CLM Internship May-October 2009.  After a long arduous journey in graduate school I was somewhat nervous and anxious to begin to apply my knowledge and skills at the Bureau of Land Management.  My mentors, Carol Dawson (the Colorado State Botanist with the BLM), and Peter Gordon (Carol’s co-worker for nearly 5 years and newly hired botanist) made me feel at ease right away.  I began in late May, 2009 during a spring in Colorado that was breaking precipitation records.  It just kept raining and raining and raining.  Big snow storms in late March and early April shifted to massive thunder storms in May and June.  And oh how I loved that weather.  By the final days of spring, Jefferson County, Colorado had accumulated 10 inches of precipitation.  In comparison, the spring of 2008 barely spit out half this amount with about 5 inches of rain.  It was a great time to begin this internship.  I knew a big part of my job was to collect native seeds, and tons of water meant tons of seeds (well in most cases)!   I also knew we would be monitoring some very rare plants in Colorado, and I wondered what kind of an effect an extremely rainy spring would have on both the vegetative growth and fruit production for some of these rare plant species we would collect data for.

Some mycological results of a rainy rainy summer....they just were popping up everywhere.

Astragalus shortianus a Kew collection from Green Mountain.  One of our first journeys out into the field was to locate and evaluate Astragalus shortianus for a possible seed collection with the Seeds of Success program.  The neat thing about this species was the fact that it would be a collection for Kew at the Royal Botanic Gardens.  This means that the seeds of this plant had not been collected previously…we would be the first collectors.  As a new intern this notion intrigued me.  Folks had been collecting seeds all across the western United States for some nine years, and no-one had ever collected A. shortianus.  Amazing.  I knew this plant well, and I had always admired it as one of my spring favorites.  The really great thing about collecting seeds is that you get to know the plants up close and personal from the time they begin to bloom to the time they set seed.  You keep a close eye on each prospective seed collection species as if it was kin.  [Maybe I am strange, but these plants often feel like family to me].  And you keep watch until it looks as if fruit dehiscence and seed dispersal is imminent.  And then we pounce with collecting bags in hand, clippers, a Munsell soil color chart, lunch, water sun screen, boots for potential rattle snake encounters, etc, etc.  An attitude was also necessary to assist us in accomplishing the daunting task of collecting 20,000 seeds for Kew.  All in all it took Carol, Peter and I two and possibly three journeys to Green Mountain to obtain enough seeds to send out. 

Green Mountain, Colorado is in the distance. We collected seeds from at least four different plant species from here.

It is can be hard work searching for plants and tediously bending down to find and collect the seeds, although it is the kind of work that gets rather addicting.  You get addictied to finding that next plant that will possibly hold a treasure of beautiful plump fruit full of healthy seeds.  And each plant is one more addition that adds to a final tally of 20,000 seeds.  You not only find the plants you are looking for, but since you are wondering around like a lost hiker off trail zigzagging here and there, you come across other really great treasures of nature.  We came upon and pondered a small population of Physeria bellii, a lovely little endemic mustard plant that is restricted to shale formations in Colorado’s Front Range.  So not only is seed collecting quite zenful in and of itself, it also inevitably forces you to stumble upon additional natural history treasures.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.  I think it was early June when I first heard we would be heading off to Dolores, Colorado in the south west part of the state for a couple of days.  Our mission was to train a Forest Service ecologist the specifics on Seeds of Success procedures.  Since I was just learning these procedures, it was a great way to practice my recently acquired skills.  The best part about this adventure was meeting some great folks at the BLM/USFS office in Dolores.  This included the local archeologist who shared all kinds of amazing stories regarding archeological digs, and some of the crazy scary encounters with people attempting to steal artifacts in Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.  These thieves dig tunnels underground like rats to search for ancient artifacts.  The amount of open space in this area is so massive; they often easily get away with these horrible acts.  This kind of robbery is so difficult and sad to imagine.  We headed out early in the morning to look for Plantago patagonica, a small little plantain they were hoping to collect.  This is a species that blooms early (March) in the southwest, and sadly the rain did not begin until late March so the seed set was low.  After much time examining the seeds in numerous individual plants, we decided we needed to save this for a possible 2010 collection.  We headed out to have lunch in Canyons of The Ancients National Monument

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in South West Colorado.

near some ruins these local scientists knew about.  It was amazingly beautiful, and I got to learn a lot of new plants growing locally in that extreme desert environment. 

Another great shot of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Driving home was great fun as we ventured through Moab, Utah (lunch stop), and

Moab, Utah. Close to our lunch stop on the way home.

stopped in Rabbit Valley (I-70 on the boarder of Utah and Colorado) to collect Calochortus nuttalli.  This is a lovely mariposa lily that blooms only on the west slope of Colorado in a deep shade of purple pink, not the color I was used to with Calochortus.  On the eastern slope of Colorado, another species called Calochortus gunnisonii blooms in shades of creamy white, and we collected two populations of this species later in the season.

