Hello,
This is Tobin working with the Groveland Forest Service Office in the Stanislaus National Forest. My first two weeks with the Forest Service have included scouting rare and sensitive native plants and removing invasive species. Rare plants scouted for have included upland meadow dwellers Mimulus pulchellus, Mimulus filicaulis, Clarkia australis, and Clarkia biloba ssp. australis, woodland species Cyperpidium montanum and the aquatic lichen Peltigera gowardii. Invasive species removed included yellow starthistle, tocalote, diffuse knapweed, spotted knapweed, mullein and French broom.

With continued severe drought in California, many sites that are typically inundated with water and habitat for wetland species of interest have been very dry, hosting only the senescent remains of last years bloom. Much of the work of the Groveland Ranger District’s botany crew will be on the site of the 2013 Yosemite Rim Fire. The effects of the fire are dramatic and immediately visible across the landscape, with many areas being standing dead charred trees and salvage logging operations.

It will be interesting to see the combined effects of drought and fire in the Sierra Nevada this spring and summer. I’m also looking forward to exploring the abundant rock climbing on the granite of nearby Yosemite, Tuolumne Meadows, Sonora Pass and throughout the Sierra on the weekends!

Looking towards the Rim Fire

Mimulus pulchellus

Bouldering near the town of Columbia