The time has flown by so quickly during my internship here in Alturas and, just like that, it’s already over! This internship has been a really amazing and valuable experience and I really could not have asked to be part of a better program. I started my internship with very little experience outside of undergraduate research and have gained so many valuable skills, including general monitoring and surveying protocols that can be useful in countless different field positions and specialized knowledge on the plant and bird diversity in northeastern California. Everyone that I met and got to know during the internship, at the BLM office and elsewhere, were more than friendly and were always helpful. Our mentor was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to ID essentially any plant species in our resource areas, regardless of reproductive stage. Just about everyday of work was enjoyable for me. Whether I was conducting raptor surveys and bird inventories, monitoring raptor nesting habitat, collecting seed, conducting rangeland health assessments, monitoring plant populations and so forth, I was being payed to hike through scenic wilderness areas and work with plants and animals. In addition to assisting our mentor (a botanist and rangeland manager) in fieldwork, we also worked with wildlife biologists and archeologists during the internship.

Alturas may not have been the best place to live as someone single and in their 20s, given the sparse human population in and around the area. Nevertheless, Alturas was a beautiful place to live. The South Warner Wilderness Area is about a 25-minute drive from Alturas, so I was able to frequently make trips there on the weekends. The Warner Mountains seem to be a hidden gem – aside from on Saturdays, I rarely encountered other hikers in spite of how spectacular the trails are. I did, however, frequently encounter bald eagles, golden eagles, great horned owls, and even a black bear on one occasion. My adventures through the Warners were incredible and, in my opinion, on par with hikes I’ve done through Yosemite, Lassen, and other areas in California.

one seeded pussy paws

Cows and calves

Sunrise over Alturas

Burney Falls

Baker’s globe mallow

Desmocerus aureipennis

raptor observation point

South Warner W.A.

Hi everyone,

A lot has gone on since my last blog entry. Many seeds have been collected – both SOS and local restoration collections – and many cows have been counted! Most of our time has been spent on SOS collections. We’ve done lots of rangeland health and utilization assessments and plot readings using belt transects and gap intercept measurements. Monitoring of rangeland (i.e. looking for trespassed cattle and counting and getting brands; checking the success/failure of reservoirs and presence of noxious weeds) is also a common weekly task. I’ve also done several rare plant surveys, which I really enjoy. We also conducted a plant inventory for a large riparian area, which was really fun and I’m sure we’ll return there for a wild rose collection or for further monitoring/inventory. One day was spent assisting the archeology crew in a survey, and soon we’ll participate in a raptor survey and possibly participate in a pika survey during the ‘pika blitz’

bugs on basin wild rye seed head

Clarkia borealis

garden spider

scarlet gilia

Brokeoff Mt. peak

Hood’s phlox

Clarkia borealis

My time at the BLM field office in Alturas, CA, totaling about 2.5 weeks, has been great. Alturas is a very small and quiet town, with a population just under 3,000, and, oddly enough, it is the most populated city in the county. Since westerners came to the area in the late 1800’s and began suppressing the natural fire regime, juniper trees (although native) have gradually gained status as an invasive plant, thus a lot of the work done here at the field office is focused on juniper eradication and sagebrush steppe restoration. We will do some sagebrush restoration fieldwork during the internship – presumably, this will mostly be planting propagated sagebrush in areas that have recently experienced wildfire or large-scale juniper eradication. We will also assist other staff members on various projects including archeological surveys and raptor surveys.

Thus far, the work rate has not been terribly high, largely due to the bloom period for many of the SOS target species, and a lot of my time has been spent in the office doing training and reading field guides and dichotomous keys to familiarize myself with the local flora and the SOS target species. We are beginning to spend a lot more time in the field as of late, which is pleasing. Some of the more exciting days have been spent in the southern allotments, scouting the area for blue oaks to determine where the northernmost individuals of the population/subpopulation are. We’ve also spent some time scouting a grazing allotment to monitor several rare and threatened plant species that grow there. We recently visited a large riparian area to which we will return and collect an inventory of the plant species growing in the area. Much of the work done during the duration of my internship will be collecting seeds for the SOS program, monitoring rare/threatened plant species, and conducting plant inventories.

broadstemmed onion

red larkspur

deer brush

narrow leaf phacelia

Mahala mat

western columbine

Indian paintbrush

American vetch

larkspur sp. unknown

Cedar creek trail