Grand Canyon National Park.  How could I possibly be getting paid to do this?  I flew into Phoenix and a very nice lady (Marian Hofherr) picked us all up in a van and we arrived at the National Park late that night.  The lodging, the people, the training, the food, and the hiking were all fantastic.  Over the 7 full days we were there, one of the most astounding sights I witnessed was seeing the rare and endangered California Condors soaring tirelessly in the mouth of the great Grand Canyon.  These moments viewing an endangered species back from the brink of extinction were spiritual moments for me.  And I just kept asking myself, I am actually getting paid to be here?!  I think the greatest part of the training for me was participating in the presentations that Dean Tonenna and John Willouby gave.  Dean is a botanist with the BLM in Carson City, Nevada.  (I just paused for a moment to send Dean an e-mail to tell him I would love to work with him next spring).  Dean was brought up in the traditions of the Kootzatudadu people who live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.  He has in depth ethno-botanical knowledge, and he integrates this knowledge with his work at the BLM in California.  He gave an ah-inspiring talk on the ethno-botany of the Sierra Nevada area.  The amazing thing was that the talk he gave was from 7-10pm after a long day of lectures.  Everyone in the audience was completely enthralled and interested in the topic.  I think folks would have stayed until midnight asking questions if the National Park Service would have allowed it!  Dean also gave a talk on the power of using GIS when studying the impacts of rare plants in a dune ecosystem.  It was all about the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly that is known to occur only at Sand Mountain (a dune system located in Nevada).  This tiny bluish butterfly depends entirely on the Kerany Buckwheat which is a long lived perennial shrub.  The larvae feed on the leaves and adults feed on the nectar of the flowers.  By using his superb GIS skills, Dean was able to show over a few years time, the actual impact that was occurring to both the shrub and the butterfly due to Off Road Vehicle use in the area. GIS maps revealed and emphasized layers of abuse the shrubs were attempting to withstand as ORVs literally drove over the shrubs.  Therefore Dean was able to secure a large sum of money in the form of a grant (I think 1 million dollars) and put in place (via actual enclosures and signs) strict management measures to protect the plants and the butterflies. This presentation was inspiring.  I was impressed by Dean’s commitment and ability to use his knowledge and skills to make a difference and enforce needed protection for these precious species.  I also learned a great deal from John Willouby’s presentation on monitoring plant populations.  Not only were John’s presentations dynamic and alive we also went into the field to apply our classroom skills first hand.

Monotoring Colorado’s rarest of the rare.  In order to manage rare, threatened and endangered plants they need to be closely monitored.  This process involves collecting quantitative data over a number of years and constructing statistical calculations.  After years of data collection and number crunching, particular trends may appear regarding population stability or instability and real recommendations based on real facts can then be made. 

 Penstemon grahamii.  We set out to monitor Penstemon grahamii sometime in June.  This is a little wonder of a plant.  Tiny and tenacious as it is endemic growing only on certain types of oil shale formations in both western Colorado and eastern Utah.  For years efforts to list this species as threatened have been unsuccessful.  Sadly, the struggle to get these little jewels listed seems to be related to our (Homo sapiens) constant push and need for oil.  Penstemon grahamii habitat is desolate, dry and downright rugged.  I think Vince Tepedino sums it up well.  This exert is taken from a 2008 article Vince wrote for the Salt Lake Tribune: “Developing the oil shale lands of eastern Utah would require overcoming staggering obstacles…But even if we resolve these difficult issues, what of that glorious native wildflower, Graham’s penstemon, in all the world, known only from the oil and gas lands of eastern Utah and western Colorado?  Are we content knowing we’ve converted all its known populations to car exhaust for a few idle moments’ diversion? Is this the best we can do with the gifts we’ve been granted?”  What a notion.  How down right stupid are we?  

Penstemon grahamii. Photo by Sue Mayer.

I must admit monitoring the rare plants were some of my favorite experiences during this internship.  I stand in awe as I gaze at the little plants.  These rare beauties with the seemingly extra large (proportionately) flowers that are happily growing in some of the extreme environments the west has to offer. 

And so we got started counting each and every plant in predetermined micro-plots within a well designed larger macro-plot.  This was early June, and as the day and the work of counting, documenting and searching for new little baby plants proceeded, the temperature continued to rise.  All I could think of was how hot it must get in this spot in the middle of August!  I asked Peter Gordon what sort of results we obtained from the data this year compared to all other years.  As of moments ago (2:19 pm, 15 October 2009), it appears this Colorado population remains stable.  This includes vegetation density, #fruiting stems and # of rosettes.  These results include quantitative data back to 1986.  So I suppose we can sigh a breath of relief and continue to be in awe of this hardy little Penstemon growing so persistently in the face of such harsh conditions.

Astragalus osterhoutii.  This is one of those Latin bi-nominal’s that is just plain fun to pronounce.  Oster-hooo-tee-i (with an emphasis on the hooo)!  And the plant itself is one that only a botanist could love.  Anyone else would wonder why the heck we even care.  It has the appearance of a gangly weed sort of homely plant.  Carol Dawson spent years and years studying every detail of this species for her PhD research.  It was fun to constantly ask her questions about the plants as we carefully counted every single individual within the micro-plot.  This plant is listed as federally endangered (that is why we counted each and every individual rather than individuals from just a few pre-chosen micro-plots). I like to think you are truly in the presence of nobility when you are with the plant. 

