The days are growing short here in Nevada and so does the length of our internship as we have only 2 weeks left. Funny enough 10 months has gone by fairly quickly and now winter is returning to the area as the leaves have fallen and early snow has come to the Sierras. It has been very nice to see the Cottonwoods and Aspens turn this fall and hopefully this last collecting trip will still have some fall colors in the canyons of the mountains.

Lewisia rediviva

I have had the opportunity to learn many things this year, but the most exciting has been learning and studying the flora of the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada Mountains! As a botanist it is simply fascinating to learn about new species of plants in habitats that are totally foreign to you. This gives countless opportunities to learn more and more about all kinds of plants in some amazing country from low deserts to high alpine summits; not to mention all of the amazing wildlife that you encounter.

Bright yellow fall colors of Populus tremuloides near Sonora Pass

This opportunity of working in Nevada has really encouraged me to continue to seek opportunities in the west for work or graduate studies. I look forward to seeing where the skills that I have gained and the experiences I have had will take me in the future. I have some exciting opportunities in the works and look forward to see where they will lead. It has been great to work with friends who are also botanizers and appreciators of the outdoors. Nevada has been a splendid place to explore the beauties of the natural world and make some great friends.

A large friend in the Toiyabe National Forest

May the sun always brighten your tomorrow friends,

Ethan

Sunrise over Death Valley

This past week I had the opportunity with a friend from work to go to Death Valley National Park. This is a truly amazing place and the difference in topography and scenery around the park is quite an impressive feat in the natural world. We went to Eureka Dunes in the northern portion of the park where there are several endemic species to dunes: Oenothera californica ssp. eurekensis and Astragalus lentiginosus var. micrans. These particular dunes are the ones endearingly called “The Singing Dunes.” It was a very special place to be and see the wondrous landscape of Larraea tridentata, Echinocactus polycephalus, Opuntia basilaris, Eucnide urens and many other species of desert flora.

We also traveled to Mesquite Springs in the lower part of the park and hiked the beautiful Telescope Peak, which is over 11,000′. The following day we searched for a plant that Rebecca had vehemently sought after and eventually we found it in Surprise Canyon out of Panamint Valley. It was an amazing plant, Annulocaulis annulatus, and many of the other species of flora in the canyon were quite interesting. Particularly, the shrub Peucephyllum schottii (Desert Pygmy Cedar), which is found in the Asteraceae family. I have never seen a shrub in the Asteraceae that captivated me with amazement like this particular plant did. We left the park that night and headed to Lone Pine, CA where we enjoyed a good meal at the Mt. Whitney Restaurant.

The greatest part of the trip for me was most assuredly the chance to walk amongst the ancient Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva). It has always been a dream of mine to see these splendid specimens gnarled and contorted on the dry slopes of the White Mountains in CA. A tree that quite literally has weathered the toughest storms, winds and cold for millenia. Feeling the bark and seeing the needles (they stay on the tree for 35-40 years before dropping) closely bundled on the branches, the sap laden cones and knowing that these trees have stood for thousands of years was a humbling experience considering that our own lifetimes are like a blade of grass that springs up and withers away the next day. What a thought!

This was a trip I will not soon forget and it may well be my last trip here in the vicinity of Carson City.

Consider the wonders around you my friends,

Ethan CCDO BLM

The days of summer are waning but the air is still warm and the promises of fall are not far off. It has been a fast last month and we have had the opportunity to do several outreach events with the public. Also we are doing a lot of fire monitoring and seed collecting as the end of the growing season nears. It is good work and exciting to get to see some wonderful areas in the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada.

Last weekend we went to Crater Lake NP in Oregon and that was a great trip! It was a super cool place and the weather was perfect.

Enjoy the sweet days of summer’s end my friends,

Ethan Hughes CCDO BLM

Crater Lake at dusk with a smoky sky because of a large wildfire burning nearby

An interesting time was had this past week and I was able to see and enjoy many beautiful species. Fire monitoring was a large part of the week and we camped close to a monitoring plot in the TRE fire at about 6700′ in the Pinenut Mountains of Douglas County, NV. It was a breathtaking experience to see the sun set behind the Sierra Nevada Mtns and the fiery clouds looming over the high peaks. However, the greatest experience was sitting up and watching some of the Perseid Meteor shower. Never have I seen an event so magnificent as the fleeting flight and trail of a large meteor; it is an experience that cannot be summed up in words, only viewed in awe and wonder for such an opportunity. Another friend who decided to visit in the night (not necessarily a friend when trying to sleep), was a  North American Deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). He was scurrying under the tarp I was sleeping on and eventually I sat up and looked with my light and there he was about 4 feet away, twitching his nose in the air. Funny indeed for such a small animal to make so much noise. The morning brought the sounds of the Mtn. Bluebird, Bushtits, White-breasted Nuthatches and many other friends of the air. It was a pleasant experience to enjoy the wonders of the natural world on a fine morning.

