Cattle Point Lighthouse part of the San Juan Islands National Monument

Hello CLM folks! I hope this message finds you well and warm wherever you may be. This is my final post as a CLM intern (at least in the foreseeable future, never say never). For the last two years, I have worked for the San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington State. It has been a deeply rewarding experience, one that has allowed me to learn and grow more than I could ever imagine.

Vegetation Monitoring at Point Colville, Lopez Island, San Juan Island National Monument

During my time there, I’ve handled three projects for the monument: creating baseline vegetation monitoring system, starting a Seeds of Success program, and producing a map characterizing vegetative communities.  My mentors have always given me a great deal of independence in my work.  This opportunity for initiative has allowed me to put all my creativity and passion into projects to achieve more than expected. I have collaborated with other community organizations and land managers, presented in meetings, taught science and monitoring to kids, and tabled at many events to teach the public about the importance of our native plant community and the Seeds of Success program.

Eriophyllum lanatum, a common coastal prairie species, was collected for SOS in summer 2015

I was constantly learning during the last two years. From familiarizing myself with area botany to figuring how to communicate science to kids without boring them half to sleep, each day gave me something to think about. During my first year, I studied various BLM monitoring strategies, GIS and other data standards, and available plant related GIS datasets.  My second year, I learned all about Seeds of Success.  I worked with other land managers, met potential growers, created a target plant lists, and planned the collection season.  I even had my own intern to help me collect seed.  My second year taught me some invaluable lessons about communication, time management, partnership, and botany.

After my SOS summer, I moved to Seattle and started working remotely to create a vegetation map for the monument.  The map used information that I collected in my first season to give an accurate picture of plant communities on its 970 acres for the monument’s resource management plan.  It also allowed me to see a project to its completion, which, I gotta say, is very satisfying.  Working from home created its own challenges however.  I had to perfect my phone meeting, phone call, and email skills.  It also forced me adopt a higher level of organization to get all tasks done in a timely manner.

Sisyrinchium angustifolium collected for SOS 2015

Of course, CLM internships are not only about the work you accomplish but the experiences you have along the way.  Thanks to my mentor and monument manager, I have worked with specialists throughout the Oregon/Washington BLM and the San Juan Islands community.  I have met all manner of plant and wildlife folks as well as facilitation, recreation, outreach, management, and GIS gurus.  I’ve gotten to travel a lot, within Washington and in other states.   My favorite trip was to New Mexico for the 2015 National Native Seeds Conference.  The dozens of talks and workshops filled my brain to bursting with info and inspiration. I got to meet so many plant passionate people, an experience that cemented my love of plant science and the plant folk.

Lomatium nudicale, an important forage species for the federally listed Island Marble Butterfly, was collected for SOS in 2015

In addition to amazing informative opportunities during my internship, I’ve had lots of chances for pure fun.  Working on an island monument, I have had my fair share of kayak and boat trips.  I have been lucky enough to camp on beautiful remote islands and to see spots many lifelong residents don’t get to visit.

Just another day’s paddle out to check out island plant populations

Plant identification on the side of a trail at Iceberg Point, Lopez Island, San Juan Islands National Monument

By far the most rewarding parts of my internship were the people I saw every day in our little office.  The San Juan Islands National Monument has only two full time employees, Nick Teague (recreation planner) and Marcia deChadenedes (monument manager).  Nick has been with the San Juan Islands BLM for over ten years.  In fact he was the sole employee until 2013.  He does incredible work for the community, spearheading innumerable projects and often acting as the interface between the public and the government.  What’s more, he does all this with unfaltering positivity and heart.  Nick cares deeply about the land and each person he meets (I don’t know how he does it).  I have watched many a Nick Teague interaction, trying to decipher his disturbing good person-ness.  I haven’t quite solved that puzzle but I’ve yet to see someone leave a conversation with Nick without a little more smile on their face and just a tad more pep in their step.

