Lilium canadense at Catoctin Mountain Park

My time as a CLM intern at the C&O Canal and Catoctin Mountain Park is sadly coming to an end.  I have been in Maryland since early April and have had a great time getting to know the area on a couple different levels.

I fount RTE Oenothera argillicola (shale-barren primrose) at the Paw Paw Tunnel outside of Cumberland, MD

I’ve had the opportunity to travel up and down the Potomac River and was able to experience first hand how it has shaped its landscape socially and physically.  The Canal runs from very rural and mountainous Cumberland, Maryland to the unquestionably urban coastal plain of Washington DC.  These two sides of the park are as different as night and day socially and biologically.  I was very impressed by the collaborative management efforts the C&O maintained to help address all of the needs of this diverse park.

Just a few buddies hanging out by the C&O Canal!

As far as the things I’ve gained from this experience the list is long.  On a professional level I was able to gain experience creating a fieldwork schedule and managing people, tasks and time.  I attended a week long plant ID class, two GIS workshops and was able to work with GPS hardware and ArcMap on a daily basis, enabling me to expand my knowledge and use my skills.  I had the overarching project of updating the locations of rare, threatened and endangered plants but also had opportunity to create my own tasks and was able to focus on visitor outreach, volunteer coordination and environmental education in addition to surveying for RTEs.  Most importantly I was able to network and interact with professionals in the National Park Service. The skills I gained from this CLM internship and the CLM internship I had last year with the BLM in Lander, Wyoming gave me the skills I needed to move along on my career path.  I’ll be attending University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in September to begin a MS in Natural Resources program and have my experience as a CLM intern to thank for the experience!

Working hard or hardly working?!?

Working in this area was amazing, but so was living in it!  Living at Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, MD offers little in terms of socializing but I was relatively close to many exciting places and I was lucky enough to have 4 great roommates!  I was able to visit a few  National Historic Battlefields (Gettysburg, Monocacy, Antietam) and learned about the history of the area,  visit a number of charming little towns (Frederick, MD, Shepherdstown WV, Berkely Springs, WV) and fall in love with small town America but was just a short drive from a few major cities (Washington DC, Baltimore, MD, Pittsburgh, PA) if I needed an urban fix.  I was lived about 3 miles from the Appalachian Trail, so I got a good amount of hiking and camping in too!

Fringe benefits

Great Falls, MD. Just 10 miles from Washington DC!

I’d like to thank everyone at Catoctin Mountain Park, the C&O Canal National Historical Park and the Chicago Botanic Garden for making this experience great for me!

#IFOUNDMYPARK

The Paw Paw Bends, outside of Cumberland, MD

Another project I am working on is surveying established populations of rare orchids at Catoctin National Park in Thurmont, MD.  Let me do some introductions.

Coeloglossum viride – Long Bracted Orchid (LBO)

The Long Bracted Orchid (Coeloglossum viride) was the first orchid for which I surveyed.  LBO is threatened or endangered in 8 states, including Maryland, and the population that we have here at Catoctin Mountain Park is the largest population in the state! LBO may not be the most charismatic orchid, but it certainly does have some strange habits.  This orchid has been surveyed since the early 1980s and has seen a significant amount of decline, most likely due to deer browsing.  What is interesting about LBO is that since a deer management plan has been implemented in the park, the population has been steadily increasing, but only in one specific area.  The only place that LBO has been found in the park is on the outer edge of a campground parking lot and along an adjacent horse trail.   The LBO thrives in the disturbed edge habitat that the parking-lot and horse trail provides!

Another orchid I have been working with this season is called the Purple Fringed Orchid.

Greater Purple Fringed Orchid

The Greater Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera grandiflora) is found in moist habitats and has a strong associated with skunk cabbage.  PFO has been surveyed since the later 1970s and has also seen a sharp decline likely due to the over population of deer in the park.  Measures have been taken to protect the orchid and the recent implementation of the deer management plan has also done good things for the populations of the Purple Fringed Orchid in Catoctin Mountain Park.

Platanthera grandiflora

I was able to get together a team of other interns and seasonal rangers to help me survey some swampy stream areas and we were able to find a total of 50 individuals!  We took GPS points and data on numbers of flowers and buds and were able to compare it to the previous years of data.  It is interesting seeing how the population ebbs and flows as the years go by.