To the coming of Fall,

Ethan Hughes

CCDO BLM

A week ago today I was presented with the opportunity to go to the Ruby Mountains in eastern Nevada and if one has heard or seen of the beauty and adventure that can be had in Lamoille Canyon, they are sure to accept the offer. The drive from Carson City was about 5 hours and it was a pretty desolate stretch most of the way across, but there were some friends to see along the way, like Black-necked Stilts and Pronghorn. When we arrived in Lamoille Canyon that evening I was just able to complete a brief and hurried botanical exploration before a very large thunderstorm rolled into the valley. Being from the wonderful state of South Carolina it was great to hear the loud, rumbling thunder above and see and feel the rain after what seemed like forever.

The next day we were able to hike up Lamoille Canyon and over Liberty Pass to Liberty Lake. The walk was loaded with a large variety of wildflowers throughout many different habitats, such as Subalpine, Aspen Forest and Alpine. There seemed to be blooms of all different colors waving in the wind no matter where your eye wondered. Several of the species seen were Hymenoxys hoopesii, Chamerion latifolium, Psuedostellaria jamesiana, Potentilla diversifolia, Rhododendron columbianum, Smelowskia americana, Oxyria digyna, Luzula spicata and so many more beauties of the wild. If all these blooming flowers did not fancy the eye enough there was the pleasant and cheery serenading of several different birds, like the Hermit Thrush, Lazuli Bunting, Lesser Goldfinch and chatty Clark’s Nutcracker. Another very interesting natural wonder was the flight display of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). He would fly off his perch and then proceed to make trills with his wings as he flew almost vertically upward into the sky. Reaching the top of his ascent he would plummet downward towards the earth and turn up quickly and repeat the process making buzzy call notes as well. A truly wonderful thing to be able to see, especially when he landed and through the binoculars you could see him flashing his bright red throat in the sunlight!

The plants were incredible in this area and it was nice to come across a lot of new species in the high country habitats. I brought my fly rod as well and was able to do quite well fishing along Lamoille Creek in the canyon. The brook trout were very eager and made for a couple great evening of fishing on the water.

The beautiful blooms of Dwarf Fireweed (Chamerion latifolium).

Eriogonum heracleoides

Rhododendron columbianum (Syn. Ledum glandulosum)

Wondrous!
Rhodiola rosea

Physaria chambersii

A stately sentinel of the high country – Pinus albicaulis

Sedum debile

Flyfishing the high country was a great experience!

One of the fiesty fellows of Lamoille Creek!

May the summer treat you well friends,

Ethan Hughes

CCDO BLM Nevada

The mountains are a special place when the beauty of the sagebrush plains has somewhat faded and the warm summer days begin to move in. Retreating to the higher elevations of the mountains is a wonderful way to relive the recent memories of spring in the foothills. Some species of plants are similar to those of the foothills, like Purshia tridentata, however they are shorter in stature and just beginning to bloom in the end of June. The twisted and contorted forms of the Sierra Lodgepole PIne (Pinus contorta var. murrayana) stand like sentinels on the mountain top weathering the harsh winds and storms of all the High Country’s seasons. The harsh conditions and short growing season makes the pondering soul wander how the plants and animals of these habitats and environments endure the rigors of the year.

This past weekend I was able to hike one of the higher peaks on the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada Mtns: Mt. Rose. The snow at the top has just recently come off within the past few weeks and allowed many excited and outdoorsy folks to hike the beautiful 9.8 mile trail and summit Mt. Rose. Mt. Rose is around 10, 600′ tall and the last several hundred feet is alpine environment; one of my absolute favorites when considering plants! At the beginning of the trail and most of the way to the top of the mountain, you are hiking through Sierra Lodgepole PIne forest type. This is a beautiful tree and its forest provides habitat for many interesting and wonderful species of plants. There are many wildflowers that call the higher elevations of the mountains home and each one has a special beauty unique to itself. One attractive specimen was Ipomopsis aggregata and it has long, red tubular flowers that are quite showy. Another wonderful and densely hairy species growing in the forest was Packera cana. Ribes montigenum was also blooming and is a very nice gooseberry species of the higher mountains. Carex sp. were everywhere, especially in the Mt. Rose meadows area where Carex scopulorum var. bracteosa was growing. This is a truly beautiful sedge species and to be able to find it in such a floriferous meadow in the High Sierra was a rewarding experience for sure.

