Hi from South Florida!

Posted on 24 November, 2009 by clmintern

When it comes to doing field work in South Florida, you will inevitably end up soaking wet. South Florida is surrounded by water, with Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on the east side and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. An extensive system of canals, built in the 1950s and intended to drain the wetlands to create developable land, still works to pipe fresh water out into the bay. The most famous ecosystem in South Florida, the Everglades, is a flooded prairie whose resident flora and fauna are dependent on the water that makes the Everglades unique. Big Cypress National Preserve to the north of the Everglades is full of deep water cypress strands, and contains the bromeliads and Spanish moss that comes to mind when we think of swamps. To top it all off, all of South Florida sits mere feet above a massive freshwater aquifer.

Everglades National Park: The River of Grass

Cypress strand with bromeliads (Tillandsia sp) in Big Cypress National Preserve

In the course of doing work with the South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network branch of the National Park Service, I have found myself wading through knee deep (or deeper!) waters in marshes of Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades, or taking on a good amount of sea spray as my crew travels across the bay.The cool thing about working for an I&M branch of the Park Service is that they work in regions of parks, not just in one, so I’ve gotten to spend time in three really different areas (Everglades, Big Cypress and Biscayne National Park). I started my internship on September 1st, so I feel like I’m just getting started!

While I was supposed to be only attached to one project, related to tracking invasive species, I’ve had the opportunity to work on several projects revolving around water quality since coming to work for the Park Service. In the first, we deployed paint can sized mechanisms, called Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS), in various locations in canals and in Biscayne Bay, in order to test for the presence of wastewater. They were left underwater for a month, and then retrieved and sent off for analysis. They test for compounds commonly found in cosmetics, and are so sensitive that you can’t wear sunscreen or bug spray when handling them.

POCIS after a month underwater - gross

In the second major project just last week, I got to go on a trip into Big Cypress to take samples of periphyton, a slimy conglomerate of different species of microscopic organisms, primarily algae. Periphyton doesn’t look like much, but it is the basis for the food chain in the wetlands. We took periphyton samples from areas that were only accessible by helicopter, while another team rode ATVs to pick up other samples. The samples will be sent off for analysis, and we’re hoping that different community compositions will reveal levels of pollution.

Black bear seen from helicopter

Floating mat periphyton

Me in my flight suit

I applied for the CLM program hoping that I would figure out what I want to be when I grow up along the way. There have been many moments, both in the field and in the office doing various ArcGIS projects or simply data entry, where I have thought to myself “Yes! This what I want to do!” I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve gotten to have this experience and I am indebted to Dr. Kevin Whelan and the supercool staff of the SFCN office, and of course to Krissa and Marian (you ladies rock)!. I’ve learned so much about working for the National Park Service, doing scientific research, and living far from home and by yourself — and that doesn’t even include all the new plant and animal identification skills I’ve developed, or all the incredible things I’ve learned and seen about south Florida ecology. As a May college graduate, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to ease myself into the “real world”!
Carolyn “Lara” Ariori
National Park Service, South Florida/Caribbean I&M Network
Photos property of NPS SFCN

Summer in Cowboy Country

Posted on 9 November, 2009 by clmintern

I have been working at the BLM State Office in Cheyenne, Wyoming since May. Having moved to the United States from Italy just a year and a half ago, this has been a unique opportunity for me to get to know this part of the country.

Rush hour in Wyoming

Since I got started here, I have divided my time between working with the Botany Lead and the Threatened & Endangered Species Coordinator. My main project has been the revision of the Wyoming BLM Sensitive Species List. This list involves both rare plants and animals found on BLM lands that are declining or occur in a vulnerable and threatened habitat. The purpose of this list is to maintain these species and their habitat in BLM ecosystems and to make sure that the Sensitive Species are considered in land management decisions. This level of protection also helps prevent future listing of these rare species under the Endangered Species Act. My work was to gather information about the status of the species included in the current list and check if they still need to be designated as Sensitive under the criteria of the BLM Sensitive Species Policy. In addition, other species were considered for inclusion or removal, based on recent information. This project gave me the chance to learn about the characteristics, habitat, and status of these species. One of the things I enjoyed most was the opportunity to study Wyoming wildlife. My background is in plants, so learning about animals like bats, prairie dogs and raptors and how they are protected was a new and interesting experience for me.

I also got a chance to go to the Wyoming Native Plant Society meeting in Green River, Wyoming. We spent two days hiking to locate endemic species. The highlight of the meeting came on the second day when we hiked near Lander to look for a rare plant called Barnaby’s Clover. We were excited to see it in such good shape, since this species is not found anywhere else in the world outside this valley!

Barneby's Clover - Trifolium barnebyi

Like many other CLM interns, I also worked on the Seeds of Success program. In the spring I was involved in the first stages of the 2009 seed collection, which included choosing the target species, finding their locations in Wyoming, and taking plant specimens. Later in the summer I participated in the actual collection of the seeds. Most of the species that we needed aren’t found in the Cheyenne area so I got to travel a little bit to other parts of the State. I saw some really beautiful and scenic landscapes, like the Commissary Ridge area north of Kemmerer, Wyoming. The seeds we were collecting there were from the White Bark Pine. This tree species is found mostly in the western part of the state and is threatened by the White Pine Blister Rust and the Mountain Pine Beetle.