The last orchid I ran into this summer is called the Large Round Leafed Orchid (Platanthera orbiculata).  While surveying for the Long Bracted Orchid along a horse trail I stumbled upon a strange looking orchid-like leaf with a stalk full of buds.  Back at the office I told the biologist about it and she directed me to a paper published in 2014 that documented a long-term study of the orchid populations in the area.  (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10531-014-0698-2)  After reading the paper and doing some research on the orchids listed in the paper I was able to get a good idea of which orchid I had found….

Platanthera orbiculata – Large Round Leaf Orchid

Platanthera orbiculata

After the orchid flowered I was able to positively identify it as Platanthera orbiculata.  The exciting thing about this orchid find is that this plant was listed as extirpated not only from Catoctin Mountain Park, but the entire Catoctin Mountain region!  Needless to say I was excited.  The paper draws a correlation between orchid decline and deer over population.  Considering Catoctin Mountain Park has had their deer management plan put in place for only 5 years, it is possible that the decline of deer browse has allowed this orchid to re-emerge.  Imagine what else could pop up!

Until Next Time,

Emily

Today will forever be remembered as a great day in the world of seed collecting!  I have finished picking, sacking, packing and sending all of my late bloomers and am happy to add 13 new collections to my list and reach a grand total of 32 seed collections!!!!

The days are getting shorter and I am no longer a pirate sailing the open range pillaging seeds from unsuspecting plants.  Most of my time has been spent uploading and cleaning up all of the data I’ve collected over the season.  There is something about a clean and organized attribute table that puts a huge smile on my face.  I have also been updating and organizing the herbarium.  Here are two of my favorite pressed specimen from our herbarium.

Lewisia rediviva                                               Calochortus nuttallii

I will be done with my CLM internship next week and have had some time to reflect on my time in Lander.  Over all this has been an incredibly enriching experience that has benefited me in a multitude of ways.  When I drove across the I-90 in May I was able to see my surrounding change from the familiar lush hills of Appalachia to the plains and prairies of the mid-west and finally settling into the less familiar high deserts and mountains of Wyoming.  The trees were gone and there was a strange aroma in the air (I soon identified that smell as artemisia tridentata).   Due to the nature of my SOS position I was able to dive right into a botanical smorgasbord of 2.5 million acres!  I had the unique opportunity to connect the biological dots and get a better understanding of how plants are related, how different plants adapt to radically different ecosystems, and gain a greater appreciation of the diversity of life.  I was also able to experience the life of a BLMer.  I was able to go out with different people and get valuable experience in range-land monitoring, wildlife monitoring, a ton of GIS experience, and even some weed and pest work.  It was helpful for me to talk with them about their career choices and listen to their candid advice about working for the government and working in the sciences.  There is absolutely no question in my mind that my experience here has given me the tools to advance myself in the elusive world of gainful employment.

Believe it or not, I did not just collect seeds for the entire time I have been out here.  Living in Wyoming has been an interesting experience that I never thought I would have and will never forget.  If biology has taught me anything about survival, it has taught me to adapt or die, so adapt I did!  Some serious highlights include the 4th of July celebrations in Lander.  A parade, a rodeo, more fireworks than my little heart could imagine, and a hike with fellow CLMers that culminated in a jaw-dropping mountain stream rockslide…I can honestly say I have never felt so patriotic.  I also had a great time getting to know the town and its people by being a die hard garage sale picker.  Let me tell you, there are some good deals in these garages.  The garage sales were so bountiful that it got me out of my house at 8am every Saturday morning and all of my Christmas shopping is done!  I was also able to take advantage of Lander’s convenient location just a few hours away from Grand Teton and  Yellowstone National Park, minutes from the Wind River Range and immersed  in natural wonders.

All in all, my experience working with the BLM and the Chicago Botanic Garden has given me great experience and incite.  I have recommended this program to many peers and appreciate all of the people that work to make it happen.

Thanks again.

Usher clear.

Emily Usher – Bureau of Land Management – Lander, Wyoming

The summer is flying by in Lander, Wyoming.  The month of July was a frantic storm of collecting tons and tons of seeds!  Most of my 18 (so far) collections were done in a few busy weeks in July while the month of August has been filled with lots of processing, counting, weighing and packaging.  I have also been using the month of August to brush up on my shrub identification, pun intended.  I am hoping to reach my collection goal and beyond with collections of sage brush, salt bush, winter fat and bitter brush.  Wish me luck!