The other full time actor in the monument office is Marcia deChadenedes.  Marcia is a force to be reckoned with.  She navigates the challenging worlds of bureaucracy and local politics with such grace and wit that sometimes I have to stop and stare.  She constantly pushes for what’s best for the entire community and landscape, redefining what it means to be a public servant.  Partnership, understanding, and mentorship are part of her every day.  She pushes for collaboration, fosters progressive thinking and helps others to reach their potential.  Marcia has the ability of quiet leadership as well as leadership through surprising people with chocolate in their desks. But more than a manager,  Marcia is of course one of the most creative silliest broads I know.  She is as likely to tell you an hilarious tale of unthinkable mishap as to drop a piece of sage wisdom.  I deeply appreciate her for that.  She is a constant source of inspiration for me and I’m so happy to have her as my mentor.

Lavender chip ice cream is one of my favorite flavors

My time at the San Juan Islands National Monument has given me confidence and experience with plants and people.  I have met great people and had priceless experiences.  I’ve sincerely enjoyed working with the BLM and will likely pursue a position with the federal government in the future.  However, I
am leaving the monument to follow another dream of mine: botany ice cream!! That’s right, I am starting a business selling ice cream at local farmers markets.  My ice cream generally highlights some botanical; often local native plants.  I love showcasing little known plant flavors and being able to show people plants they have seen a thousand times in a new light.  My ice cream includes Douglas Fir and Yerba Buena Chip (plus more universally tempting flavors like caramelized brown cow and lemon vanilla cheesecake).  As I prepare for this new adventure, I will remember all I have learned in my time as a CLM intern.  I am thrilled to have had this experience and excited to see what comes next.

This post doesn’t really have anything to do with aliteration.  Or searching.  Or Seattle to be honest.  I just wanted to quickly share my anguish coming up with titles before I get into the meat of my blogpost

I spent most of this summer working on SOS. The San Juan Islands National Monument, a newly designated monument where I’ve been working for the past two summer seasons, consists of 1000 acres of rocks and islands off the coast of Washington state. This was our first year with an SOS program, which meant lots of work for me choosing target species, working with partnering land managers in the area, scoping, and collecting seed.

Dodecatheon hendersonii (mosquito bill) collected on Patos Island

Eriophyllum lanatum (Oregon sunshine) collected on Lopez Island

Lomatium nudicale (barestem biscuitroot) collected on San Juan Island

I collected 21 species of seed while supporting a number of projects and outreach opportunities. Of course, I was not alone in my SOS adventure. I was assisted most of the summer by our intrepid intern from Western Washington University and had endless advice from area botanists and managers. Thanks to these people, these SOS successes and many days spent on warm breezy coastal prairies, this summer was incredibly rewarding and fun.

Now that SOS work has ended for the year, I am turning my attention back indoors and back toward GIS. For the next few months I will be working remotely from Seattle, WA to complete a vegetation classification dataset using Line-Point-Intercept data I collected in 2014. Although I am sad to see the end of warm weather and cheery wildflowers, I am excited about this project and its potential use for the monument. The San Juans Monument is in the process of creating a resource management plan and needs the most accurate information possible about natural resources, recreation, boundaries, etc to make accurate planning decision. My GIS layer, in giving an accurate picture of vegetation type and plant locations, will be an important resource informing these decisions. I am happy to be able to create a product that has immediate use (and I’m actually excited to sit in on these planning meetings).

Our office and our community undergo an astonishing change between winter and summer months.  In winter, the community of Lopez Island consists of only 2,000 people.  It’s rainy and quiet and a lot of time is spent at the library, in the kitchen, or by the fireplace.  Similarly, the office of the San Juan Islands National Monument slows down, with only two employees (who none the less work tirelessly). As spring and summer roll on, the island swells with tourists and part time residents.  What was a sleepy village becomes a hive of activity as people enjoy the bakeries, biking, and public lands of Lopez Island.  During this time, the Monument also ramps up activity with a rush of seasonal employees (of which I am one) and events with the community as well as with the BLM.

The public lands on Lopez see huge increase in traffic during summer months.  Where maybe 10 people will visit a site each day in the  winter, it’s not uncommon to see 50 visitors in a span of a few hours on a sunny July day.

The change in the office is no less dramatic. At the moment (mid-July) we have two full time employees, three interns, and a youth work corp leader working out of our little 1000 square foot office.  Next week we expand further for two other seasonals.  Each of these people have an important function here at the monument: working with plants and seed, mapping and assisting with recreation management, engaging the youth, and helping to create interpretive plans for the monuments most beloved locations. That’s not to mention all the work our manager and recreation planner do.