Whitebark Pine seed collection

In addition to my work at the BLM, I have also enjoyed living in Cheyenne. It is the biggest town in Wyoming and it gets really busy in July when people come from all over the country for Cheyenne Frontier Days. During this event, I got to spend one afternoon at the BLM stand giving a botany presentation. And of course I couldn’t miss the famous Frontier Days rodeo.

Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

Lorenzo Ferrari, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, WY

Dinosaur Nat’l Monument

Posted on 8 November, 2009 by jcr02

I have been working in Dinosaur Nat’l Monument under the park botanist, Tamara Naumann. Located in northwestern Colorado, Dinosaur Nat’l Monument is home to over 60 miles of the Green and Yampa Rivers, and boasts a seriously impressive landscape. I often feel like I’m on another planet here. The geology of the Monument, which I will not get into, could easily be an entire post by itself. But, if you would like more info on the Monument’s unique geology, shoot me an email at jcr02@uark.edu.

The scope of my internship has been primarily focused on river ecosystem health and function. The Yampa remains the last wild/undammed river in the Colorado River system, while the Green River has been regulated upstream by the Flaming Gorge Dam since 1964. Dams are known to disrupt the physical, chemical, and biological connectivity of rivers. The Green and the Yampa rivers collide in the heart of the Monument at a place called Echo Park, and because the two rivers were so similar during Pre-dam conditions, and are located in such close proximity to each other, a unique opportunity arises here to observe the impacts of large dams on big western rivers.

The Yampa Canyon

Gates of Lodore. Lodore Canyon, Green River

For more info on the Yampa, check out http://www.yampariverawareness.org/

As is stated under the Organic Act of 1916, it is the purpose of the National Park Service to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Along the river corridors, especially on dam-regulated rivers, fulfillment of this duty can be a handful. Millions of dollars are spent every year in an attempt to eliminate, or at least set back, invasive plant species that occupy riparian river areas. High priority invasive species such as Tamarisk (Tamarix spp.) and Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) are known to out-compete native species such as Willows, Cottonwoods, and Box Elders along riparian areas. The effects of such invasions are dense monocultures that result in losses of biodiversity and poor overall ecosystem health.

Not to worry though, folks who love their rivers won’t go down with a fight! Thanks to the efforts of the Weed Warriors, a volunteer weed management program here in Dinosaur NM, thousands of tamarisk have been removed from the Green and Yampa Rivers within the park. Participating in the program is a great way to lend a helping hand in the fight against tamarisk, and also a great way to take a free trip down the Green and Yampa!

Heavy duty tamarisk call for heavy tools. And heavy duty people. Like the Weed Warriors, pictured here removing a monster tamarisk root with a tripod!

For more info on the Weed Warrior program, check out http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/pub__6803066.pdf

NPS/Pete Williams

Another line of defense against the Tamarisk invasion is this little fella pictured above, the Tamarisk Beetle (Diorhabda elongata). After nearly 20 years of studies, 50,000 beetles were approved for release in the park during the summers of 2006 and 2007. Since their release, the beetles have gradually extended their reach throughout the park and are creating visible areas of Tamarisk defoliation. Considering the signifant impact that the beetles have had in only three years, it’s exciting to think about the impact that they will have in the future!

: Tamarisk Beetle Monitoring in Lodore Canyon of the Green River

A third instar Tamarisk Beetle emerging from it's molt. It will begin munching Tamarisk about 2 seconds after it molts! NPS/Pete Williams

For more information on the Tamarisk Beetle, check out http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/upload/2009BeetleWeb.pdf

Another invasive tree which poses substantial threat to the health and function of the river riparian areas is the Russian Olive. Due to it’s highly aggressive nature, it is likely the number-one candidate to move into the voids of Tamarisk that will be created by the Tamarisk Beetle. Although very attractive, the Russian Olive is not a nice tree. Capable of growing over 40 feet high, it is covered with sharp, dagger-size thorns. For a job like removing Russian Olive, we call in the pros. They are the best of the best, the Special Forces of weed management if you will, the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT). They came from far away places like Glacier National Park in Montana and Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho with chainsaws, herbicides, and the raw grit & determination necessary to tackle Russian Olive. I’m proud to say that after 2 weeks of work with the EPMT, I helped to remove the last of the Russian Olive from the park!

Myself w/ the EPMT crews from Glacier NP and Craters of the Moon NM

Another interesting project I had the opportunity to participate in was measuring the amount of light pollution in Dinosaur Nat’l Monument skies when the NPS Night Sky Research Team came to town. The NPS Night Sky team is a small team of NPS scientists dedicated to documenting the status of our night skies and protecting them for future generations. According to their website, Two–thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from their backyard, and 99% of the population live in an area that scientists consider light polluted. The rate at which light pollution is increasing will leave almost no dark skies in the contiguous US by 2025. Therefore, National Parks are becoming some of the last refuges for uninterrupted, natural, dark skies.