Astragalus osterhoutii and Colorado endemic federally listed as endangered.

I doubt the off road vehicle riders feel that way as they zoom around close to and sometimes even over these rarities.  The plant happens to be growing in what the BLM signifies as a “Play Area” which is basically a place people and their beloved dirt bikes etc. can go to rough up the land a bit (too much sometimes in my opinion).  The other cool thing about this plant is that it is one of a few in the genus that signifies the presence of selenium in the soil.  Quite simply the plants stink with a metallic sort of stench (some say garlic, but I would not give the smell that much credit.), and if eaten can poison ungulates, especially cattle.  The selenium incorporated in the tissues of this species come from the Niobrara, (another fun word to say), Shale in Grand County, Colorado.  They say it is so narrowly endemic that it only occupies about 800 acres of land in north central Colorado.  We monitored two entire populations of the plant over two days. 

Astargalus osterhoutii's habitat.

Peter Gordon informed me that the population numbers at Wolford Mountain Dam were slightly increasing up until 2005.  In 2005 hungry blister beetles attacked and thus the number of flowering plants went way down.  These numbers have been recovering since the feast.
Heading to southern Colorado to help monitor Eriogonum brandegeei.  Mid-summer was upon us as we ventured south toward Canon City, Colorado to find Brandegee’s Buckwheat.  Townshend Stith Brandegee, an excellent botanist, was the first collector of this species and lived in the early 1900’s.  Ahhh, south central Colorado has a sweet place in my heart.  I spent many summers attending to the pollination biology of the rare and endemic Penstemon degeneri.  But this time instead of heading south from prison town USA, we headed north toward a couple of small populations occupied by E. brandegeei.  On the way up the dirt road, we were blocked Colorado style by a group of local horseback riders.  So we moved along at a horse walk pace for about a mile, (ok maybe ¼ miles) and the riders seemed to think nothing of the inconvenience.  You got to love it.  As we hiked toward the first population to meet folks from the Denver Botanic Gardens, we stumbled upon the decayed head of a horse with the red wiry forehead hair still intact against the bone white skull.  Another sign we were in the heart of Colorado.  Of course I had to stand there for a few minutes and wonder how this horse got here and then subsequently died.  As the three of us stood there gazing at the poor animal, Carol suggested some rancher may have driven out here and dumped the carcass for the dining pleasures of vultures.  I had not thought of that nasty possibility.  Meanwhile Denver Botanic Garden folks were waving from a rather steep slope in the distance greeting our arrival to “Brandegee country”.  Once again my botanical heart kind of skipped a beat just knowing we were now in the presence of not only a dead horse, but some very rare plants.  This day of work went by surprisingly quick with a total of 7 people counting plants.  Sadly on our way out of town the Ford Escape had a melt down.  We hung out in a Mexican restaurant eating chips and salsa, while the American mobile was checked out (luckily Canon City is home to many car dealerships).  The day in the life of a CLM intern can be amazingly diverse.

 Seed Collections for Success.  With a goal to collect 20,000 seeds from each species, Carol Dawson, Peter Gordon and myself collected over ½ million seeds!  That is just nuts.  Actually we did not collect any nuts.  Although nutlets were collected from Ligusticum porteri, sumaras from Acer glabrum and Acer negundo, capsules from Penstemon gracilis and Penstemon virens, and legumes from Astragalus shortianus, A. bisulcatus, and A.laxmannii.  The seeds came from vines, shrubs, trees, forbs and grasses.  Sometimes a handful contained literally thousands of the gene packed little jewels, and other times you struggled to obtain 20 in one grab. 

Calochortus gunisonnii, the Chalochortus that grows east of the Continental divide. The west slope species is rose colored.

Seed collection can be a zenful process with every seed collecting adventure is different.  Many days I was out all on my own wandering around the woods with a purpose, and yes, constantly amazed I was getting paid for this!  I even was able to collect Delphinium geyeri right from my house.  I live adjacent to Jefferson County Open Space, and I had my eye on those lovely Delphiniums for many weeks.  With all the rain the plants produced a huge amount of seeds.  It took me a full 8 hours to collect 20,000 seeds, but how wonderful to wonder out your back door for a collection!  And you run into the most interesting things.  While grabbing handfuls of Nine Bark seeds, I saw the biggest puff ball ever.  At first I thought it was some strange blob of mud, but

The fruit of Calochortus half full of seeds. We obtained 3 collections from two species within this genus.

than I realized that is a huge pile of spores (2’x2’) just patiently waiting for a strong gust to carry them hither.  And the ant hills were gorgeous, big, and intricate and obviously well organized mounds of detailed work. 

The ever lovely Frasera speciosa. I came upon 1000's of these plants while searching on west Mount Falcon. Each plant contained 1000s of seeds making it an enjoyable collection.

