Office Space

The field season has ended for ES&R monitoring. Our next mission would be to input data and write ES&R reports! Dan and I were on top of data entry from Day 1 and we almost completed the task except for a couple of sites. In order to complete the data entry, we had to separate ourselves from the rest of the office, because we did not want them to go insane with our Latin speak and number crunching. They were fine with our activity, but we wanted to be polite, because we sounded like two robots. (Plus, we did this at the library in a private room and a dude yelled at us for being annoying…<_<)

For example:
Myself: Dan! What did you get for Site 5531-008 in terms of Phlox longifolia.
Dan: Site 5531-008…PHLO2……Density Plot 1: 5, DP 2: 8, DP 3: 7…you got the jest…. 4: 8, 5: 9, 6:2…
Myself: Thank you, Dan. Could you tell me the Ground Cover Percentage?                     Dan: Bare ground 94%, Litter 5%, and Rock is 1%.

We performed our data entry in the BLM Hall of Legends (aka the conference room) located in the central section of the BLM building. The data entry for each site would take us between 20-40 minutes determining on the diversity and condition of the site we have monitored. This was very tedious, but very fun! We had the pictures of the site and compared them with the results. You would be amazed how many different kinds of plants would grow back after a fire. We did notice cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), but many other native plants recovered in the seeding areas. We were finally done with the data entry….now it is time for the ES&R Reports!!

+8 Points Experience for Speaking Latin                                                                            +10 Points Experience for Basic Mathematics

——————————————————————————————————————–The ES&R reports were interesting to type. We included precipitation graphs, plant diversity graphs for each site, a large amount of maps, methodology, results, pictures for each of the sites, and recommendations / conclusions. The reports ranged from 15-50 pages. Each of the range cons we wrote the report with added their observations, funding reports, seed mixes, and previous experiences with each of the sites. We submitted our rough drafts and received good feedback. We are now at the very end and gained an enormous amount of experience with report development and data entry.

+15 points Experience for Data Entry                                                                                 +20 Points Experience for ES&R Report Writing

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New Opportunities Abound

Our awesome mentor, Casey, visited us during our report writing and gave us an update for future projects! He wanted us to get as much experience from the internship as possible and developed interesting projects for us to work on. One of the projects was to work on the JUNO/ Trimble system. Since we had plenty of GIS experience, he wanted us to create layers, geodatabases, and maps for the whole office to use in the future. Casey wanted us to get plenty of experience using ArcPad, so we could develop a presentation for the office on how to use many of the features. Our mission was to test the tools, list the pros and cons of the system, and develop shortcuts to make the system easy to manage in the field.

Casey encouraged us to develop our own projects as well using ArcGIS and remote system applications. One of the main projects we could work on was the aroga moth project. By using remote sensing tools and algorithms on ArcGIS, we could use four banded satellite imagery and NDVI to detect plant health and find where the aroga moth populations were in the Burns District.

I talked with my mentor and other BLM biologists in the office about future field excursions and opportunities. I really wanted to get SOS training experience just to see what it is like (….since everyone else seems to be doing that. 😉 ). For a small period of time, I would be collecting sagebrush and forb seeds! I am pretty excited about that field opportunity! Another major opportunity that was offered was Mule Deer monitoring. This mission would be to identify what the mule deer forage on. This would expose myself to new plant communities and new field monitoring techniques. I am super ultra excited for the next part of my internship!! \(^_^\)

Misadventures
Vale and Lakeview: Follow the Treasure Map

If you have been following my blog (which I am sure a couple of people have…Hi Family!!!), you would know that I love to rock hound for rare and unusual rocks. My mentor dropped by our cubicle and gave me two treasure maps…no joke! The map had an X written with a sharpie, topography, and township and range. One site was located in the depths of the Vale District and the other was in the Lakeview District where I got a flat tire.

The Vale District was located to the east of the Burns District. The landscape was filled with hills and sagebrush for miles around. The roads were not the best, unamused rattlesnakes were everywhere, and it took me over three hours to get into the site. The site was located in a canyon on BLM land, which contained agates and thundereggs galore. I parked my car and traveled a mile or two into the canyon. I was shocked to see the whole stream bed was filled with agates and thundereggs! They were everywhere! I carried a large thunderegg and many small agates back to the car. I did clean off the medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) seeds…man, that grass was everywhere! I carried this fifty pound thunderegg around two miles back to the car. I was exhausted! Luckily, I brought an enormous amount of water and a Subway Club™. When I was hiking back I noticed an airplane in the air flying by….then a helicopter…..and two more planes. I quickly made it back to the Ford Escape and packed everything, because there was a fire nearby. When I exited the allotment, I saw the smoke coming from the Warm Springs area. I got to the highway to see all of the aircrafts fly around the fire. Even though the fire was probably ten miles away, the experience was pretty crazy. I managed to collect a large thunderegg and many agates.

Success!

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I returned to the Lakeview District to look for Mountain Blue Picture Jasper on Hart Mountain. Previously, I went into the area to search for sunstones and ended up getting a flat tire. This time I was prepared! I drove to the X on the map to another canyon. I managed to find clear feldspar, some small agates, and a nice chunk of Mountain Blue Picture Jasper. The area was picked over, but I managed to grab a couple of nice specimens. At the end of the rock trail there was a very nice waterfall. I was nervous about unamused rattlesnakes being in the area, but I did not encounter any.

This was where you can find Blue Mountain Picture Jasper!

White Headed Woodpeckers, Goshawks, and Sage Grouse!

I love bird watching in the Burns District. One of the birds that eluded me for a long time was the white headed woodpecker. I was given directions to one of my boss’s properties which contained an abundant population. He managed the open woodland, which made the landscape ideal for white headed woodpecker populations. I drove deep into the Malheur Forest to a cattleguard where two horses were waiting for me. They did not move when I drove up to them. I honked at them, but they stood there looking at me. One even sneezed on my car, so I drove around them to my destination. (I found out later  that the horses hear a car and think it is their owner. When the owner honks his horn, that means it is time for treats…no wondering they did not want to move..they wanted a treat….<_<)

They wanted toll money…

I finally got to see the white headed woodpecker. They were everywhere!!! I was very excited to see a large number of them, despite the reports of their threatened status. They were not afraid of me and I managed to get close and take many pictures! To attract them, I had to pour water into the dog bowl. Many of the males were flying around and pecked at the metal roof, displaying their territory.

