Hi everyone,

The wildflowers continue to still bloom in mid-August, and with rains bringing more moisture, new buds are still forming. It’s been a fantastic year in terms of rain, the forage is amazing and the pronghorns, deer, and elk are fat and happy. One of our sites near Capitol Reef has gotten so much rain that our Helianthus petiolaris collection has been blooming for three straight months. I’ve been lucky to be here on such a good year.

We’ve made 42 voucher collections and 37 seed collections so far. While many of the grasses and forbs of lower elevations have come and gone, we’ve moved up in elevation to montane communities. And, Bouteloua gracilis has finally arrived after seeing only skeletons for the first few months. I’m learning new plants everyday and have enjoyed seeing new plants bloom and thrive as the seasons progressed.

Soil color testing (with our field Jeep) in western Utah

Mounting voucher specimens in lab

Earlier this year our team toured recent treatments done to several areas around Kanab, Panguitch, and Cedar City. Pinyon pine and juniper has been rapidly encroaching on sagebrush and grasslands. Not many plants survive under the canopy and sagebrush almost if not completely disappears. A few target areas were bullhogged and seeded, and we went to check them out. The amount of diversity from treated to non-treated is amazing; non-seeded natives have emerged and thrived so much that they comprise many of our collections. I’d agree that the treatments were very successful, as we saw eight sage grouse utilizing the area near Panguitch. We’ve also seen countless pronghorn, deer, and elk in addition to many passerines. It’s exciting to see such areas succeed, it is definitely one of the most memorable experiences thus far.

Seed collecting Penstemon pachyphyllus in the House Mountain Range in western Utah

Our Buckhorn Wash site is so beautiful, it’s also just around the corner from the Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel

We hiked up to Bullion Falls after eradicating some spotted knapweed

Outside of work I have done quite a bit of traveling. In July I went to Yellowstone, and this month I’ve camped on Boulder Mountain and explored Grand Staircase. Pictures below!

My family came to visit and we went to Coral Pink Sand Dunes, our dog loved it! (picture just outside of the State Park on BLM)

The start to the Spooky Slot in Grand Staircase

Bristlecone pine pinecones are bright purple! Such cool trees

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone – amazing

Until next time,

Ellie Becklund

Richfield, UT

Hi everyone,

We Richfield interns are exactly halfway through our CLM internship, I feel like I’ve learned so much. For the past couple months we have been focused on cacti, but the past couple of weeks have transitioned into SOS collections. We’ve learned to collect vouchers, fill out the data sheets, and have made 6 collections of globemallows, Hesperostipa comata, Chaenactis steviodes, and Machaeranthera tanacetifolia. While I’ve liked the cactus work, I’m enjoying the new tasks and seeing new parts of Utah. Most of our collections are coming from western Utah (since there is a focus on Great Basin plants this year). There are some very remote parts out there, such as Ibapah, which is only accessible by dirt roads (90+ miles of dirt roads).

We’ve seen lots of wildlife, such as badgers, gray fox kits, a hoary marmot, and rattlesnakes. We’ve also seen beautiful birds such as a Scott’s oriole, mountain bluebirds, western bluebirds, northern harriers, long-billed curlews, and Say’s phoebes.

My brother visited me and we went down to The Buckskin to hike the Buckskin Gorge. We also went up to Boulder Mountain and canoed on one of its many lakes.

More coming soon (since it’s the end of July and I never submitted my June post…).

Ellie

Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon

Great Basin gopher snake

Hey everyone,

We’re just finishing up cactus hunting out here in western Utah and now heading east to check out another species, Sclerocactus spinosior (sensitive). It is similar to Sclerocactus wrightiae but has longer spines and bright pink flowers. We’ve also been collecting Pediocactus winkleri fruits for DNA analysis at BYU. When we take the samples up there, we’ll get a chance to check out the herbarium.

This week we’re starting to collect seeds for Seeds of Success, I’ll report back on how that’s going next post.

Since my last post we’ve been seeing a lot of rain and snow. We also drove through Grand Staircase National Monument.  It’s awesome and I can’t wait to hike it this summer. In addition, we’ve happened upon a couple of pictograph sites that native peoples created as long as 1,000 years ago. There was also old graffiti from the 1880s, which was kind of neat to see. (Picture below).

Last post, I couldn’t get pictures to transfer off of my phone, but I figured it out and posted them below. We’ve started to explore more of Utah.  It really is beautiful country. I can’t wait to see more!

Giant Claretcup

A packrat midden next to a Claretcup

Pediocactus winkleri in bud and flower

Hiking out to cacti at the Factory Butte monitoring site (it was cold that day)

There’s two Pedios under those flowers…They’re so tiny!

Fish Creek Cove pictographs

Graffiti from 1887

View of the Henry Mountains from Capitol Reef National Park

Hey everyone,

This is Ellie, one of the new interns at the Richfield, Utah office working with Dustin Rooks. Sam and I have had an awesome and busy first month! For the first half of our season we will be monitoring (mainly) two T&E cacti species, Pediocactus winkleri and Sclerocactus wrightiae. They are two amazingly small cacti (some just 1cm in diameter) that blend in perfectly with the soil’s texture, making them difficult to find. They’re rather finicky, only emerging on years with good rain and barely breaking the surface. This year was a bit dry and we’ve had sites with hundreds and sites with less than ten. However, this week they’ve started to “pop” with delicate flowers, making them easier to spot.

Much of our work is near Capitol Reef National Park; the geology of the area is so interesting and unique. For example, many of our sampling plots are in the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, which resembles a “moonscape” of hills of clay that are striped white, pink, red, and purple. There’s actually a “Mars station” nearby, where people go and experiment like they’re living on Mars. I’ve found Utah is full of cool and weird things like this, making this experience all the more exciting.

I’ve already learned an immense amount about the geology of Utah and plants of salt desert shrub, and am looking forward to continuing.

As for living in Richfield, it’s definitely different compared to Tucson (my hometown), but I like living in the country. The Sevier Valley is beautiful and green, surrounded by tall snow-capped mountains. A 20-minute drive outside of town takes you to a reservoir with wildlife and recreation opportunities, perfect for birding, boating, and fishing. Everyone is extremely nice and neighborly, making me feel right at home. I’m happy to be a part of the CLM program in Richfield and am excited for the rest of the summer!

A few memorable experiences so far:

• Going to the Hanksville field office and working with Dave Cook, the wildlife biologist, who aids in the quest for cacti.
• On the way to one of our sites, we stopped in a canyon and saw a still-standing petrified tree. The fossils here are awesome.
• Our first day was checking a dinosaur dig site for cacti. An awesome start to the field season.

Ellie