As a part of the CLM Internship program, there is a week long workshop we can attend as a part of our training. This year, we were at the Chicago Botanic Garden and it was spectacular! The workshop kept us busy all day, so many informative sessions covering a wide range of important topics to our jobs. We had classes focusing on plant identification, conservation genetics, monitoring techniques, wildlife conservation, the different federal agencies, and more! It was a beautiful setting, in eco-friendly buildings on a lush campus. It was very rewarding to meet Krissa and Marian, the people running our program, and a good number of the other interns from all over the country.

I have been able to finally begin some seed collecting in the Ridgecrest Field Office area. It’s been a very dry year, so the only plants producing seed in large enough quantities to collect enough seeds for the Seeds of Success program, are some of the larger annual shrubs. I’ve been working on collections for Salazaria mexicana (paper bag bush), Cleome isomeris (bladderpod), and will soon be starting on Larrea tridentata (creosote bush). It’s been interesting to see first hand how what seem like minor differences in climate regimes can make huge differences in the reproductive capabilities of a species for a season. One collection I made of bladderpods is significantly more impressive and valuable than the first collection I made, largely due to their location differences.

I recently had the opportunity to go into the field with my mentor, a wildlife biologist, to assist in the surveying of abandoned mines for bat and other wildlife habitat. Our area experienced a large mining boom during the late 1800s to 1900s, resulting in a lot of exploration. Now that the area is more populated, thus more recreational users and monitoring of the vegetation and wildlife, there is greater concern over the status of these abandoned mining features. We assessed an area with many known abandoned mining shafts, addits, trenches, and other exploratory features to determine which needed to be permanently closed, and if so, what methods would be best suited for the closing.

And here’s a picture of some of us interns at the Bean in downtown Chicago!

It’s been a busy several weeks since my last post, and I’ve gained many new skills even this far into the internship!

One of the possibly most useful jobs I’ve been trained on is how to complete Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) surveys. These surveys document the overall health of a landscape or allotment in order to evaluate past and future management strategies. We looked at both wetland/riparian health and grazing sites. These surveys investigate the vegetation community composition and health, the geology/structure, wildlife, and other aspects that are important to understand how the site is functioning. If an area show signs of an ecosystem in stress, such as if it has been accidentally overgrazed, it is important to know these conditions in order to adapt the current management strategy to encourage a sustainable future for that site. I can see using the techniques from PFCs for both future government work, or going into the environmental consulting industry, and I am very happy to have learned the methods.

I will begin collaboration with the Henderson, NV USGS and the Las Vegas BLM on a project to establish seed zones for restoration in the Mojave desert. I am very excited to contribute to this project and will be starting to collect plant tissue samples and seeds for genetic analysis and common garden studies.

So far these past 8 weeks of my internship have been great! The majority of my work has been effectiveness monitoring, which I described in detail in my first post, but today I got to actually join our SCA (Student Conservation Association) crews and participate in a large restoration project in our office’s management area. It was very easy to catch on to the process as I’ve been evaluating the techniques used from years past.  I have also had the chance to design and implement some landscaping revegetation for the opening of the newly redone Jawbone visitor center. It’s an amazing set of new buildings that will really provide excellent outreach and information for the visitors to this area of BLM land.

Planting native desert species

I’ve spent more time exploring the Ridgecrest area both on and off the job, and have become much more familiar with the geography and biology of this region. I’ve seen burrowing owls while driving out to work areas and participated in a long-term monitoring project for the Mojave Ground Squirrel, getting to handle and assist in the assessment of their populations in the area (no desert tortoises in the wild yet though!)

Paper Bag Bush (Salazaria mexicana)

Fossil Falls

Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris)

I have also attended a Seeds of Success (SOS) training in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a great experience to meet some of the fellow CLM/BLM interns in the area! A few of us even got to go out with a Vegas crew and help make a collection for the SOS program. We spent part of a rare cloudy, semi-rainy day in Las Vegas exploring Red Rock Canyon, a part of the Vegas BLM land, to identify species and practice assessing possible collections to be made from the local vegetation.

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas BLM

It’s been a busy couple of months, I can’t believe I’m already nearly halfway finished! After getting to visit Las Vegas as a BLM intern, I’m even more excited to begin grad school in the Biology department at UNLV in the fall and possibly be working with the local BLM and USGS!

Hi, I am Krista Butler and I am finishing up my third week working at the Ridgecrest, CA office of the Bureau of Land Management. I graduated from Northern Arizona University with my degree in Environmental Science and I will be attending graduate school at the University of Nevada- Las Vegas to study Biology in the fall. Not only am I thrilled to have an opportunity to use my field skills and establish new abilities before pursuing my MS, I am also so excited to be working for the BLM and be in sunny southern California. I have been busy with so many great projects here and I am very happy to report that all is well!

So far, my most significant project is monitoring the effectiveness of past restoration efforts on BLM land. While there are plenty of legal Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) routes here, many illegal routes are made through improper use of the area. These paths damage habitat through the direct destruction of vegetation, but also increase the potential for problems such as erosion. Crews have been restoring these routes using techniques such as vertical mulching, check dams, fencing, and signage for over 10 years in this area. My job has been to inspect these restored route locations to see how the treatments have impacted the land, ie: how the restored vegetation compares to the surrounding natural plant communities, if the treatments such as vertical mulch are still intact, and if any new illegal routes have been created in those areas. It’s great to be a part of the monitoring process to ensure successful restoration!

http://www.blm.gov/ca/news/newsbytes/xtra-05/198-xtra_desertrestoration.html

Another project I work on is the Sand Canyon Environmental Education Program, aka SEEP. SEEP focuses on teaching local elementary school students about the important roles that water plays in a desert environment. I have participated in instructing students, using hands-on activities, about riparian and desert plants and ecosystems, birds, and aquatic invertebrates and their relationship to water quality. I think this is a highly valuable program that really connects the youth to their environment and helps them to understand why where they live is so special and needs to be conserved.

I am the only intern at this office, but I was lucky enough to find myself a great place to live that is so close to the office, I get to walk to work! I’m looking forward to the rest of my 5 months here and am thankful to have this opportunity through the CLM internship program and the BLM.