Once into the alpine habitat near Mt. Rose summit the eyes were pleasantly rewarded with small gifts of wonderful species of alpine plants growing in the crags of the rocks. So many different ones are able to call this harsh environment home and cope with the difficult weather in interesting ways. A majority of the plants have very hairy or pubescent leaves, helping to decrease transpiration and build up a thick humidity layer around the leaf surface. Other plants have strongly reduced leave surface area or their leaves are shiny and very thick. Several different plant species seen while traipsing in the alpine included: Ipomopsis congesta, Hulsea algida, Polemonium pulcherrimum, Eriogonum rosense (Mt. Rose Buckwheat!!), Penstemon davidsonii, Streptanthus cordatus, Phlox condensata, Draba densifolia and Ranunculus eschscholtzii. 

These plants seemed to shout for joy as they raised their flowers towards the heavens in hues of color that could only cause one to stop and consider their intricacies in solemn amazement! They seem to live a life remote from most all people; even those who climb the mountain will easily overlook them unless they are aware of the tiny gifts that are beneath their wandering eyes. I am thankful to have seen these plants who dwell in the high country  and ponder the special place they have in the environment. Two friends I was able to see after leaving the summit were very interesting indeed: Draba asterophora and Salix petrophila!!

Carex scopulorum var. bracteosa

Ribes montigenum

Penstemon davidsonii

Streptanthus cordatus

Polemonium pulcherrimum

Draba asterophora – Lake Tahoe Draba!

“It is for all of us to remember that the earth does not belong to us. We belong to it. At best, we are entrusted with a few brief years of life to relish the splendours about us. We are but an infinitesimal fragment of a staggering universe. It behooves us to cherish well those natural liberties entrusted to our care. The humble knowledge that we have no claim upon them other than the honor of passing them on in at least as fine a form as we found them should lend honesty dignity to our efforts on their behalf.” – W. Phillip Keller

Farewell my friends,

Ethan

BLM CCDO

The sun has shone brightly for many a day here now, but it seems now in mid-May many of the creatures and plants are awakening under its spell. Everywhere you look the Balsalmroots (Balsamorhiza sagittata; Balsamorhiza hookeri) brighten a hillside, or the close inspection of a sagebrush shrub yields the dark purple bloom of a Rockress (Boechera sparsiflora). Beauty is revealing itself all around us and all we need to do is look for it and we will surely find it.

SOS is a large part of our duties here so when we are in the field for drought monitoring, rare plant surveying or other duties we keep an eye out for populations of plants large enough to collect seed from in the future. As I was doing an evening hike near to my house I noticed several plants that could be collected for seed on my journey. One of the species is a particularly interesting plant with the name of Chia. The Latin name is Salvia columbariae and the inflorescence is shaped in a ball form with what look to be spikes sticking out. However, I believe these are actually the bracts. In the mint family, it has a very beautiful purplish white zygomorphic flower. I found it growing on steep N-facing slopes with very rocky soils. Funny enough I actually found this flower because I fell while walking across the slope and low and behold this beauty was in front of me! Another very nice species of flowering shrub was Mirabilis bigelovii, or Wishbone Bush. What an incredible site to see when the sun is setting and you are beholding a small shrub with showy white flowers dancing in a soft breeze! This is a species I hope to see more of in the future.

Finally some of our lizard friends have started to become more active over the last few weeks and they can be quite interesting to look at and observe. The most common ones I have seen recently are the Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii) and the Great Basin Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores). They are really interesting animals and I hope all of us are able to behold creatures unique to the areas we are working in!

The odd, yet wonderfully spectacular Snow Plant.

The very showy Wishbone bush.

How wonderful to think of the first time Meriwether Lewis saw this plant!

The Great Basin Collared Lizard!

Contorted Limber Pines (Pinus flexilis) at 9000′ on a very exposed ridge. Right in front was a alpine garden! Belding’s Ground Squirrels were prevalent here as well.

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir

Carson City District BLM

Ethan

Spring is here and many beautiful flowers are greeting us with their wonderful colors and shapes. It has been an eventful month and much has been done here pertaining to field work. We were able to survey for and gain some new information on Ivesia webberi, which is a threatened species and near being listed. That was a very interesting plant and it makes quite a show when you see it up close. The days have been very nice here and the winds of the Sierra Nevada Mountains help make the days quite joyous. It has been nice to simply listen to the wind as it flows across the landscape through the sagebrush and junipers. Also some new friends have arrived in the sagebrush preparing for the nesting season: Spizella breweri; Brewer’s Sparrow. They have quite a buzzy tune and are wonderful to listen to and watch as they proclaim their song across the landscape. The Desert Horned Lizard, Phyrnosoma platyrhinos, is a very interesting and amazing creature to behold. They have an incredibly cryptic coloration to their scales and also they have a interesting technique they use to blend in to the environment.  It’s called shimmy burial! They shimmy into the soil and cover all of their body except for their head, helping them to prey on one of their main food items; ants.