Taking light pollution measurements atop Serviceberry Ridge. Serviceberry Ridge is one of the most remote peaks in the park.

After a long night of night sky monitoring

For more info on light pollution & the NPS Night Sky Research Team, check their website at http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/lightscapes/

Remember; “Tomorrow will depend on the love you give today” – W. Jennings

Woo Pig Sooie!

Josh Richard, Dinosaur Nat’l Monument

The last pale light in the west

Posted on 5 November, 2009 by clmintern

When I decided to move to Tucson for my internship I promised myself one thing, I wasn’t going to sit on any cacti, I wasn’t going to realize that cliché of an Easterner gone West. Within one week that promise was broken by a poorly placed agave. Despite this tragedy for the seat of my pants, I can gladly say that this internship has been one of the most exciting and surprising experiences of my life. Having never been to Tucson before, I took the stereotypical New Yorker view and assumed it was all desert, complete with saguaros and rattlesnakes. While I have definitely seen my fair share of both, I’ve also realized that a lot of the land around Tucson includes grasslands and riparian zones, complete with diverse ecosystems that I never expected to see here.

Grasslands on the Audobon Research Ranch

Cholla Forest on the Ironwood

Because my internship doesn’t revolve around one major project, I’ve gotten to help out on a wide variety of research with a lot of different people and organizations. The largest project I’ve worked on so far has been monitoring the grasses on the La Cienegas National Conservation Area. Prior to this job I’ve had very little by way of plant education, so this was a crash course in grass identification. To make matters worse, this has been a bad drought year for Tucson, so nearly all of the grasses were missing their seeds. Despite all of this, I’ve actually come to really enjoy vegetation work. I can now reluctantly say I have a favorite upland grass…

"Take a picture for your mother"- upland grass monitoring

The work that I was most surprised to find here was fish research. I’ve gotten to expand on my experiences in stream ecology, helping to survey and catch some of the endangered species of fish that live in the Gila and San Pedro Rivers. I’ve gone seining for Top Minnow, laid traps for Gila Chub, and conducted water quality testing. I never thought there would be this many opportunities to don chest waders in Arizona.

Counting Minnows

My internship has also included a scattering of random jobs here and there. I got to spend one day last week helping out with the Historic Empire Ranch Roundup, a sort of cowboy festival that benefits the restoration of an old ranch on BLM land. Two weeks ago I got to go down to a ranch right on the Mexican border to work with the Nature Conservancy on some vegetation monitoring they were conducting. A few weeks before that, I was helping out with the reintroduction of prairie dogs into areas where they were previously hunted to extinction. Although it’s hard for me to predict what I’m going to be doing for work more than a few days in advance, the work keeps me on my toes and more often than not it’s exciting.

Petting the mini-horses at the Empire Ranch Roundup

Can you spot mexico?

Prairie Dog Release

Unlike most of the other interns in this program, I didn’t start until mid-august, so I still have a few more months in Tucson. I’m ready for whatever comes after this, but I’m more excited to find out what I’ll be working on next week.

Tucson Sunset

-Peter Leipzig-Scott

The Real World, Carson City

Posted on 2 November, 2009 by clmintern

Snowy Sierran peaks

Work as a CLM intern in the Carson City BLM office is in a period of transition right now. In the last month we have seen the clouds roll in from the west, darkening the skies and settling white snow caps on the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. A spring and summer spent in the hills, mountains, and scrub scouring for seeds, conducting vegetation surveys, and helping BLM rangeland health teams must inevitably come to an end as plants die or go dormant for the winter. Our work has taken us throughout western Nevada and past the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadan ridge into California. Now in the twilight of the growing season and our internship, we move indoors and focus on office work. We have now come to a point in our internship at which we naturally feel compelled to reflect on our earlier experiences. Since there are six of us in our field office and a number of events on which to “reflect”, we have decided to each contribute a small section to this collaborative blog. Hopefully our reflections will give you a comprehensive enough idea of what it was like in our field office, while still preserving the uniqueness and interest of individual experience. –Chris

Gina and Dave diligently collecting seed in the eastern Sierra.

We have been, and will continue to be, seed collecting maniacs. As part of the national interagency Seeds of Success program, the Carson City Team has made over 60 collections this season on our travels through the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada. Our collections have ranged from tiny desert annuals, to shrubs and grasses. The most memorable and stimulating collection in my eyes was when the team employed the ‘box and tickle’ collecting method. For the desert shrub, Eriogonum heermannii, we fashioned cardboard boxes to place under the buckwheat and proceeded to gently “tickle” or “massage” the plant (depending on personal preference) so it would generously drop its seed into our boxes. Hence ‘the box and tickle.’ Another memorable collection was the one we made for Mountain Mahogany. Soon after beginning to collect, we found that this tree’s seeds have a knack for digging into skin like piercing shards of fiber-glass, making collection quite an enjoyable experience. Most collections however, are slightly less eventful and often less painful. We collect seed in beautiful places and it is very relaxing work which builds our plant identification and berry picking skills.

