It’s been a while since my last post…Oops! I honestly have no idea how the time went by so fast. I want to share all of what I’ve been up to in the past two months, but there’s just too much to be able to give a full rundown –  ESR Weed mapping, Rare plant monitoring, Land Health Assessments, assisting our Great Basin Institute colleagues, and plenty of trainings!

The majority of my time has been spent mapping weeds on land that has burned within the last 3 years as a first step to rehabilitating this land. Gotta know where the invasions are before you treat them! On this project, one thought that keeps on coming up is “How are they going to treat all these weeds?” Many of the sites that we visit are very steep and difficult to access for mapping – let alone with a backpack sprayer! In talking to my mentor about this he mentioned a beetle that can be used as a bio-control for Dalmation Toadflax and hopefully in the future using a fungus known as black fingers of death (yes, that really is the common name), or Pyrenophora semeniperda, to control cheatgrass once it has been federally approved.

Weed mapping above the Columbia.

One of my highlights from the past few months was attending a training for Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health in Rock Springs, WY. This is an assessment method used here in Wenatchee, and many other BLM offices, to get a quick snapshot of how an area is doing. The current state of the area is comparing meticulously researched reference conditions using 17 indicators as a framework for this report card, so to speak. I’ve been fascinated by how we define and measure “ecosystem health” for a while now and this training showed me one method being nationally used. In addition, I got to go out in the field with the inter-disciplinary team from the Wenatchee Field Office and see this method put into practice.

(Awesome side-note: I’m pretty sure this training also helped me land my next job! Shout out to Erik Ellis for letting me go.)

Field deliberations over the 17 indicators. Moderately departed from reference conditions? Maybe…

Weekends here have been pretty hot and smokey from all the fires. (Apparently now there are something like 30 fires going at once in the state of Washington!) I’ve managed to have some pretty good ones though, namely hiking through the Enchantments and attending the Washington Native Plant Society study weekend near Mt. Baker.

The Enchantments! Prusik Peak in the background.

Wonderfully wet Mountain Ash. It was nice and cool on the west-side.

Hello!

As we’re nearing the end of the Golden Eagle breeding season (and the 3 month mark of my internship?!) it’s a time of transitions here in Wenatchee. The eagle surveys we’ve been doing for the past few months are ending and we’re beginning to take on the exciting, if challenging, task of being the eyes and ears on the ground for the Wenatchee Field Office. These “wildlife wanderings”, as I’ve taken to calling them, involve walking through allotments with our GPS units documenting all the wildlife, weeds, and structures we encounter. Right now the protocol is relaxed, the priority is on finding potential Washington Ground Squirrel colonies, and the challenge is getting all of our geodatabases to check out properly onto our mobile devices (and then to not crash our devices with all the data we just put on them!). Soon though we will begin incorporating ESR protocols and creating transects to further direct our “wanderings”.

Goodbye Golden Eagles!

Hello wanderings!

Of course this is all being put on hold next week while I’m in Chicago for the workshop. I’m excited to meet all you other interns and to practice my (limited) plant ID skills. Even more exciting is the possibility for a double training! Next week in Chicago and then a quick turn-around to go out to Rock Springs, WY for a rangeland health assessment training the week after. This second one isn’t a done deal and is pretty last minute, but I’m hopeful!

See you all Monday!

Cheers,

Jenny

Hello All!

It’s been a busy few weeks since I last posted. The days have  mostly been filled with searching for Golden Eagles, although I’ve had some cool opportunities to help with capturing Sharp-tailed Sage Grouse and Pygmy Rabbits as well. We’ve visited almost all the sites we need to at least once and are now going to begin scheduling check-ups to see if there are any eaglets to be found (reproductive success?!). I was also able to join some of the other Wenatchee BLM employees on a trip to establish reference conditions for up coming rangeland health assessments. It was really interesting to see the thought process behind deciding what factors constituted a healthy environment and what were acceptable ranges of variation. Today I joined Reed, the SOS intern here in Wenatchee, and got a great introduction to plant ID and how to search for rare plants. I’m excited to start our vegetation monitoring and put my knew knowledge to work!

Again its been a busy week, so I’ll let these pictures speak for me (they’re worth a thousand words right?)

Golden Eagle hanging out at the nest.

Pygmy rabbit!

Taking some measurements on a Sharp-tailed Sage Grouse.

A beautiful day on the way to Northrup Canyon.

Cheers,

Jenny

It’s been almost a month since I started my first CLM internship here in Wenatchee, Wa which seems strange – the time has just flown by. I’ve spent the past few weeks becoming acquainted with the structure and politics of the OR/WA BLM, getting my feet wet (so to speak) in the field, and learning ArcMap and its related programs.

The BLM is now the second federal agency I’ve worked for. The first being the National Park Service as a SCA intern at Devils Tower National Monument. Immediately I noticed some differences in how the two agencies operate. As a steward of multi-use land, BLM employees often have to work in the murky gray area where development and conservation meet – something the NPS doesn’t have to deal with. This constant compromise is something I’ve always found really interesting and I’m excited to be able to talk with people who deal with this everyday.

Potential site of new gravel mine.

Surveyin’ for Golden Eagles

Getting all trained up.

Oh, and I’ve spent my weekends/afternoons climbing in the Cascades outside the faux Bavarian town of Leavenworth just 30 min away.

Ready for an afternoon of bouldering.

Till next time!