White Headed Woodpecker!!

On my way back home, I managed to see three juvenile northern goshawks waiting in the trees. They were probably hunting the white headed woodpecker. I slowly made my way through the loamy soil to the cattleguard and saw those two darn horses run up the hill trying to head me off. I quickly floored it and made it to the cattleguard before the horses got to me. Near the border of the sagebrush and forest ecotone, I saw many sage grouse walking across the road. Since it was dark, it was hard to see all of them. They were foraging on cheatgrass before moving onto the Wyoming big sagebrush nearby. This bird watching trip was amazing and I managed to see a new bird species! All I have to see now was 135 bird species before I have seen every bird species in North America. (Not including accidentals. Mostly I have to see the pelagic and Mexican border species.)

Exploring the Wild Blue Yonder

Since my fellow intern will be leaving for the Peace Corp very soon, I decided to take a small break and use my work comp time. For the next week I will be on vacation traveling along the California and Oregon coastline. The temperate rainforests, bogs, shorelines, and redwood forests would expose me to a variety of different new plant communities and birds species, which I am very excited about. For my next post, I will include some pictures under the misadventure section.

See you in a couple of weeks!!!

(/O_O)/……..To Be Continued…….\(O_O\)

Justin Chappelle                                                                                                                 CLM Intern working for the Burns/Hines BLM
P.S. This CLM Post has been sponsored by Tote the Note “Get Your Totes Today!”

And now…..your Moment of Zen…

Finishing Up Monitoring: Trout Creek Mountains

The time was 4:00am and everything was quiet at the Fields, Oregon Research Station. I stared up at the ceiling, reminiscing on all the good and bad times this field season in the Trout Creek Mountains have brought our group. Dan and I, with the help of the living legend known as Randy, have encountered many obstacles and experienced many great adventures in the last leg of our journey.

Flat tires, rugged terrain, rain storms, rattlesnakes, and those pesky red and black ants were no match to our enthusiasm of working in the field. If we encountered a bad event such as a rain storm or a flat tire, we would laugh it off and work together to get everything done. Dan and I would always motivate ourselves thinking what would the BLM Legends do in this situation? Usually Randy’s response would be an “Oh God…” while rolling his eyes. Seriously, we all had a tough time out here and you would have to have a very good sense of humor to cope with the harsh conditions.

Everyday we would pack to deal with hot weather. We would always do a series of checks to make sure everything was sturdy and not forgotten. (It would be a pain in the butt to travel forty-five miles to a trend site and then find out you forgot the rulers…<_<) Dan and I would take turns driving the UTV over many types of rugged terrain. I prefer to drive through shallow rivers, while Dan likes to drive through basaltic rock fields.

Our final day would be in the Maggie Creek Pasture, which would be located on the Oregon and Nevada border. I got up after fifteen minutes of reminiscing and prepared for the field day. We would drive through the darkness in the morning and follow our JUNO GPS device to the potential random sampling sites we would have to monitor. Once we got to an individual site, we would set up a three by three foot plot and record all the species of plants located within the small site. I would photograph the cardinal directions to help the ES&R monitoring report show that we were there and this was what the site looks like. The random sampling plots were established by an algorithm in the ArcGIS to help find areas to monitor plant species. If we found at least two perennial grasses and a forb, the site would be considered in good condition and was recovering from the previous fire. (Usually these random sites would be on a smooth slope under a 35 degree angle and away from water sources. Unfortunately, these sites would be surrounded by sharp cliffs or near running water.) Sometimes we would work up to twelve hours a day or more. (I am sorry Krissa and Wes! I swear I will use those comp hours. ^_^;;) After a hard day in the field, we returned to a nice low pressure shower and a good helping of ramen noodles. That evening there was a fire in our area and our field station was filled to the brim with rangeland firefighters! O_o We even witnessed a helicopter land in our backyard! Overall, Dan, Randy, and I would pack and prepare for tomorrow despite all the very cool distractions that happened at our field station that evening.

A helicopter landed behind our field station to refuel.

By the end of the monitoring season in the Trout Creek Mountains, we must have traveled close to three to four hundred miles of land on our UTV. We monitored close to twenty five trend sites and over ninety random sampling sites. We were covered with dust, but we would be always ready for future data entry. This last day, Dan and I treated ourselves to a BRB milkshake near the Fields Station before heading back to our BLM office.

We sort of miss the adventure and the excitement of the Trout Creek Mountains, but it is time to move on and finish our job. We had Desert Meadows, Lamb Ranch and the Miller Homestead Fires that we would have to monitor. After monitoring and data entry, we would start writing our ES & R reports.

This was a humorous comic based on our escapades in the field.

Lamb Ranch: The Brave and the Bold

Dan and I finished our last field monitoring experience at the Lamb Ranch site. Lamb Ranch was considered a small fire that occurred a couple of years ago. A lot of attention had been invested in this pasture due to one main reason…Medusahead (Bum BUM Baaaaaaaa). You thought cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) was bad, medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) would be considered the kaiju of all invasive grasses in our area. This type of grass would spread rapidly and grow within a field. Overtime, this grass would form a dense mat of litter that would be considered fantastic fuel for fires. Other forbs and perennial grasses would have a difficult time growing with this sort of grass. In the past, land managers had to pull out the big guns by using Plateau, a form of herbicide that would be used to fight the medusahead. The treatment was considered successful in the past…but did it really eliminate the medusahead from the area??

We drove along the rough back country roads of the Stinkingwater Allotment. If you were to drive through this area, it would be considered a roller coaster ride…that goes five miles an hour. The severe bumps, sudden turns, and the occasional Great Pyrenees in the middle of the road made the ride seem very harsh. It is not for the faint of heart! You may be asking yourself, “Justin, why are you even going through this?” My answer would be, “Well…because it is my job!” 😉

We had two BLM Legends with us to help assess the landscape. Bill and Randy had previously been to this location and directed us to where we should establish the plot. I got out of the truck and landed on the ground with a crunch. I looked down to assess what I landed on and noticed the type of grass that was crushed….it was medusahead. I looked to my left and right to see any sort of forb, but all I saw was the invasive grass. I lifted my head and saw that a majority of the landscape was covered with a dense mat of medusahead. The areas that were heavily treated with Plateau had a large amount of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) growing up. I sighed and looked to the other intern Dan, who was shaking his head with frustration. Bill told us the history of the pasture and how this area had many fires in the past. The medusahead quickly took over the majority of the crested wheatgrass seedings and created an upslope battle for the local land managers. We established our plot and began to monitor the area…

Dan and I never encountered so much medusahead and litter before, but we wanted accurate readings. We wanted to know if there were perennial forbs under the litter or if we got a direct hit on a special plant. We managed to find a few perennial forbs, but they were struggling. This trend site took me a very long time to monitor, because I would have to kneel on the ground and look past the medusahead for other forbs and grasses. This place could’ve had rattlesnakes as well buried within some of the rocky areas surrounded by medusahead, so we had to be on the lookout. Only the brave and the bold CLM interns were up to the challenge of monitoring this last trend site.