This is my second year working here.  Last year, I collected baseline biological data for upcoming planning efforts.  This year, I am working with the Seeds of Success program.  My job is just one of many functions of the San Juan Islands National Monument, and its one that’s a little removed from the rest of the operation.  Still I get to meet different scientists and research specialists working on the islands as well as getting a look at the work of different BLM employees.  This past week I got to help out a team surveying wetlands in the area.  In previous months, I have worked with folks in forestry, wildlife biology, botany, bat biology, as well as interpretive specialists.

I frequently do work to assist and learn about other goings on in the monument.  I sometimes help at educational booths or farmers markets and I attend meetings that go way over my head.  Our Monument, which was designated in 2013, is going through an extensive planning process for its Resource Management Plan.  I’ve enjoyed learning about that process, attending lively Monument Advisory Committee meetings with members of the public, and sending my personal comments on the landscape.

Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say our summer is full of people and new learning opportunities (cheesy, I know).  Though at times I can’t wait for the quiet of winter, I’m pretty grateful for the chance to work with people in and outside of my field, as well as to learn more about the workings of a government office.

The San Juan Islands National Monument includes a variety of public lands.  Each have their own value and allure.  There are historic light house locations, where you can view orcas from the porch of light keeper’s quarters.  There are small rocks and islands, some of which disappear completely at high tide.  Others consist of forest, cliffs, and coastal grassland, with amazing views and more amazing plant and lichen communities.  Among these locations, few are more scenic than Iceberg Point on Lopez Island.

Ranunculus californicus at Iceberg Point

Zygadenus venosusus

Eriophyllum lanatum

Iceberg Point is an 88 acre parcel of land on the south west portion of the island.  It’s a mix of forest, small pockets of prairie, and intertidal rocks.  As with other sites in the San Juan Islands, it was tended for hundreds of years by Salish tribes, who would live in the area in the summer seasons.  These areas were burned regularly and probably weeded to an extent to promote the growth of Camas (Camassia leichtinii and quamash) and other food crops.  Though these burns ended almost a century ago, we still see their legacy in the vibrant wildflower community here.  Each spring is an eruption of blue and yellow, purple and pink.  The common flowers include great camas (Camassia leichtinii), meadow death camas (Zygadenus venosusus), taper tip onion (Allium acuminatum), chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis), Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum), Coastal gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia), western and Californian buttercups (Ranunculus occidentalis and californicus), lance leaf sedum (Sedum spathulifolium), early spring violet (Viola adunca), blue eyed grass (Sisirynchium angustifolium), spring gold (Lomatium utriculatum), and prickly pear (Opuntia fragilis).  It also includes three listed imperiled species: California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus), showy Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum), and white topped aster (Sericocarpus rigidus).

Viola adunca

Camassia leichlinii

With its robust plant community the sound, Iceberg Point has long been a favorite spot of botanists and the Lopez Island community.  People nearby think of Iceberg as their backyard, and walking its trails every day is a form of meditation for many residents. However, Iceberg Point faces several challenges.  Since fire and grazing (Iceberg Point was grazed for a short period) have been removed from the landscape, there has been considerable encroachment from shrubs and trees.  In many spots, what used to be dense camas gardens have turned into thickets of rose and snowberry (Rosa nutkana and Symphoricarpos albus).  In other areas, young stands of Doug Fir (Psuedostuga menzezii) and Grand Fir (Abies grandis) have shaded out shrubs as the land slowly returns to its natural state.  Iceberg Point has also seen an increase in use in recent years.  New user- created trails pop up each year, creating a mosaic of footpaths cutting through sensitive lichen heaths and plant communities.  Trails cut through populations of all three listed species on Iceberg Point.  It bums me out.

Delphinium menzesii

Iceberg Point was included in the San Juan Islands National Monument in 2013.  This proclamation has brought more attention and likely more people to visit places like Iceberg Point, a fact that many residents bemoan.   However, Monument status also means permanent protection of some clearly defined natural values.  As people enter into monument planning, deciding what is important to the landscape, I have great hope that they will make it a goal to protect the integrity of Iceberg Point.  I acknowledge (sometimes begrudgingly) that we all have the right to visit these beautiful and historic public lands.  As public land managers and citizens, we also have the responsibility to conserve, protect, and restore those lands for the benefit of both visitors and community, both plant and people.