Chris and Miles show their climbing skills!

Whatever the conditions of our seed collecting efforts, it feels good to know that the seed will go toward restoration efforts throughout the western US. Some seed will even be used locally in a Nature Conservancy restoration effort of the Truckee River, just north of Carson City. Seeing the site of a restoration effort that we will directly impact by contributing seed is very rewarding. As November approaches, we will continue to collect seeds of desert shrubs east of Carson City with hopes of pushing our grand total to 75 collections. -Matt

Matt, Cassy, Dave, and Chris with CNPS instructor Jennifer Buck

During the summer, our team was able to participate in a Vegetation Rapid Assessment Workshop through the California Native Plants Society (CNPS). The workshop took place at the Clair Tappan Lodge and Onion Creek Watershed located just west of Donner Pass (Donner Pass is located in the northern Sierra Mountains and is the site where the famous Donner Party spent the winter of 1846 and resorted to cannibalism in order to survive). Over three days we learned rapid assessment protocols, applications of fine/large scale vegetation sampling, and how vegetation sampling is used for mapping projects. It was a great experience getting to work first hand with CNPS botanists and our lead instructor Todd Keeler-Wolf as well as our co-students. This workshop was also a rewarding opportunity for us to learn new vegetation monitoring skills and to networkwith other agencies. Our cohort consisted of professionals from UC Davis, Santa Barbra Botanical Garden, CNPS, and the California Department of Fish and Game. Overall the workshop was a great experience! -Gina

Best in the Desert Off-Road Race

In August, the final portion of “The Best in the Desert” off-road race took place in our area. Participants raced motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs (think of a golf cart on steroids), cars and trucks for nearly 1000 miles from Las Vegas to Reno, NV. We loaded up early Saturday morning and headed out to help monitor the race to make sure that the racers were staying on the designated course as they zoomed towards the finish line. The course was well marked with flagging but we were there to look for any signs of racers missing the roads, observe any impacts to the adjacent vegetation, and to make sure participants weren’t driving through any sensitive playa areas. We encountered some spectators camped out in the middle of the desert who had been following the whole race and they gave us an insider’s knowledge about all things racing. By the end of the day, we had met a lot of nice people involved with the race, seen that the racers were, for the most part, sticking to the course, and even did some scouting for a great collection of Atriplex torreyi! -Miles

Pine Nut Mountains

Throughout the fall we have been working on the endemic species Pine Nut Mountain Ivesia (Ivesia pityocharis) located just southeast of our Carson City field office. Our task for this project was to locate and map the extent of this diminutive little plant as well as collect some basic statistics on its status (density, age class recruitment, etc.). Lucky for us, this Ivesia is mostly found in the higher elevations near ridges and just below peaks and so our work provided us with beautiful views and amazing camping as we worked high above the valleys each week. One September morning we even woke up to a layer of snow at our campsite! At first our task was rather difficult; we scoured dry meadows for this tiny Ivesia for long days and weeks at a time until we found ourselves seeing Ivesia in our sleep and counting them like sheep as we drifted off. Initially, we struggled on how to best map the plants occurrence; over time we grew better at identifying potential habitat and found efficient ways of working together to map each occurrence. Working on this project made us realize that the goal of the BLM is much different than the academic world we are used to. Our mapping and data collection efforts were the beginning of what may be a long-term monitoring effort to protect this plant. We had to constantly remind ourselves not to pay attention to every nit-picky detail and instead focus on getting our data collected as efficiently as possible so a future monitoring campaign may be developed. We all hope Ivesia pityocharis has a bright protected future thanks to the data we collected this year. – Dave

Why we love to be outside, Red Canyon Overlook

It’s a good thing that office work is limited to about 10% of our time (I think all six of us would agree on this one) though there is extremely valuable knowledge to gain in this portion of the internship. GIS work has got to be my favorite. Because we get to explore the land 90% of the time, GIS helps digitize roads that may not be on maps and helps us find locations we want to navigate through. It is also an amazing tool for putting together crucial data for conservation efforts such as the habitat of the sensitive endemic, Ivesia pityocharis and other sensitive species. In the office we also get to exercise our plant identification skills increasing our repertoire of native plant species! Other office work includes packing and sending seed to the seed extractor for the SOS program, working on conservation projects that contribute to the BLM’s efforts, and attending meetings on local weed control boards. After going to a couple of meetings I think the BLM has lived up to the nickname of the Bureau of Long Meetings! (Justkidding… well sort of).

The overall internship experience for me has been GREAT, not only because of the location and skills it has to offer, but also because of the people I work with. I love exploring the west during work and out of work and I’m really glad I made the decision to come out here. This internship has helped me grow as a botanist and has facilitated my decision to continue with conservation efforts throughout my career. -Cassy

So, you see that we have been busy and lucky enough to participate in a diversity of projects that have challenged us to develop new skills (both in the field and in the office) that will serve us well for careers in botany and natural resource management.