Once I watched a goshawk drop straight down out of a Douglas fir tree onto the ground most likely in pursue of a small mammal. It did not know I was there, and I had know idea what this animal was until I could see its birdly shape standing somewhat awkwardly on the ground.  I just stood there and eyeballed the raptor for many quiet and delicious woodsy moments. 

Watched this baby American Dipper at Lair o'the Bear park while scouting for seeds to collect.

Also I had the pleasure of coming upon a young American dipper at Lair o’the Bear park while Another time while collecting Liatrus punctata, I came upon a harem of deer.  There was one big beautiful buck enjoying the company of at least a dozen females.  His head moved slowly as it was top-heavy with a giant antler rack that apparently was working well for him.

A special population of spurless Columbine known only from one location in Colorado. Some of the flowers had no spurs at all, while others like this one had little nublets for spurs.

While searching for a population of Carex to collect just North West of Boulder, Colorado, we randomly ran into another botanist.  He showed us a population of Botrychium (moonworts) close to where we had parked our vehicle.  What are the chances of running into another botanist, especially a moonwort specialist?  He said he figured we were botanists because he noticed the field press in the back of our vehicle. 

Gaillardia aristata getting pollinating 6 weeks before we collected!

Other strange things happen as well.  As I was hiking down from the top of Green Mountain, I noticed a woman approaching me.  As I got closer she asked if I was alone, and she told me she was confident she saw someone else with me.  I assured her I was alone, and just out here searching for Astragalus plants!  And then I noticed she held tight in each hand a large stone ready to launch if I suddenly posed a threat.  I also had a Rottweiler dog want to eat me for lunch.  It could have been my large sunhat that provoked the canine, but I waited while the owner struggled to get the dog past me on the trail.  The lessons learned (although I had learned these lessons before) include keeping your wits about you, and following your instincts as you move through out the woods collecting seeds.  This is especially true if you are on your own.

Possible new discoveries while collecting.  Penstemon gracilis var. gracilis is a somewhat rare Penstemon in Colorado, but because of all the rain one particular population was blooming like crazy.  I heard about the plants in early June and went to check them out up at Reynolds Park, Colorado.  There were 1000’s of plants blooming, more than I had ever seen in this location.  I checked to see if the species had been collected before, and that particular variety had not been collected.  I was excited because that meant it would be a Kew collection and the seeds would go to the Royal Botanic Gardens! 

Penstemon gracilis at Reynolds Park, Colorado. I think you can see an Osmia bee in the center flower. These little Penstemon pollinators were everywhere on these plants.

I returned to obtain voucher specimens and as I was carefully digging up the plants, Formica ants began to attack.  Crawling all over me and biting viciously anywhere skin was showing.  I was able to obtain the vouchers, but I was glad to be leaving those lovely lilac Penstemons alone to the ants and the bees.  I kept a watchful eye for the next 6 weeks or so, and finally I returned to collect the seeds.  As I began to collect I was struck by a familiar very strong smell.  It was the smell of a squished Formica ant.  I used to rock climb a lot, and every once and a while as climbers we would situate a belay near an ant nest (Formica ants), and I would smell that smell of formic acid.  The smell is distinct and rather nasty in large doses.  Every part of these plants smelled of formic acid including the stems, the leaves, the fruit, and the seeds!  I began to wonder what was going on.  Is there a connection between the ants and the plants?  From the early season attacks when the flowers were blooming and now to the strong smell.  I just happen to tell the story to a botanist and an animal behaviorist who studies ants at University of Colorado Denver.  Their eyes lit up and suggested the seeds may contain elaiosomes.  Elaiosomes are oil droplets that contain lipids and sometimes proteins.  These droplets are attached to the seeds and are meant to attract the ants.  Apparently fats and proteins are limiting substances for ants, and they go WILD for them.  We looked at the seeds under a microscope and sure enough we could see what looked like tiny little white bulb-lets on the ends of the seeds.  This made me wonder if other populations of this Penstemon gracilis smelled like formic acid as well.  I searched the Boulder Herbarium records for other populations and after a lot of searching and assistance with a ranger botanist person I know in Boulder, I was able to locate a few more plants.  Sure enough, the plants 50 miles away in Boulder, County smell like formic acid and the seeds also look to have possible elaiosomes.  Now I find myself with a dissecting scope, tiny little P. gracilis seeds (smaller than pepper grains), sharp forceps and a razor blade painstakingly attempting to remove the “elaisomoes” so that we can analyze what they are made of.  I think this was one of the most fun consequences/observances that happened during the CLM internship while collecting seeds.  I suppose the lesson here is keep your wits about you, observe what you see and what you smell, and you might just make a new discovery!

Hello from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore!  About 50 miles southeast of Chicago, the Lakeshore runs 25 miles along Lake Michigan.  I started my internship in July and right away started working with five seasonal staff on wetland restoration. 

 However, before I tell you what I’ve been up to, hearing a brief history of the park makes all our hard work more rewarding.   This park has one of the greatest diversity of plant species in America.  Because of this, the area has always attracted the best scientists, including the famous Henry Cowles.  During the late 1890’s, Henry Cowles studied vegetation succession on the Lake Michigan sand dunes and is still considered a main influence in our ecological studies today.  There is now a wetland named after Henry called Cowles Bog, in which we do a lot of our restoration work.  Yet, because this park is fairly new (It was authorized by Congress in 1966), it has a HUGE problem with invasive species crowding out these wonderful and diverse native plant populations.  Our job is to protect and prevent the invasive species from winning and keep the necessary native habitats sheltered from human destruction. 