Hello.  I am back working at the San Juan Islands National Monument for my second year.  Last year I spent most of my time doing botanical surveys following the AIM strategy (Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring).  This year I am very happy to be handling our Seeds of Success program.

Cerastium arvense at Kellet Bluff, San Juan Islands National Monument

Seeds of Success is almost completely new to the San Juan Islands.  Before last summer neither I nor the full time employees of our office had a clear understanding of the program.  That changed when I attended the Chicago Botanic Garden’s CLM intern workshop.  Hearing from Peggy Olwell and Meagan Haidet, I was inspired by what I learned about SOS and was more than keen to get a collection team started for our islands.  Luckily, my mentor shared my interest once I told her more about the program and she was able to get funding to start collecting.  (this was supposed to be a heartwarming ‘we interns can make a difference’ story but apparently I am not pulling it off).

Anyway, I started working for San Juan SOS two weeks ago and have been intensely busy since.  Week one was spent at the National Native Seed Conference in Santa Fe, where I met a number of incredible people, learned a hundred things about seed, and spent days generally not knowing what I was talking about.  Week two I have been meeting with partners, making lists, visiting sites, and teaching school children about monitoring.  All while still knowing minimally what I’m talking about.

The most rewarding part of the past week was talking to a group of 5th graders from our local school.  I am by no means a  skilled educator or kid wrangler, but it is amazing to see and help children think critically about the natural world around them.

I have had an amazing experience working at the San Juan Islands National Monument (SJI NM) for the last six months.  During this project, I’ve been lucky enough to   work with incredibly passionate competent people in a breathtaking location.  I have been given the freedom to by and large design and implement a monitoring project (with heaps of guidance of course) and the help, guidance and support to make that project possible.

Cattle Point on San Juan Island. Land surrounding lighthouse is part of the San Juan Islands National Monument

Over the last six months, I have been working in the small office of the San Juan Islands National Monument, located on Lopez Island, WA and consisting of two full time employees and two seasonals.  Working in such a close environment with the recreation planner and monument manager gave me a better understanding of land management.  Though I had less access to botany staff and wildlife biologists, each day at the office I marveled at the communication skills, level headedness, perseverance and adaptability of the monument team as well as the incredible care, understanding, and enthusiasm each of them used when working with the community and partners.

Because we were such a small team, I was able to help out with public engagement on a few instances.  Though presenting and public speaking has never been a strong suit of mine, I am incredibly happy I have gotten to practice and increase my confidence.

Tomcat clover on Kellet Bluff, Henry Island

This position has taught me about working with others and has given me the confidence to work by myself.  It also allowed me to make valuable connections with people part of the San Juan Islands conservation community and the BLM.

I am working the SJI NM next year starting a Seeds of Success program on the islands.  I have been sugesting this program to the office for the past few months and our monument manager made it happen.  I am very excited for a new project but to be working with the same brilliant people.

Spotted Coralroot on Lopez Island

Hello again from the San Juan Islands National Monument.  The seasons are changing here as they assuredly are everywhere else.  Here the transition means finding your rainboots and collecting your favorite rain jacket from the back of the coat closet (then finding your second, third and fourth favorite rain jackets wherever they may lie).

ripening apples are yet another sign of fall

It means pushing back the ice cream maker back on the highest shelf of the kitchen cabinet and restocking your tea collection.  It means not having to fight the horde of tourists for the last package of hot dog buns at the small grocery store.  You get the picture.

autumnal landscape outside my house on Lopez Island

Working as a botany intern in a small office, fall means no more data collection in the field, pages of colorful excel sheets with long tabulations, and report writing, lots of report writing.  For the past five months, I have been working on a project collecting baseline information about plant communities in the newly designated San Juan Islands National Monument.  The monument was created in part to preserve and enhance the natural/scientific value of the landscape.  My project aims to collect information useful in planning processes which will determine how to best follow that mandate.  With the guidance of J. Vacca in the Wenatchee, WA field office as well numerous people within the BLM and the San Juan Islands community, I determined the monitoring protocol for this project and completed 53 plots on 8 islands. For each plot I did a Line-Point Intercept survey, photo point monitoring, and a species inventory survey.  Now I am analyzing my collected data and generating a report of my findings.