Overall, the site had a ridiculous amount of litter formed by medusahead from this year and previous years. There was Wyoming sagebrush (A. tridentata subsp. Wyomingensis), Lomatium spp., Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), crested bluebunch grass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), and Long Leaf Phlox (Phlox longifolia) present, but they were struggling. I saw a group of wild horses looking through the area for potential meals, but they did not look too happy… (Probably due to the fact that we were monitoring near their favorite juniper tree) I do have hope for this site. Even with the large amounts of medusahead, there were still good perennial plants trying to grow. If the land managers were to work together with the private land owners to get rid of the medusahead, the future would look bright. For now…the medusahead was here to stay…

Burns, Oregon is Burning!?
After a long day of traveling to John Day Fossil Beds, I fell over on my bed and prepared to look over some of the reports Dan and I were supposed to do next week. We finished all of the data entry, developed our ES & R folders, and completed all of our field work, which was an amazing feat to do. We had to incorporate all of our data into seven main reports. I fell asleep during my assessment of the reports and slept for two hours…^///^

When I woke up to continue to look at the report structure, I noticed something was very off about my room… I looked at the sunlight and it was a faded gold color. Usually around 5:00pm the sunlight was still bright. I walked into the kitchen to make an early dinner and I saw what was partially blocking the sunlight. On the hillside of Burns/Hines, Oregon, a large column of smoke was rising. A wildfire broke out!

A wildfire on the hill slope of Burns, Oregon… O_O

I saw many airplanes and helicopters assessing the area as the hillside was burning. I quickly traveled to Dan’s house to see if he knew what was going on. He contacted Randy and found out that someone accidently started the fire at the shooting range. The rumors were that the object that caused the fire could’ve been a small explosive ordinance or a magnesium tracer bullet (Well…you know the nature of rumors) . I traveled up the hillside far away from the fire to get a better vantage point. I zoomed onto the site with my camera and got some good pictures of the helicopters and aircraft above the area.

A helicopter picking up water at the local reservoir.

Since Burns, Oregon is considered a major dispatch for firefighters in our district, the fire did not last a chance. Many firefighters were on the scene and extinguished the fire. The fire burned for a couple of hours before it was smothered by water from the helicopters. Thankfully the fire did not spread down the slope to our town. The experience of seeing firefighters take care of this fire was something I will never forget. Even though this was a smaller wildfire, having one so close to town was crazy. At least we don’t have to worry about cheatgrass in the area for a while! ^_^;;

Misadventures

Bromus tectorum All Out Attacks: The Return of the Revenge

You probably heard of the annual plant known as Bromus tectorum: Cheatgrass. (Dramatic organ music momentarily playing in the background.) This grass has been a large problem for many interns and natural area managers. During a fire, this grass was a good source of fuel. This grass ignites when exposed to an extremely hot source such as a vehicle or a lightening bolt. If a fire was too severe, this grass would totally dominant the landscape the following year creating a monoculture of cheatgrass prone to more fires. The most irritating part about this grass were the seeds. Many times I would have to go through a field of cheatgrass. Eventually, my socks and shoes would be covered with seeds. These seeds could stick into your feet and ruin your socks.  The major issue was the transfer of seeds. I always had to clean the seeds off my shoes and socks, so they would not be transferred to a higher diversity site that did not have cheatgrass to begin with.

Thunderstorms All Over the Freakin’ Place!
Recently, there had been a large number of thunderstorms that entered the Burns, Oregon. These storms were very severe and caused numerous fires in our area. I noticed that there were two types of thunderstorms.

The first type of thunderstorm would be the slowly paced storm. Sometimes I would see a very menacing storm out in the field or at home, so I would quickly get all of my work done before the storm would hit. These storms would take forever to come. Instead of the five minute wait like in Chicago, the storm would take two hours to get to my present location. One time I was walking home and it started to rain out from the approaching thunderstorm. I walked quickly and found out the rain suddenly stopped. I turned around and saw the edge of the rainstorm slowly creep at me from down the street. I could actually out walk the storm and rain!

The other kind of storm would be the windstorm. This type of thunderstorm would produce very high winds and lightening. A couple of them rolled into town this year. They would produce duststorms with hail! So if you were caught in this storm…well run to a store or your car because getting dust in your eyes and getting hailed on would not be cool.

A typical dust hail storm traveling through Hines, Oregon.

John Day Fossil Beds and Blue Basin

I was about to go rock hounding in the Lakeview District, but after my previous flat tire incident while looking for sunstones made me nervous about the idea. While thinking the situation through, I decided to head northwards into the ponderosa pine forests of Oregon. When I was a kid, my parents took me to a place called John Day Fossil Beds, which was located an hour and a half away from Burns, Oregon. This place was amazing and helped me learn more about the Cenozoic Era when I was younger. I packed my lunch and left very early to go bird watching on my way to John Day Fossil Beds. Unfortunately, the white headed woodpecker still eludes me…

I finally got to John Day Fossil Beds. The topography and the rock formations were outstanding!!! After seeing almost four months of basalt, the sedimentary layers were welcoming to the eyes. There was a place near the visitor’s center called Blue Basin, where I took a small hike. This place looked very similar to Badlands National Park, but everything was a bluish-green color. Overtime, the deposited volcanic ash slowly turned into claystone. The blue color comes from the minerals that were leached into the claystone. With extensive erosion of the soft rock over a long period of time, the Blue Basin was formed. Blue Basin was an amazing site to see in terms of flora and rocks. There were many other locations in the national monument, but I had to return home. If you were into geologic time and enjoy taking pictures, John Day Fossil Beds and Blue Basin would be the place to go for an afternoon of adventure.

Blue Basin!!

