. Working in the BLM office also furthered my understanding of how a government agency works and has given me a much greater appreciation of all the people who work to manage our public lands. This internship has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to learn more about environmental science and working for a government agency.

Anthony Hatcher
CLM Intern Vale, OR

As my time here with the Carson City Bureau of Land Management Office comes to a close, I look back on all of the beautiful sunsets that I have seen over the last six months. This was a fantastic work opportunity, and I am so thankful that I was assigned to an area so ruggedly beautiful. Since June I have been able to travel throughout Northwestern Nevada and into Eastern California. Every field day was an amazing adventure with a new experience. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to work in this area and to have experienced life out in the desert. I would recommend this program to anyone who would like a change of scenery and the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience in conservation. Whatever that next step might be, I know that I have come away from this internship with more than when I went into the program. Someone told me that I need to be careful when I move back, that the west will remain under your skin once you have experienced life out here and you will be itching to come back. I hope they were right.

Where the deer and the antelope play…and elk, and moose, and sage grouse!

Deer Playing

Antelope Playing

In the past two weeks I’ve seen so much wildlife while we finish up our seed collecting. Driving out to the middle of nowhere to collect is getting more difficult now that most of the two-tracks are covered in snow!

No Seeds Here!

Summer in Wyoming was good to me and I’m beginning to miss it now that cold weather has finally moved in. I didn’t truly appreciate the beautiful weather and normal driving conditions until last week.

Moose!

However, the cooler temperatures allow me to reflect upon the past five months and relive the awesome experiences I’ve had since arriving in Wyoming.

I have learned about so many new plants, animals, and ecosystems, as well as the many responsibilities and interworkings of the various government agencies out here, especially of the BLM.

Planting Trees With My Roomie on National Public Lands Day

I think back to the hundreds of wonderful days I had in the field this summer, and remember the different animals and plants I’ve seen.

Sucked In While Collecting Typha latifolia

Proper Technique for Collecting Typha latifolia

I’m surprised at how easily Wyoming became my temporary home, and how much I enjoy being here. I still have some time left, and I plan on continuing to make the best of this wonderful experience!

Me holding a snake I found while collecting Lupinus argenteus var. argenteus

TTFN!

Lara Kobelt
SOS Intern
Rock Springs, WY

Aquilegia coerulea var. ochroleuca

Playing a bit of roulette with my life after graduation, I didn’t state a location preference on my CBG application. For some reason, finding out that I’d be spending the next 7 months in Rock Springs, WY was not a daunting realization.

I’ve been undecided about future career plans for a while, so the opportunity to experience a totally new place (I’ve lived in Ohio my entire life) seemed like a great interim between school and more school and/or more work. 

Castilleja miniata

I showed up towards the end of June without a great understanding of what I was getting myself into. Fortunately, botany is AWESOME and it wasn’t hard to get into the spirit of my job requirements. A lot of what we do involves identifying plants—most of which I had never seen before. Sagebrush? I got used to that pretty quickly. It is fun to look back at my time here so far and realize how much I’ve learned and how many awesome plants I’ve found.

Dodecatheon pulchellum

Even if we can’t collect everything we find, I still get super excited when I find some crazy flower and figure out what it is.

For example, while collecting Antennaria corymbosa and Penstemon humilis near the Wind Rivers I spotted an orchid (Spiranthes romanzoffiana, or Ladies’ Tresses) by a stream I was near. Put that at the top of the list of things I did not expect to find in Wyoming. However, that piqued my interest and led me to dig through our herbarium only to find that there are quite a few other orchid species in Wyoming as well, many of them in our district.  

Spiranthes romanzoffiana

The biodiversity that exists out here in the high desert district never ceases to amaze me. We go driving through hot, flat, desert and suddenly there are huge populations of beautiful, showy flowers.

Opuntia polyacantha

One of the most memorable moments for me was a day in the field after a big rain storm. It seemed as though overnight Opuntia polyancantha all over the desert had burst into flower, and the landscape was lit up by the yellow blossoms.

Living and working in such a different environment than I’m used to has led me to truly appreciate the crazy diverse ecosystems out here.

Geum triflorum

Accordingly, when people in the office (frequently) ask me what plants I’m managing to collect in the desert besides sagebrush and greasewood, I have some great answers for them!

TTFN!

Lara Kobelt
SOS Intern
RSFO

As I reflect on my five months at the BLM office in Glasgow, Montana, a few main themes come to mind. The first is just how many amazing things I’ve been able to do. I’ve been involved in a variety of projects at work that have enhanced and increased my biology tool kit in a safe, open environment with very knowledgeable people. One of my favourite projects was helping out at the UL Bend Black-footed Ferret Recovery camp. BFFs are the most endangered mammal in NA and this is just one of many sites where they have been reintroduced. I helped trap ferrets and administer booster shots for the plague and canine distemper. All the trapping was done at night, and while it was tiring, sometimes monotonous work, to be able to help the recovery of such a sensitive species was a real joy. As an added bonus, the ferrets are very adorable!
Working at the BLM office also allowed me to interact with seasoned employees in other fields who were more than willing to answer my questions and take me out to see what they do. I was able to go to an archeological dig, help pull out salt cedar saplings from around a reservoir, do the rounds with our ranger, and stake the site for a new reservoir. Being Canadian, it was interesting to discover the various functions and goals of an American agency.
Working as a CLM intern allowed me to intimately experience another culture and landscape. Northeast Montana is unlike anywhere I’ve lived before and it was a lot of fun to immerse myself in the cowboy/small town culture. I met many wonderful people, including my landlady who in essence became my “Montana Mom”.
From the highway you get a sense of what NE Montana is like, but it was by driving all those back roads and hiking across the untouched prairie that the real magic and beauty was revealed. I’m very thankful I had the opportunity to be a CLM intern and for all the special memories I’ve gathered!

Lauren Wiebe
BLM Glasgow