I pass this dilapidated boat house each day on my route to work. In the foreground are some pearly everlastings, Nootka rose, and Kentucky bluegrass.

Through the process of planning, field work, and data reporting, as well as through a variety of other projects, I have met an incredible group of people, all extremely knowledgeable and passionate.  I couldn’t be happier with the people I have worked with and the projects I have been a part of during my time here.

Now in the sunset of my internship, I am wrapping up data collection for my project of baseline vegetation monitoring in the San Juan Islands National Monument.  I have spent most of my time here using the AIM strategy to look at vegetation throughout the BLM managed land in the archipelago, quantifying what plants exist where and in what numbers.  I run 50 meter plots starting at randomly generated transect points, counting plants at each meter and performing a rapid species inventory assessment for each transect.  I have enjoyed immensely days running transects within fifty feet of the water, seals barking beneath me and gulls squawking above.

Start of a transect at Colville Point, Lopez Island. In this photo you can see Roemer’s Fescue (Festuca roemeri), Puget Sound Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia), and Hairy Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata).

I have enjoyed less immensely days inching through thick patches or roses, crawling on hands and knees to reach sample points in the deep forest.  During the data collection season, I have gotten to visit so many beautiful spots, from small rugged islands to huge lichen heaths hidden in the forest to expanses of pristine pebble beach.  I have visited a dozen islands during my internship, each with their own history, feeling, and most relevant, vegetation.

This summer has been a great opportunity to experience parts of the San Juans and of Lopez Island, the monument home island.  As someone who has lived in this area before working with the BLM and is hoping to reside here in the future, I am hugely gratified to see places and go places I would not have had the chance or boat to otherwise.  I have been able to get out to remote islands and meet the people who care about the place most.  I’ve seen the rugged landscape of these islands and the incredible tenacity with which people preserve and restore it.

View of lighthouse and landscape of Patos Island

On Lopez and off work, I’ve gotten a taste of rural farm life.  I’ve been living on my partner’s family property, which consists of five acres of once tilled farm land and over a dozen plum and apple trees.  In the last few weeks, we have been harvesting cherry plums like mad.

Cherry Plums on Lopez Island

More cherry plums

With their sweet juice and tart skin, cherry plums are perfect for jam and we have been using an old grape press to harvest gallons upon gallons of sweet use (which I am hoping to distill) and pulp (largely for vanilla ginger cherry plum jam).  I digress.  Being on rural farm property gives great perspective on plants.  Gardening has allowed me to work more intimately and gingerly with plants while harvesting is a great reward.

All in all, this program has been a wonderful experience.  I have met a number of great people in the BLM community as well as in the San Juan Islands.  I learn at least something every day, whether a trick to identifying grasses or learning from my bosses’ incredible skill communicating and managing with kindness, care, and incredible efficiency.  I’m grateful to work in this great place with wonderful people.  I’m also grateful for cherry plums.

I hope everyone is loving their positions and the people around them.  Happy botanizing to all and to all a good hike.

Jennifer McNew

I spent last the past week surveying vegetation on Patos Island, the northernmost island in the San Juan Archipelago.  The 200 acre island is owned by the BLM and managed in conjunction with Washington State Parks.  Patos is home to one of four lighthouses in the San Juans (two of which are owned by the BLM) which was constructed in 1893 and has since guided ships traveling between the US and Canada.  Patos island, called isle de Patos by Spanish explorers, is translated to island of ducks, this name coming from a stone structure closely resembling a duck head and body on the eastern most point of the island.

The Namesake of the island, stone duck at Toe Point, Patos Island.

Patos Island is a popular spot for kayakers and boaters visiting the lighthouse, camping at its 7 pristine campsites, and exploring its 1.5 mile trail around the island.

