Snowy Crooks Mountain summit, Fremont County, WY

Only 7 days remain. It’s -4F at 6:15 this morning in Lander, WY—balmy compared to what Lander, much of Wyoming, and, for that matter, what many parts of the United States have seen in the past few weeks. The flooding Lander streets of June, the heat of July and August and an unforgettable week at the Grand Canyon to begin my internship feel like ages ago. The mornings of racing the sunrise into the field to inventory aquatic organism passage at road crossings, what?, that was part of this internship?

Sagebrush in January

It has been a busy eight months, full of smiles & laughter, loads of new knowledge, exploration, minor frustrations, and several new friends. To have spent my office days crouched at the base of the east edge of the Wind River Mountains was a thrill to a guy that has been itching to get back to the Rockies. And nearly every field day provided views of the Winds, too. And even as beautiful as these mountains are with the bright greens of summer, little I have seen in my life can compare to the absolute stillness of the wind-blown sagebrush backed by the snowy ribbon of peaks that I have admired over the past two wintery months. This puts a smile on my face. Pronghorn antelope, sage-grouse, elk, moose, bald eagles, golden eagles, ferruginous hawks (and at least half a dozen other hawks and falcons), mountain bluebirds and loggerhead shrikes (and dozens of other small birds), jack rabbits, cottontails, deer, coyotes, badgers, rattlesnakes, bull snakes, and trout: they all make me smile, too!

Periodically over the summer months, I would target a stream crossing on the map, chart my course, and head out to tackle the goal. Miles of some of the roughest roads I have driven in my life later, I would come to a fallen tree blocking the road or the road would completely fade into never-ending sagebrush or the turnoff I had planned to take on the map no longer actually existed. Or worst of all, I would get to the stream and find it was dry (a cow’s gotta drink, right?)! But, that’s data, that’s learning, and I certainly improved my wild terrain driving skills. Plus, these instances were few. Perhaps my most memorable stream crossing I reached (no pun intended) after a stretch of frustratingly-dense greasewood that encroached upon an already very narrow road, scratching the truck more than I would have liked. As I neared the crossing, I hopped out of the truck, walked the final few hundred meters, and found a beautiful, rushing creek no more than two feet wide.

Summer storm approaches near Cyclone Rim

It had not been disrupted by the presence of cattle, and as far as I could tell, very little by humans, either. Fish swam about upstream and downstream of the crossing (capable of passing the crossing, a good thing). Best of all, the downstream side of the crossing was loaded with wild currant bushes, and they were fruiting. That stream would have made an entire summer of bad luck and frustration worth it (but luckily it didn’t have to)!

Another bluebird day along the water!

A series of streams from another week toward the end of the inventory sticks with me vividly, too. I had to hike a couple miles overland and then into a canyon and over a few small cliff bands to a pair of crossings. The gully’s north side was loaded with pines, standing and fallen, and some unusually dense understory vegetation (for Wyoming). A bushwhack. I could tell early on that if road crossings had in fact existed in the area at some point, it was highly unlikely that they would still be present, and certainly not in use. But, it was a wonderful spot for a hike, and I wanted (and was supposed to) get to the crossing locations to be sure. After not finding any crossing to speak of at the first site, I hiked upstream for a rocky, heavily-vegetated half-mile or so to another couple of crossings. As I neared the next spot, and as I stepped over a large tree root, it clicked in my brain that my foot was about to come down on a rattlesnake, stretched out in the weak sunlight. Adrenaline helped me take a very long stride and luck showed the snake unconcerned with my presence. From a reasonable distance, I caught my breath and admired the snake for several minutes before continuing with the remainder of the day. Two days later, after hiking a loop of six or eight streams and nearly as many miles, working my way back up a long hill to the truck, I nearly stepped on a sunning bull snake. Lesson learned: I ought to tell my brain to keep an eye out for snakes in the sunning position, too, not just curled up!

If there were some need to “wrap up” my stories, it would happen right here. But, why stop now? On to new places, let the adventures go on!