Working on identifying plants in the bog

 Like I said before, I’ve been a part of the wetland restoration project, specifically focused on restoring Cowles bog.  Currently, this once diverse area is covered in cat-tail (the invasive version) and phragmites which shade out any beneficial sedges, grasses and forbs.  To began, we apply herbicide to the invasive plants.  Then by pushing the dead cat-tail down, we can suppress the seed bank until replanting the area.  The whole processes of getting these native plants into the ground requires time spent seed collecting, seed cleaning, propagation and finally transplanting them in our greenhouse and then planting them in our recently cleared sites.  It is quite labor intensive (walking through very mucky areas with heavy equipment and often hot weather in the summer) but our group tends to make jokes out of the situations and we laugh a lot.  And seeing the results after planting a cleared area, either with brush cutters or herbicide, is rewarding.  Immediate results are not always visible, however, and this was something I struggled with at the beginning.  Now I understand how important each little advance is and that restoration work takes time.  A lot of time!  This restoration plan for Cowles bog is scheduled to take anywhere from 10-15 years and even then it will still need to be monitored.  One of the biggest challenges for this park is the amount of invasive species that are encroaching along the park’s many boundaries and it has been rewarding to help restore the park’s original flora.

Pictured Rocks

 Overall it has been a great experience working for the National Park Service, not only because I get to live in a beautiful area with freshwater beaches! But also to learn about how this organization operates and the difficulties they face with the public and with funding to continue to preserve the magnificent population of plants and animals.  I get to live in a National Park house not far from work, and recently just got two roommates from the SCA program that are going to take the place of the seasonal employees who sadly just ended their part last week.  I’m excited for the new adventures and slightly different tasks that we will be concentrating on. 

The seasonals

Checking some water depths

 Good Luck Everyone!

Christy Goff, NPS, Indiana Dunes, IN

Deer exclosures do well keeping out such herbivores, but some plots allow for invasives, like Rosa multiflora, to thrive.

During most of July and a bit of August I have been collecting data on several deer exclosure sites here in the eastern deciduous forest of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  A fellow resource management intern and I drive and then hike out to these 10 x 10 m plots, which are situated in one of four terrain types: upland and bottomland fields and forests.  Once there we focus on the vegetative aspects of each of the paired exclosures and their respective controls.

In order to verify the extent of the impact that the deer herds are having on the park, we must determine how the vegetation is being affected.  So, we take note of several things: the pin-drop method is used on three 5 m transects within each control and each exclosure plot to analyze species composition, and also if the individuals hit have been browsed; a vegetation pole is used to record the heights of vegetation at the ends of each transect; saplings are counted and recorded by species; canopy cover and percent composition of various vegetative aspects are estimated; a 10-factor prism is used to quantify tree density in and immediately around the plots, and also a few other dimensions are considered in this data-collecting process.  As much as I love all of the various fieldwork, the odd rainy day does come in handy for data entry.

Toxicodendron radicans - it will even attempt to be a tree!

Besides all of the research that I am helping to conduct, there have been some other items of interest involved with working at this particular park.  Cuyahoga Valley National Park is one of the more recently established National Parks.  Even though it has been part of the National Park System since 1974, until the year 2000 it was known as ‘Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.’  I mention this due to the fact that there are people (visitors and the like) everywhere, and the park itself is right in between two heavily populated areas, Cleveland and Akron.  If truth be told, when I first arrived here after our workshop in July I did not consider this area to be parkland, but rather it felt and still feels more like its original name.  There is no established park entrance, and highways such as I-80, 271 and 303 run right through the center of this 33,000 acre (fragmented) park.  With so many people around, random interaction is soon to follow, and it does.  There have been more than a few amusing side conversations with passersby as we drive and hike out to the sites that we are assessing, whether we go by road, trail, or up a tiny ski slope nearby.

 One of the best things here in the park (besides my job!) is that since the park was created to incorporate a large stretch of the Cuyahoga River, inevitably it also contains a big section of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath.  This provides such a scenic daily ride, as I often have been biking to ‘Homestead’ (aka Resource Management), which is the office where I work when I am not in the field.  I also enjoy watching the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR) trains go by, as they run north to south, back and forth through the park Wednesday through Sunday, well into the fall.

 I feel so privileged to be here… hopefully everyone can wake up in the morning and be as excited to go to work in such a great place as I am!

 ~Maria C. Brown, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Greetings from “Chapel Thrill,” North Carolina!

It has been over four months since I started working at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, thousands of miles from where most of you are located. Despite being a lifelong resident of North Carolina, in the past few months, I have really gotten to know the state in a new way. With my co-intern, Jill, and our mentor, Andy, we have crisscrossed the interstates, rural roads, and rutted paths of North Carolina, sojourning in both the easternmost and westernmost parts of the state. Our primary occupation is seed collecting, for the BLM as well as for other agencies, but we have also assisted in quite a few rare-plant monitoring projects, collaborating with people from the Garden, the NC Natural Heritage Program, the Forest Service, etc. . .

A few months ago, I would have treated Pender County as just another piece of land to blast through on I-40 on the way to the beach. Now I also know it as home to Shaken Creek Nature Preserve, which hosts a shocking array of native plants. Sprinkled among the soft undulating masses of wiregrass are the garish chartreuse trumpets of the yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava), the elegant pale star-shaped bracts of the white-topped beak sedge (Rhynchospora latifolia), and the ubiquitous pink of the meadow beauty (Rhexia alifanus). Deep red lilies and orange fringed orchids, roughly the hue of Cheetos, complete the palette. Despite repeated warnings from our mentor, we rarely have run-ins with snakes, and have yet to see a black bear. However, even constant vigilance with duct tape and Cutter did not save us from the torments of chiggers, ticks, and mosquitos throughout the summer.

The goats of Roan

North Carolina’s long east-west profile also encompasses some mountains (in size, nothing compared to what you westerners have, but I would like to think that they give the western mountains a run for their money in natural beauty). One of the most memorable trips we took was to Roan Mountain, where we helped monitor Geum radiatum, which clings to cliff faces on high peaks, and find populations of another Geum species. While we were up there, we encountered Jamie, alias the “goat guy.” His self-imposed responsibility is to live on the grassy bald at Carver’s Gap and maintain something akin to the prehistoric grazing regime, by means of a squadron of hungry goats and some gigantic but adorable guard dogs.

Turk's-cap lily in the NC mountains

One of the sites we visited that turned out to be an unlikely favorite of mine was basically in my backyard, in Durham County. Located in the middle of a highly developed industrial park (RTP), it was an old roadbed with a unique geology and basic soils that support a very interesting plant community. Though environmentally degraded, the uniqueness and diversity of this community showed through. Unfortunately, our visits mostly had a tone of desperation. The Garden, in partnership with the EPA, who owns the surrounding land, was collecting seeds and individual plants to save some of the genetic diversity of the site – it was slated for destruction to make way for a new expressway. What a feeling of disappointment when we heard the logging equipment had rolled through. In spite of such setbacks, the experience has been enjoyable on the whole, and I have expanded my knowledge not only of plants but, in many senses of the phrase, of how the world works. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible!

-Quentin Read, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The view from Roan Mtn.

Interning for the Chicago Botanical Gardens has been and is continuing to be an amazing experience for me. I have been hiking ridge tops in order to survey a rare plant, the tufted twinpod (Physaria condensate), that lives within Fossil Butte National Monument.  Not much is known about this special plant so it is rewarding to be the one to collect this baseline data. This data will be compared with elk data that is also being collected, in order to see if rising elk populations are affecting these small plants.  Due to this internship I have decided that I want a career relating to fieldwork, whether it is baseline data collection or monitoring and follow-up.  Being in the field gathering data is a gratifying experience because it really feels like I am making a difference. With the data I collected this summer and fall, along with data that will continued to be collected in the following summers, an EIS might be needed to control the rising elk population and my data will be part of that decision.

My adventures include wandering the park all by my lonesome looking for the tufted twinpod, with a GPS, antenna, and 2x.5m long PVC rectangular pipe. I often find myself off in the middle of no ware with no idea which way I was supposed to be going and where I came from. It’s a good thing I have my GPS, though it always says I’m going north even when I’m defiantly not.  The hardest part of my job is actually located my plants and plots where my plants are not supposed to be. I have been stuck 3 times because I have to drive this really poor two-track roads in a little 2-wheel drive ford ranger. It doesn’t have very good clearance and it doesn’t like mud.

Due to the fact that I am mostly working by myself, I have gained great self discipline. It is very important to be focused and organized in order to get everything completed in a timely fashion, especially with the consent threat of snow these days. This internship has allowed me to incorporate the knowledge I gained from college into an actual job.  I have been able to achieve greater understanding of GIS (using ArcInfo) as well as becoming a pro at the Magellan GPS units.  I have been learning how to identify plants and other key elements in the surrounding areas.

Over all I have to say that has been great getting to know all the amazing people that work at Fossil Butte. Throughout the summer other interns have come and gone and it has been nice to make new friends and feel like I am a part of something bigger then myself. I also got to go on many different field trips like this one to big spring. Being able to spend my summer doing worthy work and hiking in the natural environment is a wonderful experience. Given the change I would do it all over again and who knows maybe I will.

Lea Shaw-Messina, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming

Sarracenia flava, yellow pitcher plants are just a few of the carniverous plants we see daily

When I was told I was going to be stationed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to North Carolina before and knew little of it beyond the fact that UNC was pretty darn good at basketball. My main responsibilities here at the North Carolina Botanical Garden involve traveling around the state and collecting native plant seeds for the Seeds of Success program. Collecting has been somewhat of a challenge because BLM doesn’t own any land out east. As a result, we have had to get permission through The Nature Conservative, The Natural Heritage Program (NC), National Forest Service, and the National Park Service (when collections were done for Park Service). Experiencing this has been so interesting because it not only has given me an opportunity to work with so many different conservation programs, but it has allowed me to see the struggles in communication between them-each working towards a similar but slightly different goal, each with a different protocol. We have also had the opportunity to help them with some of their own projects, putting our seed collecting skills to good use.

Uniola paniculata, sea oats are one of the dominant sand dune species on Masonboro Island

Masonboro is an island off the coast of North Carolina. It is eight miles long and a much needed reserve for birds, crab and sea turtles. Maintained by the North Carolina Coastal Reserve (http://www.nccoastalreserve.net/), the island is just south of one of the most traveled and touristy beaches in North Carolina. As a result, it is frequently visited by boaters and recreationalists who create some impact on the creatures that need it, including the plants. Sometime in the near future a large dredge pipe will need to be put in on the island in order to clear out some of the sediment in the inland channel. We have been working with the NC Coastal Reserve to pick out and collect important sand dune species in the hopes that the sand dune ecosystem lost to the pipe will eventually be restored.

Beyond the Seeds of Success protocol, Quentin and I have also gotten to participate in a plant rescue, collecting

Quentin observing the greatness of the trees.

seeds and rescuing plants on an Environmental Protection Agency site that is currently becoming Durham’s first toll road (ironic?). We have also gotten to participate in rare plant monitoring all over the state, my favorite being Geum radiatum which only grows on cliff sides in the mountains. National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife, and National Forest Service were all involved, many of whom had employees that had taken courses in repelling for the sake of monitoring this plant. The monitoring itself required a hike on the Appalachian Trail accompanied by amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains (tough life, right?). So here’s my big “Ah-Ha” moment. I even got a short lesson in repelling and while doing so, Chris, the Park Service botanist says to me, “Now stop for a second and turn around and think about what we’re doing. Pretty incredible, right?” and I turned around slowly as to not lose footing, and there they were. The mountains were spectacular! And I instantly loved everything…the mountains, the people that do this for a living…the cause. In watching conservationists struggle to get their message through to the public, I often wonder how it is that people can be so lacking in any sense of responsibility for the environment. For me, it just takes small moments of experience like this for it to make sense and for it to be something that I want to work towards.

Quentin and I pause to enjoy the view while looking for Geum radiatum on Mount Leconte in Smokie Mountains National Park

I have enjoyed reading about all your internships and experiences.  I like this quote because it is perhaps what many of us think when we step out the door each morning, coffee in hand:

John Muir writes in My First Summer in the Sierra, “Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.”

This has truly been an amazing experience!

-Jill Pyatt (North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill)

As Hannah just mentioned in her blog post, the BLM Buffalo Field Office is one of the largest field offices in the country employee-wise—so big that we can’t even fit in one building! So I live in a cozy little cube in the Annex, a short walk from the happenin’ main building of the BFO. My position as a hydrology intern here has introduced me to a side of the BLM that most CLM interns don’t get to delve too deeply into: the energy development side. In my case, coalbed methane (CBM) development is what I’ve gotten very, very familiar with, since that’s what the Hydro crew spends all its time on.

The Powder River Basin (PRB), which comprises most of the Buffalo Field Office, produces a large percentage of the country’s natural gas. In the PRB, methane is relatively easy to extract because it is adsorbed in coal formations near the surface. To access this gas, operators must dig wells and pump out very large quantities of water, which releases the gas from the coal. The methane can then be extracted. Most of the gas in the PRB is found in federal mineral deposits that underlie privately (or, in some cases, federally) owned land. The BLM is thus in charge of permitting and monitoring this development. The Buffalo Field Office was given a mandate by President Bush to—dare I say—drill baby drill, so that is what we facilitate.

A CBM water reservoir

There are a lot of issues with CBM development water-wise because of the huge quantities of water that must be pumped out to access the methane. Some of this water is high-quality and could be used, with no or minimal treatment, for irrigation, livestock, or drinking water. A small percentage of the produced water is used in these beneficial ways. However, much of the produced water is saline, alkaline, or has other characteristics that make it less suitable for beneficial use. While a lot of this water could be treated and used, or re-injected into the ground, such methods would be more expensive for the operators, so the vast majority of produced water gets stored in small reservoirs, where it is supposed to infiltrate or evaporate as much as possible. Basically the water is thought of as a waste product. Ultimately, the operators try to get permits from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to discharge the water into streams. The DEQ monitors the quality of this discharged water with an eye towards human health and agriculture, not so much towards aquatic or riparian ecology. The timing and magnitude of the discharges also cause worries about effects on fluvial morphology (basically, the shape of the river).

CBM water being disharged down a drainage and into a reservoir. The rocks are supposed to collect iron from the water.