Boats anchored in Active Harbor, Patos Island

Patos is a charming though challenging spot for a botanist.  As one of the wetter sites in the San Juans, it supports a vigorous plant community.  It supports novel species that grow only occasionally in other parts of the islands.  Among the prettier species are Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianam) White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum), Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium), Douglas Maple (Acer glabrum), Paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and Black Cottonwood (Populus tremuloides), Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) and, my favorite, California broomrape (Orobanche California var. californica).

Bluff with Garry Oak, Toe Point, East Patos Island

Patos also has an abundance of plants common elsewhere in the islands.  Walking from the shoreline to an interior transect, I was frequently confronted with a wall of shrubs (Salal, Nootka Rose, Baldhip Rose, Trailing Blackberry, and Oceanspray) that was more than 200 meters thick and 3 meters tall.  Upon reaching the interior, I found an undergrowth plant community dominated by 2 meter sword fern.

Despite obstacles and shrubbery, I completed 7 transects across the island using the AIM (Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring) strategy.  Transects were in woodland, forest, maintained grassland, and coastal bluffs. Outside of my transects, I began a plant list on the island and documented several invasive species that had penetrated the thick forest vegetation.  I found a marsh in the middle of the island as well as a garry oak habitat on the eastern shore.  Oh, and I took lots of pictures.

I hope everyone is enjoying their internships and the areas they are based out of.

Jennifer McNew

Sunset and Lighthouse at low tide

Mussels found all along Patos Island at low tide

Sunset on Canada. Isn’t Canada photogenic?

Its been a little over a week back from the CLM internship conference in Chicago.  It’s also been a little over two months into my internship in the San Juan Islands National Monument.  I’ve spent the bulk of my first two months planning my project and creating databases for my information.  Now I’m finally at a point where I get to the field nearly every day.  Let me tell you, I don’t miss the computer time.

Last week, I completed several forestry surveys, line point intercept surveys, and recorded several listed rare species in the archipelago.  I worked primarily on Lopez Island, the homebase of the monument, but got to spend a day on the beautiful Patos Island.  Patos is a two hundred acre island and is the very northwest point of the continental United States.  On it is a lighthouse, 8 campsites, and plants not seen anywhere else in the archipelago (namely Columbia Lily and While Fawn Lily).  It’s also a great spot to view marine life, with frequent seal, oystercatcher, peregrine falcon, eagle, and porpoise sitings, and less frequently ocra sitings.  I came to Patos with Keepers of the Patos Lighthouse, a group that works to maintain the island with monthly work parties and stays on the island during the summer months to educate its thousands of visitors about the lighthouse and its history.  Though I wasn’t helping them with work party I saw them remove loads of blackberry and maintain the trail.  It’s always impressive to see how much work they can accomplish in a day.  Also around on Patos that day was the American Hiking Association; they had been volunteering with various public lands that week and were on Patos to help maintain the trail.

My time on Patos and on Lopez last week was largely spent in the forest.  The salal, roses, Himalayan and trailing blackberries don’t make it easy to reach a sample point, but I’ve found the forest systems of these islands fascinating.  The topography, soil type, bedrock, and water availability are hugely variable within any given parcel of land on the islands, and these abrupt changes can be seen looking at the forest canopy.  The Douglas Fir is the dominant tree in the San Juan Islands as well as most of the western coast.  However, I often come across pockets where grand fir, red cedar, rarely sitka spruce or bigleaf maple dominate where conditions are favorable.  While west coast tree diversity often pales in comparison to the east, I was impressed to find a stand on Patos island dominated by Grand Fir and Douglas Fir, with Red Cedar, Douglas Maple, Western Yew making the understory tree community.

Typical Douglas Fir forest in San Juan Islands, WA

This week I spent surveying land on coastal bluffs.  This means lots of grass identification and not a lot of plant diversity.  Still, I can’t complain about the view.

View from line point intercept sample point at Point Colville, Lopez Island, WA

Here are a few pictures captured within the last few weeks of field work.  I hope everyone is having a great field season with lots of collections and tons of new plants.

Jen McNew

Spotted Coralroot (Corallohiza malculata) in early July on Lopez Island

Nodding onion (Allium cernuum)

Hooker’s Onion (Allium acuminatum)

Harvest brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans)

Orange trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa)