It is hard to believe that 5 months can pass so quickly. I came into this internship with high expectations, and yet this program managed to exceed those expectations! I have learned so much in ways I did not anticipate. I am very grateful for the experience working within the Bureau of Land Management. It was a great introduction for what to expect with a career in a government agency.

I have moved away from home before, but I always had a friend making the transition with me. For the first time in my life, I moved to a place where I knew absolutely no one. Yes it was scary, but it was a wonderful learning experience and an opportunity to grow as an individual. Throughout my time in Susanville I met so many wonderful people, and I am sad to say goodbye.

The West has really stolen my heart. From the mountains to the coast, I love it all.

My next goal is to work in a National Park. If anyone knows of any good opportunities, please let me know!

Cheers,

Rachael Payer

When I first started this internship, I was doing more Seeds of Success Collections than anything else. We were completing 1-3 collections every day and monitoring nearby special status plant populations. Now it’s that time of year where most species in our field office are well beyond the point of collecting.

I really enjoyed the collections, but I am grateful for the opportunity to learn new things. One new field experience is vegetation mapping sagebrush populations. Another fun new experience is raptor surveying. My fellow interns and I are also in the process of designing a monitoring program and potential expansion of a Buffaloberry exclosure. We were certainly surprised when close to thirty long-eared owls emerged from the shrubs! It was very exciting to see so many at once.

I have also had the opportunity to refresh my environmental education skills. I developed a botany lesson plan and taught a home school group of roughly 20 5th graders. We hiked on the Bizz Johnson Trail for 2 hours as I taught them about the native plants.

Teaching on the Bizz. Photo Credit to Jeff Fontana of the BLM Eagle Lake Office.

Luckily for the drought, not every day has been sunny and beautiful (although most are!). We have been getting some rain in the Eagle Lake field office. This has given us time to catch up on office work. We have been finishing up our SOS forms and preparing the herbarium specimens to send out soon. We have also been helping with an ongoing project of digitalizing the ELFO’s herbarium.

As usual, my weekends have been full of new adventures. A few new places I’ve explored are Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a black sand beach, and Whiskeytown’s numerous waterfall trails.

One of Whiskeytown’s beautiful waterfalls

I really recommend taking a road trip on the scenic highway 395. Yosemite National Park and Lassen National Park are definately main attractions, but the route has many other gems. The route itself offers breath-taking views of the Sierra Nevadas and even the trailhead for Mt. Whitney. I explored the mammoth lakes area, including the columnar basalt formation, Devil’s Postpile. I also checked out some geothermal areas, including a hike along Hot Creek and a soak in Wild Willy’s hot springs. Convict Lake has absolutely stunning views, making for an enjoyable hike. One of my favorite stops was the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. There is something magical about being surrounded by trees which have lived for thousands of years.

Convict Lake

The Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Only one more week to go!

Cheers,

Rachael

We have been busy busy interns at the BLM Eagle Lake office. We have been monitoring several species of special status plants in addition to our Seeds of Success collections.

Saving the world, one SOS collection at a time

Although  grass collections such as Squirrel Tail and Great Basin Wild Rye go much faster, I have a soft spot for berry picking.

My beloved Bitter Cherry

Although I do enjoy the work itself, my favorite part of this internship is spending everyday out in the beautiful field office. It is amazing how one day we can see for miles, and the next day be surrounded by thick smoke from the surrounding wildfires.

Cheers to lunch with a view!

Of course the job does have its down sides…

You think LA traffic is bad? Try the Eagle Lake field office! We have been caught in numerous traffic jams.

We certainly enjoy our weekend adventures, both local and afar.

I recently visited McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park for a full day of hiking. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through the park, and I was lucky to meet some thru-hikers who have been going strong for 1,418 miles so far. I’ve been inspired to attempt the trail myself someday!

The beautiful Burney Falls

Other adventures include Yosemite National Park, Lassen National Park, and Lake Tahoe. I certainly do not like wasting a single weekend in such an awesome part of the country!

Cheers,

Rachael

Greetings!

A lot has happened in only two short weeks in Susanville, CA. I joined a team of three other CLM interns at the BLM Eagle Lake office. We are having a blast! We have done a lot of special status plant monitoring, and I have already helped with 9 seed collections for the Seeds of Success Program. We have collected Trefoil, Mint, Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Desert Yellow Fleabane, and Squirreltail. There are also some populations of Rock Buckwheat that should be ready to collect within the next week.

The work itself is fun, and there are many other things that make our days so enjoyable. While checking the status of some Buffaloberry, I happened to notice several owl nests with at least 100 pellets beneath them.  It was also really neat to see wild horses and burros for the first time. We were even lucky enough to witness a newborn calf take its first steps!

My first 2 weeks went by so fast, and I am excited for all the adventures still to come. I love working in such a beautiful place!