Hello from the office in Prineville, OR! East of the Cascade mountains we’ve been dumped on with snow after snow, and few folks have gotten into the field (it’s been hard enough just to get to work!) except those who go out to plow some of our BLM access roads. Something to keep us from getting too much cabin fever is the office photo contest. I submitted several entries, so wish me luck! I’ve been keeping busy by snuggling into my cubicle and mapping away in a program called GeoBOB. Oregon and Washington BLM use GeoBOB (Geographic Biotic Observations Database) to track special status plant and animal species in GIS. I’ve gotten much better at using computer programs and GIS during the course of my winter CLM internship. I’ve been documenting our revisits of the sensitive plant populations we monitored over the summer, and I also had a little fun creating some new polygons.

These represent the areas where I stumbled upon a newly listed Oregon BLM sensitive species, Astragalus misellus var. misellus, pauper milkvetch. We only were aware of one location of this species, so it was a big surprise. At first I mistook the plant for a different milkvetch (anyone else agree that Astragalus can be a challenging genus?) but something about that conclusion just didn’t feel right. So I kept at it, keyed it over and over and examined drawings of the plant, photos of the other milkvetch, and thought a lot about the differences in habitat between the two, which are pretty distinct once you know which plant is which. What finally gave it away was the fruit size, shape, and curve. Without fruits it’s terribly difficult to distinguish from similar milkvetches.

After the deeper study, I felt pretty confident in my identification of this species, but I still sent 2 herbarium vouchers I collected to the Astragalus experts at Oregon State University. I was really excited when I heard back from them that I do indeed have A. misellus var. misellus. Additionally, I gifted the herbarium at OSU the specimens to add to their collection. They were thrilled to have them, and said that it’s the first collection of the species that they’ve had in nearly 100 years! While the species is a sensitive endemic, I came across it in the field quite frequently and even on my time off when I was just out hiking with my dog. I don’t know how this little plant slipped under the radar in the past, but now we have several mapped locations so that we can learn more about its ecology and develop a strategy for its conservation. To add to that, I just got word that a new to science plant species was discovered on BLM land nearby.

So the moral of my little story is: keep your eyes peeled, key plants, and do not assume you know what everything looks like even after you’ve learned them, and trust your botanical intuition! You never know, you might find a whole new species or a brand new location of a rare plant! Google earth is great, but there is still soooooo much to discover on our planet. You might just get lucky. Keep up the good work CLM interns. You are the curious botanizer, inquisitive scientist, the enthusiastic protector of plants, work station: Planet Earth.

One of the photos I entered in our district photo contest. Coincidentally, the milkvetch was found nearby on this day of fun.

The distinctive fruits that finally gave away her identity…

Astragalus misellus var. misellus

I thought that after living in Prineville OR for over a year, the same town my BLM office is in, that it might help future CLM interns here know what to expect from this town. Prineville Oregon is east of the Cascade mountain range, in the rainshadow of the state. It is an arid climate with sunshine nearly every day. Winters are cold, summers are hot, and spring is notoriously unpredictable. Coming in at the beginning of a field season, expect the possibility of snow on the same day you may find yourself enjoying sunny weather in the 70’s. Prineville lies at a somewhat lower elevation than nearby Redmond and Bend, in a basaltic caldera formation. Prineville definitely has a stuck in time small town feel, although it’s not so tiny that everyone knows everyone. It is home to just under 10,000 people. Don’t expect much of a dating scene if that interests you (I hear Tinder is nearly nonexistent), also don’t expect a ton of people your age. Prineville is very family and senior oriented, and sort of leaves out the 20 somethings who probably move to Bend or elsewhere. I find people in Central Oregon to be extremely friendly, but Prinevillians also have a clannish side, and you may find some folks a bit closeminded depending on where you are coming from. On the other hand, you may appreciate their value of tradition and down to earth demeanor.

During the recent recession Prineville suffered considerably combined with a waning timber industry. The old mills on the industrial side of town are interesting to drive by. It seems that Prineville, once the largest city east of the Oregon Cascades, is making a comeback but there is still significant economic struggle for many living here. Facebook and Apple set up big data centers in Prineville, and it is the home of the NW Les Schwab Tires. Whether you live or work in Prineville, I highly recommend a visit to the Bowman Museum to learn about the history of the area.  It is fascinating. You can’t talk about Prineville without mentioning the ranching community. This is a cowpoke town, no doubt about it. The wealthy ranching families here go back many generations and they are proud. Treat yourself to the Crooked River Roundup, nearly a week of rodeo related events occurring each summer and a very big deal in Prineville. You don’t want to miss the cattle drive through town or my favorite, the barrel racing! It is not unusual to see a kid riding a horse through one of the city parks here or scrappy ranch dogs riding loose on the back of flatbed pickups, to contrast the kombucha-drinking Patagonia-wearing Subaru drivers of nearby Bend, where a cowboy hat is significantly harder to find. Prineville’s beloved nickname is Prinetucky (enough a point of pride that the local brewery named their house beer the Prinetucky Pale Ale) probably stemming from the small town country music vibe here.