Thanks to Chicago Botanical Garden for providing us with this amazing experience. Special thanks to Krissa and Marian for all of your hard work and to Dean for putting up with us for the last six months.

Carson City Team- Matt Koski, Gina Robinson, Miles McCoy-Sulentic, Chris Mausert-Mooney, Cassy Rivas, and Dave Miceli

My time at Yosemite

Posted on 1 November, 2009 by clmintern

View of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View

Before my internship at Yosemite National Park the furthest West I had been was Yellowstone National Park. So, on the drive out here in mid-August, everything was exciting and new – a preview of what was to come in my internship. When I first entered the park from the East entrance I was instantly in awe. I was driving on Tioga Road which travels from the East entrance of the park to the West. The ride took about 2 hours and was stunning from start to finish. I saw granite cliff faces, clear water, large forests, huge trees, waterfalls, and mountain peaks. I would later learn that this drive still amazes NPS workers that have lived in this area for 20+ years. I don’t think I could ever get jaded!

The very first week on the job, I was out in the backcountry with one of my mentors, a park botanist, and her team in the Virginia Lakes area. The project we were working on was unique lake flora monitoring. This included travelling to remote lakes and inventorying the aquatic plant species. Sometimes this included standing on the edge of the lake and looking at the plants below the high water mark, other times this included getting into freezing cold snow melt water to see what plants were in the middle of the lake.

As we traveled between lakes, we were constantly on the lookout for rare plants. When we found them we would set up a plot and record data about the habitat. This could take anywhere from 1-3 hours.

Collecting hydrology data from a small, mucky pond

On these trips we would spend a lot of time collecting plants that have few vouchers from certain areas of the park, identifying plants (I am getting better at expanding my botanical vocabulary), and inventorying aquatic and rare plant species.

Beginning our day at Boundary Lake

My botanist mentor and her team have found almost 100 new species for the park in the past couple of years. She has also described a new plant to science – Platanthera yosemitensis or Yosemite bog orchid. It is endemic to California’s Sierra Nevada range. More populations of this orchid are expected to be found up to 50 miles south of the known Yosemite sites. It is exciting to work with someone who is so devoted to the work!

Tofieldia occidentalis in a rare plant plot

Narthecium californicum in a rare plant plot

Drosera rotundifolia in a rare plant plot

At the beginning of September I was fortunate enough to partake in an 8 day pack trip to the northern boundary of the park. This is a part of the park that not many people get to see, but is one of my favorite places I have ever visited! Mules carried in our food and equipment (including our plant presses 🙂 ). The team on this trip included my mentor, two contracted botanists from California, and two phycologists from the New York Botanical Gardens. Each day we would try to inventory as many lakes as possible in an attempt to look at species population changes over large areas of the park. To answer questions like, why are these species here and not there, are there there species in the park that only occur with specific other species, and is there a line drawn between species presence or absence and why. On most of our trips we collect algae and send it back to the New York Botanical Gardens, but on this particular trip, the experts were with us. So each night the phycologists would spend hours with their microscopes to determine what species we found that day. It was a really interesting experience to assist both parties in their collecting, identifying, and mounting!

The cowboy with the horses and mules carrying our food and equipment

One particular day on the job I was able to canoe around Lake Eleanor and inventory the aquatic plant species. This lake is one of the most diverse in the park. We found almost 30 different aquatic species in or around the lake in two days! A lake in the park typically has 2-7 aquatic species, usually with a similar combination depending on the area.

Canoe day on Lake Eleanor

At the end of September I got the opportunity to travel around the park with a group of 10 lichenologists from all around the world! They were conducting the first lichenblitz for Yosemite. It was interesting to learn about all of the different areas of expertise within the lichen field. Some worked exclusively on lichen that grows on trees, others worked on rocks, some on certain geological formations. The chisel and hammer hitting the rocks became a very familiar sound when travelling with this group (and a good way to find people if they went missing). I learned that a lot of the time it is not easy to identify the species in the field, so the team collected samples to take back and identify in the lab.

Lichenologists taking samples from rocks on the side of Bridalveil Falls

One night, I was able to follow the wildlife management team around chasing bears out of campgrounds and populated areas. The shift started at 6PM and went until 3AM. The idea is to teach the bears that it is not OK for them to be in certain areas of the park, where there are a lot of people because it is potentially dangerous for the visitors and the bears. Therefore, most of the bears in the park are radio collared so they can be monitored using GPS. The “bear team” does rounds to check up on problem bears all night long. I have little experience with wildlife management, but this experience was an extreme introduction!

A couple of black bears near Crane Flat

Now that the field season is over, I have been working on mounting and labeling the specimens that we collected this past summer. Along with that, I have been working with the museum registrar (my other mentor) data-basing specimens, reorganizing, and editing the herbarium in hopes of getting it online within the next year or so. It is exciting to be a part of this project that will improve the quality of the resource accessibility.

It has been great to get to know people from many different divisions of the park. I have worked with the botany team, vegetation and restoration, wildlife management, museum curators, and interpretation. In addition, I have been able participate in trips that included botanists and hydrologists from USGS, and knowledgeable botanists contracted out through the park.