Enjoy the beautiful season of spring my friends,

Ethan

Carson City Field Office-BLM

The past several weeks have been exciting and each new observation or activity has filled me with a certain sense of joy! About 2 weeks ago we had a much needed rain in the Carson Valley and a small amount of snow in the Sierras, which desperately needs more snow for this winter season. Thanks to the new snow I was able to go snowmobiling for the second time and get to view the wonderful trees of the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. Some of my favorites are the Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana), Sierra White Fir (Abies concolor var. lowiana) and the California Red Fir (Abies magnifica). All of these trees and more are such a wonderful representation of forests that are full of life and excitement! One such creature is the small Chickaree (Tamiasciurus douglasii) that is a bundle full of energy, running to and fro gathering cones and seeds to eat or stash away. The Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is another animal that is quite conspicuous and talkative as you make your way up in elevation. This bird can store over seventy-five pine seeds in a special pouch inside the throat.  It then takes the seeds and buries them in caches along the mountain slopes. I have read some research that says they usually bury their caches on south-facing slopes, so that in the spring time the snow in these areas will melt faster and they can get to their caches earlier!

I have also seen the emergence of the California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) in the past two weeks. They are funny animals that scurry around on the ground looking for items to eat and then run back to their burrows! If presented with the chance to see them up close or through binoculars, I believe you will be surprised with how nice-looking they really are and the characteristics of their fur. Another bird I was able to see recently was the Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya), which is adorned with a very nice plumage. The back and upperparts are mostly gray, but the underparts are a rusty orange color and of course they have the usually tail-bobbing characteristic of the Phoebes.

The snow is melting fast on the eastern slope of the Sierras and many plants in the sagebrush steppe have already begun to flower and release their buds from dormancy. Several species from the Grossulariaceae have begun to leaf out and show flowers and flower buds. The Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) is leafing out and showing flower buds, while the Desert Gooseberry (Ribes velutinum) has leafed out and several individuals which I have seen are in flower! Various willow species have also begun to open their male and female catkins, which are so beautiful to look at up close. The Arroyo Willow (Salix lasiolepis), Yellow Willow (Salix lutea) and Peachleaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides) have all begun to flower and leaf out in the past two weeks. Several herbaceous species that have begun to grow and flower include the wonderful and colorful Yellowbells (Fritillaria pudica), Sagebrush Violet (Viola beckwithii),Longleaf Phlox (Phlox longifolia), Darkred Onion (Allium atrorubens var. cristatum), Slender Phlox (Microsteris gracilis) and Whitlow Grass (Draba verna) to name a few of the colorful characters of early spring!

It excites me to know that the sagebrush steppe is beginning to come alive and that there are many other members of this incredible habitat that I will come to know well over the course of this year!

An incredible tree that grows in an austere and becoming environment. (Abies concolor var. lowiana)

Surrounded by large mountains this watershed is a jewel in the Sierra Nevadas.

The HUGE cones of Sugar Pine! I think it’s possible that someone could climb a tree quite high to get a closer look at these beauties.

The colorful male catkin of Salix lasiolepis.

The small, yet lightening flower of the Desert Gooseberry.

The sandy and dry habitat of Prickly Pear. Job’s Peak, of the Sierra Nevada mountains, looms in the distance:)

Darkred Onion is almost inconspicuous in vegetative form but when the flowers come out it cannot be missed by the attentive eye!

Longleaf Phlox has a quite showy flower that brings color to the sagebrush floor.

Yellowbells is a wonderful flower to see in the early spring as the sagebrush steppe begins to awaken.

Follow new roads and adventures to the edge of discovery my friends,

Ethan

Carson City BLM Field Office

What an incredible opportunity to be able to work and live in the Great Basin! My name is Ethan Hughes and I am working out of the Carson City Field Office of the BLM as a botany intern. The vastness of this area is pretty amazing and I am very excited about getting to learn many new species of plants and animals. Carson City is a nice little town nestled on the edge of the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada range. What beautiful mountains they are indeed!

Today was our first opportunity for field work and we were able to look at the utilization rates of certain plant species by cattle. This field work took us to two really neat places on BLM land. Both were riparian zones and we were able to see Salix exigua, Populus fremontii and other interesting species of plants. The second riparian zone was very cool because it was higher up in Pinyon-juniper woodlands with Juniperus osteosperma, Rosa woodsii, Artemesia tridentata, Elymus elymoides and other species of plants that were very interesting, such as Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum. We also saw a White-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) and a coyote, which ran across the highway to test his legs!

I am very much looking forward to the great experiences that will be had here and the knowledge gained from this exciting new adventure!

Great Views