Prepare yourself when you move to Central Oregon, it is DIFFICULT to find a place to live. If you are freaking out (as I was) and still haven’t secured something by the time you arrive, fear not. Camp for cheap your first few days at the Ochoco Reservoir or RV park across from it, both complete with hot showers and only about 10 minutes outside of town. Pros of living here in Prineville include a much shorter commute to the BLM office and somewhat cheaper housing when you do find it, compared to nearby Bend and Redmond.

Prineville has little to offer in night life, but makes up for it with outdoor recreation in heaps. I’m a lover of the Ochoco Mountains to the north and east of town where you rarely have to share trails with anyone else, there are gorgeous wildflowers and creeks and places to hunt for morel mushrooms. The tamarack trees turn gold in the fall before dropping their needles and are a lovely spectacle. You can camp and fish in the impressive Crooked River Canyon or take a hike to Chimney Rock, and there is a disc golf course and mountain bike trails in town. Don’t miss the Barnes Butte trails for a hiking getaway right within town limits.

I can’t not talk about food, as this is a very important aspect of life for me.

Prineville has a few grocery stores. I never could go to just one as I’m a deal hunter, so here’s the lowdown: Rays is expensive but has more health food items and fresh produce, Wagner’s IGA has bulk herbs and spices. Thriftway is a good bet for general goods, but always hit up Grocery Outlet first because when and if they do have what you’re looking for, you are going to save big time. This is also the best place to stock up on goodies for backpacking or fieldwork lunches. If you are a bit more adventuresome like me, check out Grocery Bandit on the Madras Highway leaving town. You’ll feel like a bandit with the steals of deals here, but it’s pretty hit or miss. There’s local grassfed beef in the freezer case. Be warned: the granola bars can be quite stale.

There are many bars and restaurants in Prineville, but few of them noteworthy. When I lived here, going out to eat in Bend or Redmond was a big treat. There are several average Mexican eats, none of which I can recommend over any others, except Tacos De La Providencia, which is a little food truck with kickbutt homemade salsas and delicious carnitas. This is a favorite lunch of many BLMers. Ochoco Brewing is a good place for standard pub food, local beer, and a pleasant atmosphere, their breakfast menu is very good. Sons of Beer has a lot of local drinks (cider, beer, and kombucha) on tap and good appetizers. I hear good things about Dillon’s Grill, but haven’t personally understood the hype. If you want a solid fast food style burger and fries but refuse to support the usual mega chains (there is a McDonalds and Dairy Queen in town), try locally owned The Dawg House. Tastee Treat is a greasy spoon with really yummy milkshakes. For local coffee I recommend supporting Friends instead of Starbucks. Friends is a little drive through coffee hut, like those so iconic to the northwest. I wish we had those on the east coast where I’m from. The Sandwich factory is superior to the Subway in town and also local. I’m not a huge fan of subs but I am fond of their build-your-own breakfast bagel sandwiches. I add sprouts and roasted green chili. Oh, and I must mentions Gee’s. Gee’s looks so sketchy from the outside, yet there is pretty decent Chinese-American food here and free pool on Thursday nights. For a wilder time, you could check out the Horseshoe and probably meet some rough around the edges cowboys and grab a drink, but I hear this place is not for the faint of heart.

There is a yoga studio in town called Om on the Range, but when I lived here the hours never worked well with my fieldwork hours. There are also at least 2 gyms, but no swimming pool. Swim at the Prineville Reservoir after a long day collecting seeds or on an AIM plot. There is a library that I would definitely take advantage of while you’re here. Don’t miss the Pine Theater, this place is great! It’s a very cute, locally owned historic movie house. The movies are affordable at $8 maximum and the setting is welcoming. There are many opportunities for biking and a nice bike shop in town. You can even rent a Stand Up Paddleboard here and take it for a spin on either nearby reservoir. For music other than open mic, you’ll want to check out venues in Bend. Some pretty big acts come through. Bend has it all, and should definitely be experienced, yet I like to take it in small doses for the sake of my wallet! Bend is an outdoor loving open minded town with great vibes, but it is also hustle bustle, is becoming overly ritzy, and feeling the strain of the influx of people moving into the area without the housing and city infrastructure to support them.

I hope I have painted a good picture of what to expect from life in Prineville. It certainly was an experience living here, but I’m happy to now be in Redmond where I can easily get to Bend or Prineville. It is what I see as the best of both worlds and a happy medium. If you enjoy quiet small town life, solitude in hiking, and simplicity, Prineville might be a good fit for you. If you like nightlife, exotic restaurants and want to make lots of friends your age during the internship, you’ll be happier in Bend, although you will spend much more time commuting and money going to events and on housing. If you want a little bit of both, check out Redmond. Wherever you end up, enjoy central Oregon, it’s a really great place to live!

Well folks, I’m back! Once again I find myself amongst some of the most adventuresome, hardworking and environmentally conscientious of America’s post college youth – The CLM interns. I’m a veteran at this point, as it is my 3rd time in the internship. I’m returning after my first season as a real government employee. Through my second internship in Prineville Oregon, I was able to be hired on the following season as a Biological Science Technician – Plants. Whew! What a handle. Lets keep it simple and call it a Botany Tech. There, that’s much easier. As a Botany Tech here at the Prineville BLM I was able to mentor the next generation of CLM interns tasked with seed collecting. I also had an introduction to performing Botany Clearance work. This entailed “ground truthing” projects before they are approved. For example, someone wants to build a fence, or create a new trail system. I go out to the field site prior to the action and ensure that no Special Status plants will be harmed in the course of this project, and to make suggestions as to minimizing the impacts of the project on the native flora at the site. Then, I go back to the office and write a report of all my observations. Much of my time during the field season was spent doing Botany Monitoring (I got to do this a tiny bit in my internship the year before as well.) This is by far the COOLEST part of the job. It’s a rare plant treasure hunt. I went to some very distant and extraordinarily beautiful places on our district, hiked up to 6 miles in a day over isolated and rugged terrain, all the while searching for rare/endemic plants. Much of the time I was locating populations that are mapped (it can still be a challenge to find them) but in a few cases I actually discovered new populations unknown to BLM humans. Or most likely, any humans. So these discoveries were quite exciting. The other large chunk of my time was spent doing AIM, (Assessment Inventory and Monitoring). This is a very specific protocol for monitoring the landscape. The effort is BLM wide. Myself and my partner set up AIM plots on areas that had burned in intense and large scale wildfires in year 2014. We collected really detailed and extensive data on vegetation and soils. I learned tons of new skills such as driving trailers, digging and interpreting soil pits, and how to perform the Point Line Intercept method. We completed 26 plots! Our data will be used to make management decisions regarding how to best rehab the native plant community and control invasive annual grass infestations. After I wrapped up my work as a Botany Tech, I accepted this 3 month CLM internship to act as a general Botany Program assistant. I will be mapping all the populations I monitored over the summer and my newly discovered populations into a GIS program the Oregon BLM uses called GeoBOB. I’m attending a training for that next week. I’m also handling the load of office and herbarium odds and ends that pile up during the field season. While I do love the field, I think this will be a good opportunity to see the behind the scenes work and planning that makes a good field season possible. Cheers to all of us sticking it out in office winter internships. We are tough cookies. I’m looking forward to the next few months. Following are some photos from my field season. I thought they would be nicer to look at than my desk!

Orobanche uniflora – a little parasitic cutie

Hiking up steep ephemeral streams in search of rare plants

Scutellaria nana of the Great Basin pumicey soils

traffic jam in the Ochoco Mountains

Monitoring site on a stormy day

Achnatherum hendersonii– a special status grass

Rainbow from the AIM plot

My beloved botany rig and rare Castilleja

Scavenger hunt under the Pondos

Hola Amigos,
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of finals, graduation, goodbyes, long distance driving, adjusting to the desert landscape of Farmington, NM, and of course, beginning my work as a CLM intern. My first week of work was really enjoyable and has got me looking forward to this summer and fall collaborating with the BLM on the Seeds of Success program. Even though I’ve only just started, my lovely mentor Sheila Williams managed to get me out in the field twice the first week! I met the New Mexico state botanist and a cool and endangered little plant called the Mancos milkvetch. There are so many new plants to learn because Maryland and the arid west share little flora in common. I’m going to be kept busy studying! My second week of work was spent at the CLM training in Illinois at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was great to connect with fellow interns from near and far and I learned a lot of new and valuable things. One of the best gems I brought back from that experience is an understanding of how important the work I will be doing is, and how it fits into the bigger picture of future conservation of public lands. Its all very exciting to be a part of and I cannot express just how grateful I am that I have found my way here in the land of enchantment and in the midst of this incredible opportunity! More next time.
Hannah

My new backyard