Sponsored By: BRB: The Legendary BLM Milkshake of Choice

This CLM Blog is sponsored by the “BRB (Banana, Reese’s Cup, and Banana)” A BLM Legend’s Official Milkshake Flavor of Choice.

Hello everyone!! This last week was incredibly busy. We were assigned to a new project where we have to go to random plots generated by the GIS and monitor those sites. We have to go to seven different pastures and monitor five to twenty plots (depending on the size of the pasture). We were given ten extra plots in case we could not make it to some of them or if the site had barren ground. It was suggested that we would split up to cover more ground and plots, but we were sort of against that idea. Each site has to be on a less than 35 degree slope and away from any wet areas. We were given the maps and everything looked very straight forward and easy…we were dead wrong. O_O

I thought this was an interesting picture.

Previously…On Lost….
We decided to go to the Nevada pastures (located in northern Nevada <_<) and quickly monitor them, because there were five plots in each small pasture. After we have established our final ES&R plot, we went off-roading to the random plot locations. Thank goodness for four wheel drive, because I was driving over very rocky terrain. We were following the Trimble/JUNO GIS device to our next location. There were no roads, so we would have to wing it. When driving, I had to watch out for the grassy areas, because there would be large rocks hiding within.

The directions to our first site led us up a mountain, near the Red Mountain area. This pasture was called Long Canyon/ Upper Crow Creek and was located on the other side of the fence. I was starting to get very scared, because the slope was getting very steep. In order to get to Long Canyon/ Upper Crow Creek Pasture, we had to get to this gate, which was at the top of the mountain. (I was wondering, who in their right mind would put a gate at such a high elevation at such a steep angle…) We got there and I had to turn my vehicle to go through the gate. When I got to the other side, the steepness of the topography made it seem like I was tipping down the hill. When Dan said, “Oh crap, the wheel is off the ground.” I was shocked and Randy quickly shifted his weight to keep the vehicle from tumbling down the mountain. We all thought this was a bad idea and quickly moved down hill, noting to never go to that plot. We learned that the plot might be located on less than thirty five degree slope, but it could be surrounded by steep drop offs or rocky cliffs. If the terrain was too dangerous, we would move onto the next plot noting that we could not make it to the present plot we were trying to get to.

We went through another way into the Long Canyon/ Upper Crow Creek Pasture. This pasture was on steep terrain, but it did have a road! We managed to get two plots that day. One of the plots was located near a granitic intrusion, which was fascinating! The local cows were curious and approached us with the utmost secrecy. They would eventually moo notifying us that they were there. (I think they just wanted our lunch…)

The JUNO did help us find the plots, but due to the satellite signal, navigation was tedious. We were lost most of the time, so we used my GARMIN GPS to help pinpoint the plots. Luckily, we were successful in finding some of the plots, but we would have to return to this pasture another day.

Steep mountain slope I had to drive up.

“Pole Patch Pasture? Ha! That is an easy one to monitor”- Said no one ever.
The next day we went to Pole Patch Pasture, which was located in the top part of the Trout Creek Mountains. The previous established plots we monitored were on a smooth flat topography. We thought this would be easy! 😉 …….it was not V_V… At least we did have a lot of fun finding the random plots. It was like the ultimate geocaching adventure! The mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.) in the area made the terrain seem like Africa. Half of the plots were easy to get to. We saw a variety of wildlife including the chukars. Man, those birds were bountiful in our area. They were crawling all over the rocky ridges. Many of the chukars were juveniles and had a tough time keeping up with their parents. Unfortunately, they did not waddle to their heart’s content like the sage grouse did.

We were on a monitoring safari!
We even found the elusive Balsamorhiza sagittata in one of our random plots…Today was a good day.

The whole landscape was covered with basalt flows and rocks, making off roading a bumpy experience. You could even sing Ode to Joy in quarter notes, because each note was a bump from a rock. Some sites were located next to cliffs, and sometimes we would have to climb downwards from rock ridges to get to some of the plots. This trip gave us plenty of good off roading/ driving experience. Dan and I were joking that we could make a BLM off roading video.

The last few sites were located on steep terrain or near cliffs, so we would have to do a lot of walking. We loved the exercise and scenery, but we thought that the GIS algorithm for establishing these random plots was going crazy. Pole Patch had many moments of seriousness (especially driving down the ridges), but we survived and had an outgoing view on this pasture. We managed to survey all of the plots, including two extra ones!

Mr. Rattles Version 2.0

Our next pasture we had to go to was called the Mahogany Pasture. As usual, we would leave 4:45am in the morning to get to our random plots. We traveled about an hour to this pasture. When we arrived, we found out that the gate had a padlock on it…  Who puts a padlock on public land!? o_O

We changed our plan. We were now heading towards the biggest pasture, the pasture with no name….. No joke! The pasture was called No Name Pasture. This pasture had a huge number of plots. There were valleys, mountains, the occasional happy cattle dog, and rocky terrain. This pasture had it all! Our first plot was located in a flat basin area near water. (GIS…I thought you calculated the water factor out of this…<_<) I mentioned to my fellow intern, Dan, that this was ideal rattlesnake territory. There were rocks all over with a nice source of water. We monitored our first random site and then we heard a yell from Randy, who was located on the top of the hill. We quickly gathered our things and started to head up the slope to see what was going on. Randy yelled that there was a rattlesnake by him. We cautiously ran up the hill towards Randy. He mentioned that he almost stepped on it when it started to rattle. This rattlesnake was bigger than the one I saw at the Miller Homestead Fire. It was coiled and rattled at us. The snake especially hated Randy. It was always looking towards him. (I thought they had poor eyesight…) We took a couple of pictures and left it alone. I named the rattlesnake Mr.Rattles Version 2.0, but the snake could’ve been female…I did not want to check.

Mr. Rattles Version 2.0 is not amused…

Later in the day, we went on rocky slopes to some of the random plots. We could not bring the vehicle, because of the steepness of the mountain. Dan and I were in dry rocky areas where Zigadenus paniculatus  (foothill death camas) was present. I love all plants that I encountered on this internship…. except the foothill death camas. This plant would scare the bajeezus out of me. Their seed pods rattle like a rattlesnake rattle. Whenever I would step into one and I would hear it rattle, I would jump up in the air and run up the hill. When I would turn around I would see the death camas and I would be like, “ ZIPA2! What the heck!” (Yes, I sometimes yell at plants.) I was still cautious each time I would be around rattlesnake territory. Dan, Randy, and I would call rattlesnakes, snaddlerakes, to make light of the situation.