The many different experiences that I have had through this internship have taught me so much about different areas of conservation. The work that I have had the opportunity to partake in has been challenging, enjoyable, and rewarding. I’m excited to learn what my internship has in store for me in the following months. I have quickly learned why this place is clearly irresistible to many!

A field day in the northern park of the park

Stephanie Zinken, N.P.S., Yosemite National Park

One Last Picnic in Southern Utah

Posted on 30 October, 2009 by clmintern

At this time last week, my fellow interns and I were harvesting Wyethia scabra from Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, a scene probably already issued to us by Hollywood, which has used the Kenab area for its westerns and Arabian footage for years. Collecting native seeds for programs such as drill pad restoration and the Seeds of Success initiative is a fairly typical day for us; however, our proximity to the end of this internship, as well as the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, where it all began with CLM’s training on the South Rim, inspired more introspection than usual.

Powell Point, Dixie National Forest

When we left the Grand Canyon in July, I thought that I had a fairly good grasp of what the next five months would be like. I would learn the family, genus, and species names of Utah native plants, become more proficient in GIS, and contribute—albeit in a small way—to the long term storage and research of specimens that could otherwise be lost to invasive competitors, disease, or climate change in the coming decades. While all of this turned about to be essentially correct, the backdrop of the work has been surprising in its beauty and complexity. I have learned about the Waterpocket Fold, laccolithic uplifts along the Sevier Fault, and other

San Rafael Reef

geological phenomenon in equal measure to desert flora made precious by its scarcity and evolutionary tenacity to survive in extreme environments. I have learned Utah history from those who praise Mormon pioneers for their bravery and industriousness, as well as those who disparage them for their foolhardiness and anthropocentric worldviews. I have built lasting friendships and learned from office spats.

Lower Calf Creek Falls, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Also, I could not have anticipated the more mundane glint of hundreds of gypsum facets along Highway 70, the absolute peace of the San Rafael Reef when a tendril of windblown Indian Ricegrass traces a line in the sand, the haunting petroglyphs that survey the area nearby, and a night sky so unpolluted by light and particulates that the Milky Way is discernable. In so many of the most important ways, my CLM internship has been nothing like my initial expectations of it. And I am deeply thankful for that.

Ben Miller, BLM Field Office, Richfield, Utah

Hello from the Great Basin

Posted on 23 October, 2009 by clmintern

It’s been an adventure. Coming from backgrounds in Eastern deciduous forests and the Pacific Northwest, both places with plenty of rainfall, it took a little while to get used to a desert flora but we’ve been amazed by how much lives here, and how most people just drive through at 75 mph and never see any of it.

We have been stationed at the Great Basin Plant Materials Center in Fallon, Nevada since June. The PMC is responsible for developing new cultivars of native plants, mostly aimed at conservation and restoration of the landscape. This PMC is special because it’s the newest, as well as the first to focus on the Great Basin. We’ve been helping with that mission mostly by collecting seeds from the western Great Basin, both for the Seeds of Success program as well as collections specifically for our mentor, Eric Eldredge. Hopefully some of those collections will result in cultivars released to the public in coming years.

Since this is the first year the PMC has had interns, we’ve been the guinea pigs. It’s been a wonderful experience. We’ve traveled to every county in Nevada, and two in California, and learned so much about desert grasses, forbs, and shrubs. We’ve hiked through the Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains (the so called Swiss Alps of Nevada) during peak lupine season, walked through ghost towns and driven across the playa in the Black Rock Desert. I think the most valuable experience we’ve gained is how to learn a new flora. Even if we don’t work as botanists in Nevada, we will be able to take that skill with us when we enter a new area. Learning how to drive a 4×4 truck on challenging roads is another great skill we’ve gained here.

Networking and meeting new people, is yet another benefit to being a CLM intern. Working with others from various organizations has allowed us to acquire permits, provided information, and helped to make invaluable connections. Working with these people has also provided insight into different government agencies.

We’ve also seen a huge array of wildlife in our travels: pronghorn antelope, coyotes, hundreds of antelope, ground squirrels and lizards, hawks, golden eagles, pelicans, rattlesnakes, desert bighorn sheep, three mountain bighorn sheep fighting, burros, horses, and lots of cattle.

After all the travel that we’ve done, and the data we’ve collected, we’re planning to make a series of GIS maps for our mentor when the weather gets too cold for field work. We’re excited to lay out a guide for next year’s interns.

We’re both so grateful to the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Great Basin Plant Materials Center for this experience, and all that we’ve learned and gained from it.

Erin Cole and Robin Bennett, Great Basin Plant Materials Center, Fallon, Nevada

: On a scouting trip in the Eastern Sierras

: Lamoille Lake

: 3 male Big Horn Sheep

: Beautiful day in the Great Basin

Resource Management in the Smokies

Posted on 22 October, 2009 by clmintern

It is hard to believe that I am fast approaching the final month of my internship here in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although time has seemed to fly, the work which I have been fortunate to take part in here has been incredibly rewarding and has given me a whole new appreciation for all those involved in the stewardship of our National Parks.