Tyler Stuart

Lander, WY

BLM

Stationed out of Provo, UT we sat at the base of the Rocky Mountains and the beginning of the Great Basin Desert. A huge transition of two drastic environments. During the week for work we camped out in the desert, during the weekend I spent my time hiking in the mountains. Truely a great way to spend a summer. While out in the desert we spent our time looking for and collecting seeds of desert forbs like Ipomopsis sp. and Balsamorhiza sp. As the summer went on, we spent more of our time focussing on shrubs and sagebrush mainly since all the forbs were waining pretty quickly. The Provo group was made up of four CLM interns and we split up into two different “teams”. One taking a north rout, and one taking a south rout. I was a part of the north rout travaling along I-80 along western Utah and Northern Nevada ocasionaly travaling into Oregon and Idaho. Overall the 4 of us split up throughout the desert we managed to gather over 400 seed collections.

Well I had no idea that as an SOS Intern I would be able to work through January. I was worried there would not be enough to do. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much we were able to do in the off season. We were able to collect seeds from many species of shrubs (Rabbitbrush, Sagebrush, Shadscale, Saltbrush, etc.) till the beginning of December. Once we had finally finished seed collecting we had about 400 collections that needed to be entered into multiple databases for the BLM and our mentor. This became tedious, but it was nice to get experience working with different kinds of databases (HanDBase, BGBase, and Access). We also processed soil samples so we could calculate the textures and colors. Who knew soils came in so many different shades of brown! Next we sorted through all of our plant vouchers to be sent to the Smithsonian and the BYU herbarium. We mounted all of the vouchers that were to stay in the Provo Shrub Lab and printed labels for all of them.

We were also able to help our mentor out a lot with his planting studies. We helped him plant seed at the farm where we learned how to drive tractors! Luckily we were able to plant everything just one day before the first snow. We also helped prepare a soil transplant study and planted Ipomopsis aggregata seeds by hand in soil plugs. Since we had so few seeds, this is necessary to ensure maximum germination before they are transplanted at the farm plots. I noticed that in the off season, a lot of time is needed to wrap-up from the previous season and then get ready for the next summer season. It was really nice to gain that additional experience in the office so we could understand everything that encompasses seed collecting and planting studies.

Overall, I really enjoyed my internship. It introduced me to new ideas and conservation methods and gave me hands on experience. I really enjoyed being able to work outside and explore new areas that I had no idea were so beautiful! I was glad our internship was extended so we could collect more seed, finish our tasks thoroughly, and help our mentor with his studies. Being able to ski in Utah was also a plus!

Corey Sample, SOS Intern, USFS Provo Shrub Lab, UT

Over the past eight months I have had the opportunity to work for the Bureau of Land Management in Rawlins, Wyoming. My position not only allowed me to work in the field of wildlife conservation but it also gave me the ability to experience the wide open spaces of Wyoming.  I was able to work with several wildlife biologists as well as the outdoor recreation planner.

My job at the BLM was a specific project looking at whether or not meteorological towers are the cause of avian mortality. I was to go to my chosen met towers every day and survey for dead birds. Any birds that were found were recorded and all data collected was analyzed at the end of the field season.  Visual analysis was also recoded for as many met towers as my partner and I could navigate to. The visual analysis was conducted in order to see how far away we could see a tower and its diverters.  This project gave me the chance to enhance my field and office skills. I learned fast how to drive on some rough and sometimes scary two tracks. The only way to over come your fears is to face them and I must say one of those was getting stuck in the field. I am happy to say that I successfully avoided that! Many mud holes and and water puddles were defeated. I had a  couple of great mentors and a lot of support from other employees in the office. I could not ask to work with a better group of people.

The majority of my time with the BLM was independent field work and on occasion with my partner, so if you are not a self-motivated person, this type of work is not suitable for you. Being a part of the BLM required a week long training. This training gave me the chance to become CPR certified and learn the ins and outs of the BLM. That week also gave me the chance to meet other CLM interns as well as other BLM employees.  Also, my time spent at the CBG training at the Grand Canyon was informative and fun. I was able to get to know the other Rawlins interns better and meet more interns. It was an experience I will never forget.

Aside from my job I had most weekends off to explore the surrounding beauty of Wyoming and Colorado. I was able to enjoy fishing, hiking, geocaching and camping while in Wyoming. The wildlife alone was enough to make me want to see more. Not only was I able to visit a handful of national parks but  I had my first sighting of a black bear, badger, horned lizard, wolf, grizzly bear, golden eagle, and more. I learned that being in the middle of a wide open place like Wyoming, is truly an eye-opening experience. Although it took a couple of hours to get to any major city I had a great time working in Rawlins and will truly miss Wyoming. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back.  I believe that being able to visualize my internship is just as important as being able to read about it, so please enjoy all of the pictures that are attached.

