I have always loved to be outside and working with the great wonders of the west,  but recently I have been put to work in the office… Now don’t get me wrong, its not very fun sitting in a cubicle, but I recently received quite a treasure to balance out this hardship. ArcGIS Training! While in school I always tried to enroll in the GIS mapping courses because I knew that it was a growing part of the job market these days and to be able to use this program is a highly valued skill. Through the BLM I was able to work my way through a 24hr course on GIS for Free! and I have plenty more training (off the clock) at my fingertips. Since the completion of my  first training I have worked on a few projects and feel confident enough to flaunt my new skills in my resume.

Since my endless hours sitting in an office cubicle staring at a computer screen we have gone back into the field. Since the beginning of our internship, back in February, we have re-visited the Red Rock Fire area north of Reno many times. Each time there seems to be a new task to accomplish; We’ve hand seeded grass seeds, mapped weeds, pulled Scotch Thistle, collected seed vouchers, collected seed, planted Willow cuttings, and Hand planted 20,000 Bitterbrush seedlings in the hills… all of this in the name of post-fire restoration. This time we are reading some short term vegetation plots, at which, we are getting a “snapshot” of the plant community and soil characteristics. The work is tedious but the data will hold true and strong.

Enough talk, here are some photographs.

Oh my, what a beautiful place to be living. I moved to Carson City, NV back in February so that I could start my work with the Carson City BLM field office. On the road for 8 days and driving my Vermont registered Subaru Forester; I finally rolled into town just as the sun had sunk below the mountainous horizon. I was taken back as I gazed at the enormous snowcapped peaks of the eastern sierras. The sun danced and played off of the snowy summits, giving true value to the color of gold.

When driving west, out of Carson City and into the sierras, the road is instantly engulfed by the craggy hills, winding upward to Spooner Summit. Rounding over the top and into the Lake Tahoe basin you can feel yourself flowing down to the bluest, most captivating lake. The waters are beyond clear; it felt as though I was at some ridiculous high alpine Caribbean sea.

Working for the Chicago Botanic Garden out here has been quite a treat. The true treasure of Carson City is not its Casinos or the high statured state buildings; it’s the remarkable location that, for the time being, makes this a place to call home.