Growing up in Minnesota, the stunning beauty and unmatched biodiversity I have experienced in these mountains has not disappointed for a second. While splitting time interning for the park’s botanist and the vegetation management team I have been fortunate to be involved in a variety of projects which have taken me all over the Smokies.

At work I have been able to hone my GPS, plant identification, and data collection skills conducting high elevation rare plant monitoring while surrounded by some of the most spectacular views in The Smokies. Precise geographic and statistical data collected on the park’s remaining populations of rare plants enables researchers to assess the vitality these important species and helps ensure their continued protection. For example, I was recently reminded of the importance of our work while collecting geographic and percent cover data on a newly identified sedge which is endemic to the Smokies. It was our monitoring of this sedge’s limited habitat that likely prevented a large portion of the population from being dug up during upcoming NPS road maintenance.

Taking some GIS data on a population of rare large flowered purple fringe orchids (Plantanthera grandiflora) along the Appalachian Trail

Plantanthera grandiflora up close

Another rewarding project which I have been involved in is the park’s ongoing efforts to manage the invasive insect known as the hemlock wolly adelgid (HWA) which has devastated hemlock stands from Southeastern Canada to South Carolina. As one of the most common trees in the Smokies, hemlocks are extremely important ecologically and the park protects the largest stands of old-growth hemlocks left in the Eastern United States. By visiting conservation areas throughout the park to treat and monitor for the adelgid staff here have been able to keep numerous hemlock stands healthy in a variety of habitats.

View from Mout Cammerer near a Hemlock conservation area in the northeast corner of the park

View from Mt. Cammerer near a hemlock conservation area in the northeast corner of the park

There are a number of tools which have proven effective in managing HWA including sprayed surface treatments, insecticide, and biocontrol agents. Most often, I have been able to aid in treating individual backcountry trees by applying insecticides to soil around the base of hemlock trees throughout the park. Applied chemical is absorbed through root systems and can provide individual trees with years of defense against the adelgid. Currently over 100,000 of the park’s hemlocks have been successfully treated and protected in this way by vegetation management staff.

Despite its effectiveness the chemical treatment of individual trees is not a practical means of protection for the millions of untreated backcountry hemlocks due to the high cost associated with application. On the bright side, the park is currently using two using predator beetles which eat only hemlock adelgids in attempts to help maintain an ecological balance between insects and hemlock decline on a landscape level. Although promising, biological control will take time. Meanwhile, the importance of our conservation work is highlighted for me each time I enter a beautiful preserved old-growth stand or catch a view of the thousands of already dead hemlocks which dot the otherwise pure green slopes of the Smokies.

Healthy hemlocks like this are becoming increasingly rare throughout the Smokies and surrounding area

On days where I am not killing exotic plants, saving hemlock trees, or surveying rare species I have been involved in the Cades Cove field restoration efforts. This project more than any other has highlighted for me how extremely complex resource management within the National Park Service can be especially when combining both natural and cultural elements of stewardship.

In short, the Cades Cove historic district is a amazingly beautiful limestone basin surrounded entirely by mountains. With over 2 million tourists a year, the Cove is easily the most visited area within the Smokies, and a 10 mile loop road allows visitors to easily take in the stunning views. Cades Cove was permanently settled by Europeans as a farming community in 1818 and the valley remained inhabited until the Park’s creation in 1934. The NPS has chosen to preserve many of the unique early historic structures in the Cove for education and visitor enjoyment while ensuring that the open pastoral nature of the land’s settlement era is maintained.

View from the middle of Cades Cove

In the past, the NPS managed Cades Cove under special use permits which allowed for large hay and cattle grazing operations throughout the Cove in order to prevent former farm fields from reverting to forest. Historically, large amounts of cattle were never present within the Cove and the huge expanses of pasture and hayfields lead to an unintended “golf course look.” Furthermore, the environmental quality of Cades Cove was significantly degraded through permittee use and NPS actions which drained wetlands, straightened stream banks, and introduced non-native grasses to control erosion, and benefit permittees. Fortunately, in 2000 the expiration of the last cattle permit provided an opportunity for resource managers at the park to experiment with new ways of managing this district which will not only better depict desired pioneer pastoral scene but provide quality habitat for the park’s native species in an ecologically sustainable manner.

Through the restoration of wetlands and stream banks, removal of exotic grasses and the prescribed burning of Cove fields resource managers hope to encourage the establishment of native meadow species within the former hay and cattle leases. Native meadows will not only depict the pioneer agricultural scene more accurately than past methods, but will support native species of grassland flora which are now rare in the park. In turn it is expected that restored native meadows will support many more species of native vertebrate and invertebrates.

Personally, I have been able to participate in the park’s cultivation and collection of native plant seed within several designated increase and restoration fields. To ensure that local genotypes are preserved only native seed found within the Cove has been utilized and collected for cultivation and use in small restoration plantings over past several springs (it is apparent that many native grass species were present in parts of the Cove long before European settlement). While restoration efforts are still in the “interim stages,” I have helped to write and compile a draft of the “desired future conditions for Cades Cove” which details numerous planned aspects for comprehensive field management and restoration. Hopefully, this work will help form the basis of a long-term management plan for these fields which will provide protection and enhancement of this unique area for years to come.

Collecting some mountain mint seed from an increase field to be used in restoration planting next spring

Collecting some Mountain Mint seed (Pyscnanthemum muticum) from an increase field to be used in restoration planting next spring

Yours truly triumphantly returning with a large bag of Wide-leaved Sunflower (Helianthus decapetalus) Seed

Yours truly triumphantly returning with a large bag of Swamp Sunflower seed (Helianthus angustifolius)

Former cattle pasture in Cades Cove now a restored native meadow dominated by Big Bluestem (Andropagon gerardis)

The important monitoring, treatment and research I have been involved in here has been extremely rewarding, educational and simply a lot of fun. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to have this experience and cannot wait to be involved in more exciting work here in the Great Smoky Mountains during the last month of my internship!

With 100+ species of native trees in the Smokies (more than any other park) I'm currently looking forward to a few more weeks of amazing fall colors.

With 100+ species of native trees in the Smokies (more than any other park) I'm currently looking forward to a couple more weeks of amazing fall colors.

Sunset near Newfound Gap

Best of luck to everyone else in their internships!

– Mike Wardwell, NPS Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Summer in the Sonoran Desert

Posted on 22 October, 2009 by clmintern

Yosemite falls-a little side trip I took; it was AMAZING!

The ride I took across the country-kidding a random awesome bus I saw in San Francisco

: Driving in from Vegas

Once you get outta town....

Carnegea gigantea, the giant saguaro, one of my favorite succulents!

Doin' work! Driving the pumps back after irrigating

Work with John is fun! I'm secretly trying to steal his job...

In the midst of the Sonoran desert lies the wonderful town of Yuma, AZ. While the ‘Welcome to Yuma” sign boasts 122,000 residents, I am sure that must include the 50,000 snowbirds that are currently arriving. Initially I was a bit nervous about moving to a small town from the bustling streets of Cincinnati, but I was amazed that all the stores/restaurants were the same as back home-with the exception of all the Mexican food, which has taken over all of my food groups. Yuma is a fantastic place to live in the winter ( I love telling my frozen friends that I am still working on my tan!) but the summer was a true test of my love of hot weather (I arrived in July when temps were hitting 117-SCORCHING!). According to the Guiness Book of World Records, Yuma is the sunniest place in the world-which I believe since in my four months here it has rained only twice and I could probably count on my two hands how many clouds I’ve seen. California is about 5 minutes away and Mexico is about 15; there are more border patrol agents than police officers. Another thing that struck me was the presence of agriculture EVERYWHERE in Yuma-it was the last thing I’d expect to see in the desert, but the soil is incredibly fertile due to the former floods of the Colorado River. Add a little water and VIOLA- 90% of America’s winter crops-cantaloupe, watermelon, corn, cotton, citrus, dates, and more lettuce than you’ve seen in your entire life! Overall I really like living in Yuma. I thought it would be a lot harder moving somewhere all by my little ole self, but I was lucky to make friends quickly and have great co-workers too.

My main responsibility is to maintain a riparian restoration area next to the Colorado River. 3 days a week I bring irrigation pumps and filters to the area and pull water from the Colorado River to the trees via drip irrigation systems. At first I thought it was ludicrous to have to water cottonwood and willow trees in the middle of the desert, but my mentor explained that it was prime habitat for an indigenous bird, the Willow Flycatcher. I’m pretty sure Murphy’s law was created in reference to irrigation work; I can’t remember the last smooth day I’ve had where at least SOMETHING didn’t go wrong. It can be incredibly frustrating, but I’ve become quite a handy gal and learned a lot about irrigation (especially in the aspect of repairs).

My other 35 hours a week are pretty random. I’ve explored abandoned mine sites with the geologists (which can be really interesting/creepy), helped build kiosks for public lands, ridden up the scariest mountain road imaginable to check NEPA compliance, searched lakes for exotic invasive Quagga mussels, attended meetings for releasing endangered antelope into the Cibola Wildlife Refuge, planned a revegetation project for an old mining site and taken many classes pertaining to NEPA and BLM policies to name a few. I have spent the vast majority of my time helping the horse and burro specialist survey our lands for grazing areas and burro overpopulation (basically, looking for poo). We have recently set two burro traps in the glorious small town of Bard, CA, where the farmers were furious at the date-loving burros. We have caught 5 burros thus far; they will be taken to a holding facility and eventually adopted out. I have a newfound love of these little fellas and have vowed to adopt one someday…

I am excited to see what the last month of my internship brings, as it has been full of surprises thus far. I may even stick around another 5 months and enjoy a sunny and toasty winter in the desert…..

Ashley Schnitker, BLM intern, Yuma, AZ

CLM Internship Program Blog

Adventures of a CLM Intern