Anna Salinas

Bureau of Land Management

Rawlins, Wyoming

The fall has proved to be a busy season for the Palm Springs field office. We hosted National Public Lands Day (a few months after the official date of National Public Lands Day, due to excessive heat) at Dos Palmas Preserve, where the majority of my work has been focused. After a visit to a local plant nursery, we were given the idea of supplementing our habitat restoration efforts with seedballs. We decided to use National Public Lands Day to recruit volunteers to make seedballs with us. If you’re wondering what a seedball consists of, here’s the magic recipe:

Our seed mix for the seedballs

Soil
Sand
Coconut fiber
Native seeds
Dry clay
Water

By including clay in the mixture the seedballs hold together, preventing ants and other hungry critters from stealing all of the seeds before they germinate. The seeds remain dormant within the seedball until a rain event occurs, and then the seedball breaks apart as the seeds begin growing. Our volunteers had a great time getting their hands dirty making seedballs with us; we had a huge turnout and got way more done than we had anticipated!

Making seedballs with volunteers

A group of National Public Lands Day volunteers with all of the seedballs they made!

A few weeks later, we coordinated a follow-up volunteer event to place the seedballs in test plots. I created a monitoring design that will be used over the next few months to determine if areas with seedballs have more seedlings coming up than areas without seedballs. I had a great time coordinating these volunteer events and learning about a new potential restoration technique; hopefully I’ll have some success stories soon!

Volunteers placing seedballs in a restoration area

A seedball waits for rain in the Colorado Desert...

A rare splash of fall color in the desert

Katie Kain
Palm Springs BLM Office

Enjoying the snow.

Working for the BLM out here really has been one of the most defining experiences of my life. Traveling across the country to work in a completely different environment and collecting seeds all summer really expanded what I had thought would be future career and education options. Because of this internship, I am planning to enter an MS or PhD program in botany and ecology, whereas when I graduated, I was entirely undecided and was trying to decide between close to ten different career paths.

I had the opportunity to get to know people from all over the country, and

Natural ice sculptures.

learn more about the workings of a government organization. On top of that, I learned way more about plants (and seeds!) than I did before, and got to spend most of my time outside in beautiful Wyoming. Really, what more can you ask of an internship?!

Best wishes for your own current and future experiences!

TTFN

Lara Kobelt

Rock Springs, WY

Winterwonderland

The touch of the summery sun that used to fill me with heat has cooled with the passing days to a merely luke-warmth, the green leaves on the trees have turned bright reds, yellows, and oranges and have since fallen to the ground, and to be covered by snow!  I have enjoyed what the Idahoan winter has had to offer me. I have gone snowboarding and sledding as well as enjoyed the snow showers and inspections of the intricate designs of tiny snowflakes (awe-some!).  As I was removing the snow off the windows of my car one morning before work I realized, “I am definitely living in the thick of snow…how cool!”  I had a more profound realization one evening after work when I was stuck in the snow in the parking lot!  Eventually I was freed, but not without assistance (apparently you’re supposed to kick the snow out and not into the back of the tires. Whoops!).  What a learning experience!  Now if I could only get over my fear of driving in ice!

Many hours have been spent stationed at my quarters toiling away entering data.

I have been doing more than enjoying the snow and fearing the ice of course. I have been shipping the seed that we have collected to Bend Seed Extractory and taking close up pictures of the seed before I do, as well as entering information from data forms for the 2010 collecting season into a database (BG Base). It’s a really dry database and not very user friendly (so it seems) until you get familiar with it. I have been able to decrease the time of entering each data form into the database with each passing day and can now mail merge like a pro! There were definitely times when I felt like I was dealing with a bottomless pile of data forms and data entry. However, I felt better about the situation when a friend suggested that I try to break down the pile of forms into smaller chunks. So, I stayed positive and broke down the pile and completed smaller sections instead of trying to do all of them at once. With the help of the suggestion and my changed perspective I realized I learned yet another tool for the toolbox that I’m sure will be useful in the future when the going ever gets tough again.

The soil scientists said it was better to classify color outdoors in the sunlight. So outside is where I was.