I’ve also been able to do some work with rare plants.  We took a field trip to the Casper Field Office to look at the elusive orchid, Ute Ladies’-Tresse.  After getting a good idea of its habitat, we went back to our field office and scouted out a few possible habitats in the Lander Field Office.  We didn’t find any Utes, but we did find some good habitat for it.

Checking out Ute Ladies’ Tresses in Casper Field Office

The elusive Ute

 

I’ve been able to do a little exploring around the Cowboy State, have meet some amazing people and have seen some amazing places.  I took a trip to the Grand Tetons a few weeks ago, went swimming in cold mountain lakes, ate antelope sausage and elk steak!

a quick nap in Cascade Pass

Forbs are getting hard to come by in the Lander Field Office, but they are in full swing up in the mountains!

I’m lichen this rock

One of my favorite places to work, Red Canyon

All in all, my time here in Lander has so far been full of new plants, new people and new places.  I’ve leaned so much and still have three months to go!  As the summer quickly fades to fall my work load will also be transforming….I’ll keep you updated!

Until next time,

Emily Usher

Lander Field Office, BLM, Lander Wyoming

Things are heating up here in Lander, Wyoming!  One of the perks of being out in the field most every day is that you get an intimate view of the seasonal progression.  When I first got to Wyoming I was blown away by the wildflowers.  Fields dominated by Balsam Root littered with patches of dainty Sego Lily and scattered Larkspurs made me think I was living in a post card!  A wet fall was the cause of this forb-ilicious spring.  I consider this first half of my internship as my “reconnaissance” phase.  I spent most of my time driving around the field office on the hunt for my plants and then visiting them about once a week. A lot of my time in the office is spent keying out unknown plants supplied by myself and everyone else in the office.  I could not have been in Wyoming for a better spring.

As the spring showers slow down the dry summer heat amps up and my fields of flowers turn into fields of brown grass.  The month of July has been a race against time to collect all the seeds before they drop, and believe me, those seeds don’t collect themselves!  I’ve completed around 10 collections so far with more coming in every week!  It has been a great year for grasses too!  As the spring time flowers are seeding out, the grasses are getting ready to drop too.  Grasses are certainly not as glamorous as the showy forbes, but are equally as important.

As time marches on my list of favorite flowers grows and changes depending on their seed productivity.  Lately I’ve been a huge fan of the prolific Northwestern Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia), while the increasingly unfriendly Miner’s Candle (Cryptantha celiosoides) has fallen a few notches down.

The seed flow has kept me busy but has not stopped me from going to a few rodeos, dancing a few two steps, visiting a couple of ghost towns and going to a TON of garage sales.

Things are chugging along here in the Cowboy State.

Emily Usher

Lander BLM

Coming from southern Ohio where there is water in the air and ferocious foliage, this wide open and dry country is quite the contrast!  Although the drive was long, I was able to see the landscape change from the foothills of appalachia to the flat midwestern plains, then morph into the high desert and finally the mountains!  It is a beautiful time of year to take a good long drive.

Upon my arrival, I was faced with an exotic landscape and friendly faces.  My first week in the Lander Field Office consisted of a lot of introductions and some planning for my next couple of months of work.  Using USGS topography maps of the 2.2 million acre field office and University of Wyoming’s Rocky Mountain Herbarium, I was able to map out known populations of target species, then the fun really began!  The rest of my time was spent exploring the field office and getting aquatinted with the local flora.  At first it was kind of overwhelming…I felt like a stranger in a foreign land, but as I got my hands dirty things started to click.  I was able to vaguely recognize the western relatives of the eastern flora and brushed up on my keying-out skills.  Can you believe I forgot what papilionaceous was?!

The Lander Field Office is huge, covers a multitude of ecosystems, and has some amazing wildlife.  Just this week a rattle snake rattled at me, I stared down a mustang, and saw a golden eagle soaring through a canyon.  I have high hopes to see a moose.  My first two weeks have been eye opening and I’ve already learned a ton!  I think these next few months will be full of new experiences and jam packed with information and fond memories!

Until next time,

Emily Usher, Lander, Wyoming BLM