How I view the landscape in the No Name Pasture…

The Bad Idea

We were still monitoring in the No Name Pasture. There were many sites to monitor and we would have limited time to get to all of them within a two week period. We decided to split up to cover more ground. This idea was suggested to us by the person (not our mentor) who was in charge of the project. Dan and I went to a couple of sites located up this hill. Randy was with a vehicle, while we monitored as many sites as possible.

(Flashback)
The firefighters were down at our field station awaiting the results of the weather coming through our area. It was supposed to storm and produce lightning to cause fires. The same storm system caused a fire down in Nevada. They were on patrol and I was talking to them about the weather. The morning was overcast with the southern horizon covered with rain clouds.

(Flashforward to the Afternoon)
Both Dan and I climbed up this rocky ridge and monitored two sites. The JUNO was being jumpy, so it took us longer to get to our destination. We knew the general direction of where Randy was, but we did not know exactly where he was. The Southern Pueblo Mountains were covered with rain and we were at our last site. We did not see any lightning, but it was starting to rain and become very windy. We monitored the plot in two minutes flat and we quickly headed towards the direction of Randy. The rain was sparse, but the wind was very bad. Usually when it is windy, the dust from the surrounding area blows right at you. We were a dust magnet! We quickly ran down the mountain, while stopping occasionally for insect pictures. Dan would yell in the valley hoping that Randy would hear us. At one point we got a communication signal and was able to call Randy. We found his location before the rain got very bad. We quickly drove north and out of the rain storm. We learned that we would always stay together and not separate from our group. Safety first 😉

It is time….to monitor….
Before the rainstorm, we quickly used the two rulers to monitor a 3ftX3ft area.
To make light of the situation, I did a small pose at the site.

Sidenote: The rainstorm did not cause any fires.

Misadventures

BLM Legends
“Let us take a moment to recognize all of the BLM Legends.” said Dan as we were walking to our office space within the BLM building. Everyday when we were in office, we would take a moment to look at the wall of the Burns/Hines BLM Legends. These people dedicated their lives to the BLM and served their country proud. Unfortunately, Dan and I don’t know any of their backgrounds, so we would make up a story to go with their legendary status…similar to the Dos Equis commercials.

Burns/Hines Manager #3 1967-1973: Became a BLM Legend by establishing a whooping 35 trend sites in one day and established the resource boundaries of our mighty district.

Burns/ Hines Manager #8 1985-1989: Had ten years’ experience with working for the BLM within a five year period. Managed to protect the wild horses single handily, while establishing a document to meet both the needs of the cattle ranchers and horses. Achieved his BLM Legend Status by creating paved roads for the Steen Mountains.

President Obama: BLM Legend…He is our President, which automatically makes him a BLM Legend.

Deer
One of the most common animals we see in the field and in town were the deer. They were all over the place! Sometimes I would see up to six deer in my backyard. Right now as I am typing this I see four fawns, a doe, and a buck. When we were monitoring we would see them on the ridges staring at us before moving on. If they cannot see us they would make a large snorting sound to make us move, so they could detect us. Some bucks we see in the field were very big and we were usually questioned by the hunters in our area about the bucks on top of the Trout Creek Mountains. We would just say they are present.

So cute….man I really need to clean my windows…

Monitoring on the Trout Creek Mountains
The Trout Creek Mountains are located in the southeastern section of the Burns BLM District. This area was well known for its plant diversity, beautiful landscape, and large populations of sage grouse. Last year, there was a massive fire known as the Holloway Fire. This fire burnt an enormous amount of land. Some of the areas within the Trout Creek Mountains recovered, but many areas needed to be drill seeded to help the land get re-established with native plants. This would hopefully prevent future cheat grass (Bromus tectorum) establishment.

Our job was to monitor a large amount of plots located everywhere on the Trout Creek Mountains. Our priority was to monitor the treated sites that have been drilled seeded. Most of the Trout Creek Mountains had a large amount of rain and the higher elevations could easily have over 20 species of plant in a monitoring site. Unfortunately, the lower elevations that were drilled seeded had trouble getting established due to the rough climate. I was amazed about the color of this region. You could literally see the colors of the rainbow when looking at all the species of forbs in the landscape.

White: Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and Prickly Sandwort (Arenaria aculeata)
Pink: Oregon Checker Mallow (Sidalcea oregana)
Red and Orange: Wyoming Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja linariifolia)

Yellow: Western Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus), Modoc Hawksbeard (Crepis modocensis), and Desert Yellow Daisy (Erigeron linearis)
Green: Green Gentian (Frasera speciosa)  ((My favorite ^_^))
Blue: Tall Meadow Larkspur (Delphinium burkei)
Indigo: Rocky Mountain Iris (Iris missouriensis)
Violet: Tailcup Lupine and Silvery Lupine (Lupinus caudatus/ Lupinus argenteus )

A field of Lupine with waddling Sage Grouse!

Despite the beauty of the landscape around us, we had to brace ourselves for the elements. Temperatures could get over 90-100 degrees easily, the horseflies were out in full swarm, and the topography was very steep. When I had to ride the four wheeler/ rhino around, we would be on a 45 degree angle on a cliff to get to our next destination. Also, you have to bring plenty of water and protection. We had bandannas to protect us from the dust that got in our eyes and mouth during the drive. If we did not have eye protection, we would have blood shot eyes due to the dry/dusty conditions. Beyond the elements, this has been an amazing opportunity! We got to see new plants, meet new people, and learn different techniques!

In the midst of the rough conditions, we got to stay at a government place known as the Hilton. This place is like a giant trailer that could sleep fifteen people. They have a coral in the back ,with mules and a nice bit of property with porphyritic rock volcanic rock indicating the violent geologic past this area had.

Sage Grouse All Over the Place
One of the creatures that blew us out of the water were the Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)! We never seen them before now. In some of the areas, within the Trout Creek Mountains, there was a population of thirty or more. Every day, we would see these birds flying or waddling to their heart’s content. One morning I was driving to our next destination and thirty sage grouse flew into the air! I have never seen so many before!! One time, I saw many of them waddling along the roadside amongst the lupine and I took a lot of good pictures. They reminded me of quails with their waddling and ninja like hiding skills. Sage Grouse do remind me of the Chestnut Bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus) from Hawaii that were introduced, but the Sage Grouse were larger. One could easily find them amongst mature stands of Mountain Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana).  We were fortunate to see these birds, unfortunately they are not common in the rest of our area.

Misadventures

Female Clones?
One day after work we were visited by two girls who were working for the natural resources division at the Oregon State University. They had a similar job to us, but they had to catalog all of the plants in the area, so they could map them later on. The funny part was that they were like our clones…but they were female! Same personality same hair color, and similar heights. We compared notes and talked about the different plants we had seen on the Trout Creek Mountains.

Scouting
One of my side jobs for monitoring was to scout out a location. Some sites were hidden or did not have road access to them. Sometimes I would walk over a mile and up a butte to find a plot. This was great exercise! Some plots I scouted out were gone or ceased to exist. The directions or the photos for some of the sites did not help us at all. One of the “photographs” was a drawn picture of the ground…which did not help out at all. A tip I learned was to look under the cow pies for the plot markers. Some scouting locations were surrounded by barb wire fencing, which I would limbo under. Haha! All in a day’s work! 😉

Horned Lizards
The Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma douglassi or Phrynosoma platyrhinos ) were one of my favorite animals of the Trout Creek Mountains! They were camouflaged and could flatten their body to avoid predators. I would catch them and they would just sit on my arm, while I went to monitor the next plot. They did not bite and were very fascinating to look at. They would give you a face that would either display “Hehehe… I am going to get you” or a “I am a rock and am non-existent.” When they flatten their body they would have saw like scales along their sides, which made them look like a horned Frisbee that could do some serious damage.

Horned Lizards!!

This was our first week monitoring at the Trout Creek Mountains. Next week will be just as exciting containing brilliantly colored forbs, ninja-like sage grouse, and beautiful topography! I can’t wait until then! ^_^

Have a great day!

Justin Chappelle
Burns/ Hines BLM Intern
Geographer, Bird watcher and Botanist

Fun Fact:  Having a milkshake after a hard day of work would help you become 20% cooler in ten seconds flat….just saying…

CLM Workshop Seminar

The best time to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden would be in early summer. Fortunately! That was the time the CLM Workshop/Seminar was! CLM interns from all over the United States came together in Chicago to learn about their future/current job! My fellow intern Dan and myself had to take a flight out of Boise, ID to Chicago, IL with a layover in Phoenix, AZ. We got to the hotel around 12 to 1 o’clock in the morning. We were definitely tired, but prepared for the next day!

Each day I would wake up very early and eat a healthy breakfast of Applejacks and the fruit of the day. From the hotel, I would travel 20 minutes to the classroom located at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I met many interns the first day and had a great time! The day was pretty humid, but everyone was in a good mood! One part of the day all the interns went to the bridge to have their picture taken for the CLM website. That was where I met the interns from the state of Oregon! I got to meet a lot of people who had similar interests and backgrounds. I also got to meet Steven who had the same level of enthusiasm towards bird watching!

The CLM Oregon Interns!

Throughout the whole week we were constantly busy in a good way! The lectures that were given were very insightful and the lunches were amazing! My favorite part of the seminar/workshop was going outside to learn monitoring techniques or identifying plants. Krissa and Wes, with the help of their staff, made sure everything ran smoothly. I did enjoy working with the compass/GPS field activity or learning various techniques of field monitoring. Another favorite activity was going to the prairie and keying out different plant families. Our group found a large number of plant families, but more importantly we worked with the taxonomy key to help us distinguish between similar species of plant.

After attending our daily workshop, I would go home to meet with my family and relax before returning to the hotel. One day we were warned that there were severe thunderstorms entering the region. Krissa told us how to prepare for a storm event, if it occurs.  When I went home for the day I watched the severe rain/wind storm enter the Chicago region. The serious parts of the storm occurred to the north and south of the Chicago region.

I said my good byes on the final day. That week had been wonderful! At first I had my doubts of attending, but I am glad I did go to the workshop. Not only did I learn almost everything there was to be an intern working for the Federal Government, but I made many friends and developed good networking connections. Also!!! I finally got to meet Krissa and Wes!! (Thank you so much for answering my emails and calls! ^_^)

I left for the airport on Saturday and met with Dan to catch our flight. We were in the terminal waiting for the plane to board. There were three flights leaving at the same time including our flight. The intercom had two to three people talking all at once for boarding. I sat there at the terminal waiting for the plane to board. Eventually, I noticed the terminal becoming desolate. I looked for my friend Dan and noticed he was not around. I went up to the people and asked about my plane ride. Apparently it already took off and I was stuck in Chicago!!! O_O;; No worries! I caught the first flight out of Chicago the next day and made it safely to Burns, Oregon! ^_^

(There was a lot more that happened at the seminar, but I gave the cliff notes version…)

ES & R Monitoring

My main job for the Burns/ Hines BLM was ES & R monitoring. Most of you are probably thinking, “What is ES & R monitoring?” This was a type of monitoring where we would go to areas that were consumed with fire the prior year and we would monitor the plant diversity of the landscape presently. Our main goal was to go to areas that have been seed treated by drill seeding or aerial seeding. We used a Point Line Pace 180 Sampling Method to determine the species diversity after the seeding. We were seeing if the seed/vegetation treatment worked. Many of the sites showed effective results from the drill seeding, while some sites looked like they were completely desolate.

We took a ground and landscape photo of the plot we were working with. We also took pictures of the cardinal directions around the plot to help future monitors find the area in the future. The process and guidelines were very specific, but the learning curve was not too bad. I learned a majority of the plants already and our boss constantly aided/ directed our way. I had to learn both the scientific name and the USDA plant symbol name.  My geology background also aided in monitoring the erosion aspect of each site, even if the majority of the sites were stable.

The first treated sites we looked at were on the Miller Homestead Fire. This was a major fire that occurred. Some sites did have a lot of Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass/ BRTE), but there were other sites where the annual grass was hardly present in the landscape. Cheatgrass is a major problem, because they help the fire spread rapidly. After a fire, the cheatgrass will out compete many of the native plants and develop a monoculture of annual grasses in the landscape. Anyways! We also would encounter many different types of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) throughout our monitoring. A majority of the sites we visited were drill seeded, so we got to see the same grasses and plants over and over again. Even though the plants were repetitive on each site, this would help us learn each of the species common in our area. We were specifically looking for Agropyrum cristatum (creasted wheatgrass/ AGCR), which was an introduced grass used to establish a site and out-compete some of the unwanted plants. There were many sites that were like a mosaic, where previous native plants were present and unaffected by the fire. Penstemon spp. were some of my favorite flowers to monitor, but they were hard to come across sometimes. We even got a visit from a rattlesnake (Mr. Rattles), but it was interested in standing still and cared less about our monitoring session. V_V

Mr. Rattles is not amused….

Overall, the ES&R monitoring is not for the faint of heart! Hail, dust storms, heavy rains, severe heat, rattlesnakes, deer flies, bulls, Sarcobatus vermiculatus (greasewood/SAVE4), and dust devils were very common! BUT! For the Burns/ Hines BLM interns, just a walk in the park! 😉 We adapted to the harsh conditions and evolved our way of monitoring to deal with all of the tricks nature threw at us! This position has been extremely rewarding and I enjoyed every part of it…except the part where I would fall into some greasewood and get stuck… >_>

Storm chasing dust devils in the Alvord Desert. (Joking! We were just going to our next site!)

Aroga Moth

Another part of our internship was monitoring the Aroga Moth aka the sagebrush defoliator aka Aroga websteri! This moth is very mysterious and many people probably never heard of this moth before. They are a very small moth that is very active at night. The caterpillars of this moth cause the damage to the sagebrush. They would hatch out of their egg and go to the new growth on a sagebrush and burrow into the plant. The tips would show webbing and signs of defoliation. Usually, this type of insect varies from year to year in terms of outbreaks. Recently in our district, it has been more than 10 years of non-stop activity. This is starting to worry us. Sagebrush infected with these caterpillars would die in a couple of years creating fuel for potential fires.  There was not a lot of research on this insect and no one has really seen them/ or studied them. Also there is no way to really treat this kind of insect without spending a large sum of money.

This is the caterpillar for the Aroga Moth….Small little bugger.

Anyways! We had two monitoring days where a state entomologist and a pathologist would join part of the Burns/Hines BLM to collect information on this moth. Dan and I went on the first day. Of course it was raining buckets, but that did not stop us! >:) The BLM staff and scientists collected many samples of the aroga moth caterpillar. Surprisingly, there were a lot of caterpillars when there was supposed to be chrysalis. The delay in development could be caused by the recent frost we had the week before. We went by the Steens and the southern part of the district. On the Steen Mountains, we were in the clouds looking for signs of the moth. It was epic!!!

Misadventures

On my time off of work, I went to many rockhounding sites. I went to the Narrows to find petrified wood, agate, degraded opal, and jasper. This place had many amazing specimens, unfortunately they had a lot of deer flies, rattlesnakes, and greasewood shrubs. The other place I went to was Glass Buttes!! This place had all kinds of obsidian!!! I got fire obsidian, red obsidian, lace obsidian, black obsidian, silver sheen obsidian, rainbow obsidian, and other sheen obsidian. The roads are a little rough and one would have to watch out for bulls…the bulls like to strut their stuff, while the other cows don’t give a crumb. (Sigh…males…<_<) I went during a rain storm, which helped cleaned the dirt off the obsidian allowing me to see the sheens. I heard they had over 100 different kinds of obsidian on these buttes! O_O

One of the days our boss signed us up for many training seminars. Dan and I had to attend blood born pathogen, hazmat safety, and defensive driving. When Dan and I entered the auditorium, we noticed something was off… Everyone was wearing green pants, a navy long sleeve shirt, and had a wallet full of safety information. We were with 100 firefighters! At least I wore olive colored pants, so I was not too out of place. The training was alright. Our boss came to some of the sessions too! Many of the sessions were drier than the Alvord Desert in July, but we passed each of the tests! Now we can drive our truck to our monitoring sites!!! This was super turbo neo ultra hyper mega multi alpha meta extra uber AWESOME! Now we do not have to be escorted around! Plus, we got our ATV licenses allowing us to drive in the back country to our monitoring sites!

((On a side note….. having a Dairy Queen Blizzard©®™ after a hard week of work is great…just saying…>_>))

Green Gentian (Frasera spp.), Forb of the Week!

This week had been very short, but it was full of adventure!

Both Dan (other intern) and I went out into the field to establish a new site for monitoring. We went to an area that had a recent fire and had been treated with a special type of herbicide. The site did have Bromus tectorum (cheat grass), but there was an amazing amount of plant diversity. There was a large amount of Poa secunda (sandberg bluegrass), Lupinus caudatus (tailcup lupine), Astragalus filipes (basalt milkvetch), Phlox longifolia (long leaf phlox), Artemisia arbscula (low sagebrush), and Lonactis alpina (lava aster). There were many other species as well. We were doing a survey of the area and established the plot. During this time, it was raining and hailing, with periods of sunshine (typical Steens weather <_< ) . We were getting hammered, but we were able to complete the forms and make observations. On our way down the large hill, the soil was very loamy. It was clinging to our boots, so it seemed like we were gliding (slipping with style) down the hill. Unfortunately, I wore tennis shoes (WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER WEAR IN THE FIELD) and my feet were completely drenched…and muddy. Anyways!!! We made it and recorded the necessary information!

This was our first area where we established a plot to monitor plants.

The next day we went out into the field to look for three sensitive plant species (plants of concern). Don’t worry! We did not hurt their feelings…well maybe one of them. We were assigned to look for Stanleya confertiflora (Biennial stanleya), Trifolium leibergii (Leiberg’s clover), and Eriogonum cusickii (Cusick’s buckwheat). The first plant was the biennial stanleya. This plant was “supposed” to be located on the northwest slope on gravely loam soil. We found a large amount of Taeniatherum caput-medusae (Medusahead rye), but no biennial stanleya… There were cool Castilleja, Atriplex, and Astragalus species present. When we were heading back to our vehicle we heard a bull cow moo for 15 seconds. He was challenging another bull. They both had a moo war and then went their own ways.

The biennial Stanleya was nowhere to be found…we went in search of the next plant, Trifolium leibergii (Leiberg’s clover). We followed the map to the site. We were shocked! O_O These clover species were located all over the place! We filled out the appropriate forms and took many pictures. This clover species was very well adapted to the surroundings! They had thorny leaves and were very tough. They had an elongated root system, which made it tough to gather a herbarium specimen. (Side note: The pronghorn in the distance looked at us surveying before returning to their Poa and Artemisia diet.) The second plant had a healthy population, unfortunately they were only found in a limited area.

This was the clover species we were monitoring! Trifolium leibergii

We moved onto the next plant, Eriogonum cusickii (Cusick’s buckwheat). This plant was found near the BLM office and found in a small area. We stopped along the road. When we exited the vehicle, the plant was right there! There were many specimens, but they were only limited to this area. We also caught a horny toad (Common name known…still don’t know the latin name…) We saw a bigger population of Cusick’s buckwheat on the other side of the barb wire fence on BLM land. I did the limbo underneath the barb wire fence and made it to the other side. We took pictures and filled out another survey form. We also practiced our botany by identifying unknown species in the field. This day was very productive! We found two of the three plants! The last day we spent our time in the BLM office to catch up on our paperwork and get established with the GIS metadata and software.

This was the third plant we were monitoring. Eriogonum cusickii

This was a horny toad we captured and released.

Beyond the work for the BLM, I decided to go rock-hounding in three places. Two places were located near Burns, Oregon and the other place was located near Plush, Oregon. The first two places had special green obsidian, petrified wood, and agates. I got a shovel full of green, black, and striped obsidian. The obsidian place was located twelve miles northwest of town. A large amount of land was covered with black obsidian. I took note of the Artemisia (sagebrush) species that were being defoliated by the aroga moth. I took some obsidian specimens and went to the Narrows where I could find petrified wood.  I did get lost in the Narrows, but I eventually made it to the area. The area had many specimens of agate and petrified wood!

The third area I went rock-hounding was a place near a town called Plush, Oregon, which was located near Lakeview, Oregon. This area was known for sunstones, which was a special kind of plagioclase feldspar that could be used for jewelry.  I collected fifty specimens that were the size of a thumbnail or smaller. During my collecting time I heard three massive explosions that made my ears ring! I had to lay on the ground and look to where the sound was coming from. I was in the middle of nowhere and I did not see what was causing the explosive noise. My theory was that there were military jets breaking the sound barrier overhead, thus causing the very loud noise.

After my collection of sunstones, I talked with some miners that were in the area and got an interesting view on the politics of the area. They were all once in the military and are now mining at different claims in Oregon and Alaska. They were super nice and talked about the BLM and how helpful they were. Eventually, I left the sunstone area to get some gas and I managed to get a flat tire on the way to Plush, Oregon. I finally made it to the gas station as my tire went flat. I got help from a local cowboy and managed to get the spare tire on. The spare tire was deflated, so I was directed to go to the fire station to get the tire pumped up. The fire fighter who was present with his wife helped with the tire. I was thankful that I got the help from the cowboy and the couple. I had to avoid the rocky obsidian roads and go the long way back home. I went to Lakeview, Oregon and traveled north by the alkali lakes present in the region. The American Avocet must love this part of the state. (They love to eat the shrimp and insects found within the alkali lakes) The sun was setting and I finally made it back home.

This was the obsidian I found!!!!

These are sunstones!!!! (The clear looking rock…and no… they are not quartz or calcite.)

This week was full of adventure! The other intern and I established our first plot, we monitored three (well two) sensitive plant species and I found many different rock samples for my collection. It was an interesting week, but now I am tired. OH! I have to prepare for tomorrow! We will be using GIS software to create maps for our future monitoring sites! O_O

Hello!!

My name is Justin! For the next five months I will be an intern at the BLM in Burns, Oregon. My main job is to monitor BLM land and assess plant diversity and the health of specific sites throughout the sagebrush community. A majority of the sites I will be monitoring will be burned sites. There are many other activities I will be doing regarding data entry and the creation of herbarium specimens.

The first week was full of adventure! This was considered a training week for the interns. We traveled with different people from the BLM office to their sites. They showed us different plant species and told us how to identify them.

The first day of the internship we met everyone in the office. They were all very nice and very knowledgeable about their backgrounds. After we filled out the necessary paperwork, our main adviser took the other intern and myself to collect sagebrush samples to determine the moisture levels of the brush in the area.

The second day we went to a study site to retrieve a broken ATV with another adviser from the office. On the way there we encountered two cattle drives! There were so many cows, that they sounded like motor engines from a NASCAR race….that mooed. On our way up to the site, we would pull off to view different flora. The other intern, Dan, and I took many notes regarding the genus and species of the flora. Some of the flora I encountered could also be found back in the Midwest! We finally made it to the ATV and helped get the vehicle on the trailer. Our adviser was very knowledgeable about the plants and issues of the region. Most of the issues regarded Sage Grouse, invasive plants, plant community succession, and ranching. On our way home we encountered mini dust storms that would travel across the road due to the barren fields. This day was very informative and helped me understand all of the major issues the BLM is trying to address.

On the third day we went south to the study site known as Trout Creek. We went with another adviser to see future areas that we will be monitoring. The two hour car ride was fascinating! We saw many different bird species and wildlife. We were also given the background history of the place we were viewing. We traveled along the mountains near the Nevada border. There were a variety of different flora located everywhere. Dan and I were trying to identify as many plants as possible! It was 28 degrees Fahrenheit and very windy when we got to the top of the mountain. We were told this was considered very good habitat for sage grouse.

The fourth day was considered a field day training for the office. We all went out in the field to learn updated techniques on how to monitor different sites. Both Dan and I were given a lot of experience. We were shown different methods to assess the plant diversity of a site. There were a lot of flowers that were active during this time and the sites we visited were beautiful!

On the fifth day, both Dan and I were organizing our notes. We created a powerpoint to help us identify all of the different grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees we have seen.

I really enjoyed learning about all of the flora of the region, especially sagebrush! I always thought there was only one kind of sagebrush, but there are a variety of them. Wyoming, mountain, low, basin, and silver sagebrush are the main species we saw or will be seeing. We learned about the aroga moth and how it was impacting different sagebrush communities.

Yellow Headed Blackbirds were one of the most common birds in the Burns, Oregon area. It was also one of my favorite bird species to view.

On my off-periods beyond work, I did a lot of bird watching and rock hounding! This area is full of resources! There are many sites to look for rare rocks, habitats to look for rare birds, and many places to go fishing. A majority of the pictures will either be taken on the job or when I am in the field studying.

I am very excited about this opportunity to work for the BLM and look forward to the summer!