The BLM doesn’t deal with discharge issues much. We monitor water levels in deep aquifers that are affected by methane production (these aquifers have been drawn down to various extents), and water quality in shallow aquifers that are recharged by water from CBM reservoirs. My job for the last 4 months has been to organize and analyze the latter dataset (water quality) which, despite having been added to quarterly for the last 8 years, has never been looked at or filed in any coherent way. This internship has made me alternately frustrated with and sympathetic towards the BLM—they are just so short-staffed! Hopefully I’ll get to detect some trends before I leave, so we can see what’s going on in the groundwater around the CBM reservoirs. Right now I’m still sorting and graphing. I’ve gotten to be a whiz at Excel!

Some lovely halophytic (salt-tolerant) weeds downstream of a CBM reservoir. This site is designated as a secondary reservoir, so this water is allowed to be here.

I have no field work assigned to me, but occasionally I get to tag along on adventures doing well maintenance or reservoir inspections. Once or twice I’ve even snuck off to help with some sage-grouse business. (Ssshh! One very interesting thing I’ve learned during this internship is how divided a single BLM office can be over certain conservation issues. In the Annex I’ve heard the sage-grouse referred to as “that stupid chicken”). That being said, and despite all of the issues I’ve mentioned, and lots more chicken-related ones that I haven’t, methane has its pluses as an energy source. It is much lower carbon-emission-wise than oil and coal. So there are definitely two sides of the CBM coin. I’ve been lucky to see both of them during my internship, as well as some beautiful parts of Wyoming. Everyone in Buffalo is incredibly nice, and the town is great. I’ll miss it when I leave!

– Ariel Patashnik, BLM, Buffalo, WY field office

I remember the very first time I came to Eastern Washington; I was only 10 en rout to a soccer camp in Moscow, ID.  I had planned on sleeping on the long 3 hour shuttle ride to the pseudo-Russian city just across the border of Washington, but after we left the city and my body was ready to relax, my eyes were widened by the site of endless rolling hills with lush emerald waves.  I was mesmerized by the continuity of the grass, growing and swaying in sync.  The consistency of the land was nothing like I had ever seen before.  Growing up in the sagebrush and short grass prairies of Wyoming made me accustomed to seeing a variety of textures and colors in the landscape.   Not until thirteen years later did I realize that this beauty that had once enthralled my tired ten-year-old eyes was wheat; rolling gold, and again my eyes where opened, but in a different way.  I learned that wheat fields make the earth “sterile”.  The land and its inhabitants become displaced and the continuous plowing, that makes those fields so beautiful and regular, dissipates the survival of even a rodent.

Works well in fragmenting habitat...

I have watched the progression of the wheat fields over their growing season traveling to and from what called the “channeled scablands”.  The names “Channeled” because of the massive Missoula flood that swept across all of eastern Washington and “scab” because of the little tufts of rock left from the raging waters that rushed through the land after a considerable ice dam broke in Montana.  (I got the story from at least five different people of different disciplines in the office).  Thanks to the interdisciplinary BLM office, I have been lucky enough to work with and hear the views of a variety of people, thus allowing me to learn, not only about the history of the land, but the different ways that it can be used, maintained, and monitored.

The majority of my time has been spent on north-facing slopes looking for likely the best camouflaged plant of all time, the infamous Silene Spaldingii.  This sticky little forb is so well hidden that even my mentor, a well seasoned “SISP” locator, may step on it in mid search from time to time.  (This makes me wonder if our monitoring causes more detriment to the plant and its surrounding veg than the grazing cows themselves—also a hot topic discussed regularly between Range and Botany) 

Massive Silene plant -- 7 stems!

I became so able to locate the Silene I was literally doing it in my sleep.  Many people I have met wonder what the significance of this “random” plant is in the whole scheme of things, my response… “everything is connected”, which often leaves them with an A-ha moment and me with great satisfaction knowing that I am making an itty bitty difference.

Checking out our National bird while putting up duck boxes

I have found that I like it best when I get to experience the serenity of the land and monitor on my own, at my own pace.  Although, being able to pair up with a few coworkers to go play in a stream, er… monitor stream health, couldn’t get much better.

100% PHAR3 "Same as above"

Also, catching bats in the middle of the night, or riding my mountain bike across the Scablands in search of Silene, flying gracefully over the bikes handlebars and face planting into the sage, discovering old mines in moss covered forests, seeing roving painted turtles, praying mantis, hummingbirds, dragonflies that too closely resemble helicopters, snakes, frogs, deer, coyotes, elk, flushing grouse, comparing enclosures with pastures that have been too heavily grazed, and observing the unexpected changes in the land.

"It's a Female!"

I think the most challenging part of this internship, besides picking cheat grass out of my boots, is life outside the office and field.  This is my first time living without a built-in community or classes with people my age who have similar interests.  This has made me realize how easily one can get lost in a big city and how important it is for me to interact.  I am lucky because there is so much to do here as far as arts, music, culture, plays, etc. but I have yet to find someone to do it with.  I have volunteered as a U-14 Boys soccer coach, a trail builder, taken dance classes, gone to bands and bars and even Portland, striving to live up the city life all by my lonesome.  I am finally feeling more at home and am beginning to spend quality time with my coworkers.  I am looking forward to a Frisbee golf t-time of 11am Monday, where the likely topic of conversation will be conservation.

Aliina Lahti, BLM Field Office, Spokane, WA