These past 5 months flew by way too fast for my liking and I am sad to see it come to an end. I have to admit the internship had a rocky beginning, from initially being hired to work with wildlife and ending up in a program focused on rangeland monitoring, I had my frustrations. However, by focusing on the benefits of expanding my skill set and stepping outside of my comfort zone, I was able to gain a better understanding of how the BLM works and eventually ended up working with wildlife the last couple months, which was an awesome experience. The long days of field work in the scorching “dry heat,” walking through patches of desert scrub that really want to hurt you, and car problems in the middle of my internship have definitely given me a memorable summer in Phoenix. I learned that, as stressful it may be, any issue can be overcome by taking a deep breath and looking at what options or opportunities may have opened up and, most importantly, always keeping a positive outlook on life! Oh, and I also  learned that I won’t let the monsoon season here fool me again, it only gets humid here because the heat doesn’t settle down…but at least I was able to feel the rain pour down and see the desert scrub starting to get “happy” again 🙂

I am so thankful I was accepted into this program and I wish all the best to Krissa and Wes at CBG! Good luck to all the interns still out there in the wild west, I look forward to having another adventure!

Annabelle

I am currently writing to you all while I am happily on sipping on some pineapple coconut water in the cool weather of San Diego. Although it’s nice to have a mini vacation from the now “cool” climate in Phoenix (thank goodness for the monsoon season…), I will be more than happy to return to participating in another Desert Tortoise survey and helping conduct sensitive status species (SSS) plant searches forAgave murpheyi. Most recently, I was able to attend a presentation on mountain lions hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. I was excited to learn that my mentor had taken part of the research study when it was first formed and had asked numerous questions involving the how’s, why’s, and where’s of the research.

I will be sad to say that we conducted our last Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey last week and I never did see one, however, my bird identification skills have definitely increased since the beginning of this internship! And now I only have 3 more weeks left…so that means I have to try and fill up my days with as much knowledge and skills as I possibly can since the end is so soon!! 🙁 I can’t wait to update you all with what I have in store for my remaining weeks as CLM intern!

It’s kind of crazy to think that in the past month of working out here in the desert, a field day in 107 degrees weather is really not that bad and is much more preferable than working out in 120 degrees of dry heat. My focus in life right now is to avoid heat stroke! Since coming back from the fabulous workshop in Chicago, Emily and I have teamed up with one of the wildlife biologists in our office to help assess riparian areas by running MIMs, assist with Yellow-billed Cuckoo surveys, and increase our skills in evaluating rangeland health and plant utilization. Unfortunately, I missed out on a wet/dry mapping event at the Agua Fria River due to being sick, which definitely increased my West Nile paranoia from my massive mosquito bites in Chicago! Although my health has gotten better, the drought in Arizona has not. It seems to be getting worse year after year and it has got me looking forward to the monsoon season.

We’ve got a crazy schedule planned out for the next 2 weeks trying to finish up our transects so that the rangeland health evaluations (RHE) can be written up on schedule! Since our mentor has been called out to help with the fires occurring in northern AZ, we want to be as up to date as possible for when he returns.

My thoughts go out to the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who lost their lives in the Yarnell Hill fire.

So far we’ve been carrying out our usual outings into the desert trying to find certain key areas that had not been checked on in decades. However, the new fun thing I was able to experience for the first time was to ride in a UTV! I even drove it down some bendy roads so I did not even mind my eyes watering and my hair blowing like crazy in the wind. I was also able to build MIM frames today for one of our office’s wildlife biologists and even signed on to create a device to attach to the sitting water tanks that would allow for an efficient drip irrigation system. I’m looking forward to completing these projects but, in the meantime, am completely excited to meet all the other interns and gaining some new knowledge at the workshop! See you guys soon!

I have been having so much fun these past couple of weeks driving out to different allotments and identifying as many plant species as I can with my CBG partner Emily! I have to admit that driving on less than well made roads can be scary at times, like when the road is more or less an incline with multiple huge chunks of rocks in the way, BUT it is so much fun and rewarding when you get through it. This upcoming week will involve a couple meetings involving NEPA and range con management, so it will be interesting to learn all the aspects relating to those subjects. Until the next time, here are some pictures I’ve collected on my phone while out and about!

Funny looking saguaro!

Little ECHEN surrounded by “teddy-bears”

One of the most beautiful views I’ve encountered

Burro photo bomb! Can you see him?

The infamous GILA MONSTER caught mid-blink!

Tomorrow marks the completion of the first week of this internship and I get to spend it out in the desert! This whole week consisted of the usual office paperwork, and now I am excited to finally do some fieldwork. I’m definitely looking forward to monitoring wild horse and burro management areas here in Phoenix and also working on a multitude of other projects to expand my skill set! I’ll admit I was a little nervous because the climate here is so different from the San Diego summers, but I think I’m due for a change in scenery. I can’t wait for all the adventures that await!