Although I’m done working in the field, the data sheet required one more task of me: to get my hands dirty and play with soil! I had to classify the soils for the sites we collected by feel of texture (from sand, silt, clay, loam, or anywhere in between) of moistened soil and by color using a Munsell color chart (to standardize what everyone calls a color). I had great help from the awesome soil scientists at the USDA/NRCS Service Center soil lab in Meridian, ID. With their help I was increasing my accuracy in in identifying texture by feel of soils. I had to ball up about 100 soil samples, so I started to get the feel for it by the end! It was fun, and according to my new soil scientist friends, I was picking up on it really fast (so perhaps there is a niche for me there..hmmm).

You can see the smaller bags of soil in that larger bag behind me.

The year is wrapping up and the 2010 collection information has to be sent in with a ribbon on top (the annual report). After that, I believe I am at the mercy of my mentor and his boss and what they need help with around the RMRS lab. Should be interesting.

Merry Marshall
Boise, ID
FS

Home for the holidays in a land of snow and ice, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the past nine months working as a Seeds of Success (SOS) Intern at the Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global.  Being back where I started prior to the internship makes me wonder if it all really happened or maybe it was just my imagination.  Did I really work in such extreme landscapes with crazy plants that look like the illustrations from a Dr. Seuss book?  Was I really there to see the subtle changes of seasons from spring to summer to fall and winter?

Blooming Desert

Working at a non-profit international research institute provided a tremendous amount of insight into the world of conservation.  Working as an SOS intern I developed an intimate knowledge of the plants of several ecosystems found in Southern California including: coastal sage scrub, chaparral, chaparral/oak woodland transition, high desert transition (Mojave/Sonoran), low desert transition, and desert.  It was a steep learning curve at first, but each day as the landscape became more and more familiar it was easier to rely on memory and basic botany skills to identify plant species.

I worked for the Applied Plant Ecology division of the Institute.  This gave me the opportunity to participate in other projects as well.  The Zoo has its own seedbank that aspires to maintain, in long term cold storage, a collection of seeds from each species found in San Diego County.  As part of the seedbanking efforts we had to care for the collections with steps beyond those SOS interns normally experience.

Duel Collecting

The seeds need to go through a series of techniques to remove excess vegetative material.  Different species have different methods that work best and could include rubbing, sifting, use of an air separator, and hand cleaning.  The process can be time consuming and in many cases it is a trial and error experience to determine the best techniques for each species.  Once the seed is clean it needs to be placed in desiccant chambers to dry before it can be packaged and placed in the freezer.  After being in cold storage for at least one year, germination tests are done to determine the best method of bringing the seeds out of dormancy.

Other projects I was able to work on were habitat restoration projects for the Stephen’s Kangaroo Rat and Coastal Cactus Wren.  This included: vegetation surveys, invasive species control, animal behavior studies, site preparation for small mammal relocation, bird surveys and song recording, cactus herbivory studies, seedling propagation, and site preparation for planting.

The hands-on experience in the field was great, but I also got to learn about other research being done at the Institute and by other organizations in the surrounding area during the Institute’s weekly seminar series.  I learned how the zoo combines research of the behaviors and needs of their collection animals at the zoo with studies conducted on wild populations.  The data are then applied to the conservation and restoration of natural habitats.  It was good to see that the conservation effort runs deeper than the charismatic mega-fauna that the public generally sees.  My invaluable experience at the Institute has broadened my knowledge and skill base in conservation action; I will carry this on with me as I develop my own conservation philosophy and build my career.

Contemplating the Scenery

Sarah Brewster

SOS Intern

San Diego Zoo Global

I spent the last month or so of my internship making GIS models and giving Kim, our wonderful receptionist, a hard time about there not being enough Christmas candy around the office. While this may not SEEM like a bang, it certainly was (you don’t know Kim…kidding…). Field season in Wyoming ended (mostly), and I continued to learn a tremendous amount inside!

My GIS models were regarding an area of land called “Fortification Creek” that is home to a well-loved and utilized (by some, anyway) herd of elk. The habitat is surrounded by non-habitat, and so, generally speaking, when habitat is destroyed by drilling, the elk don’t really go somewhere else, they just have less area in which to live. As a result, several individuals and organized groups of people are up in arms about the continued drilling in Fort Creek, but the developers have a lawful right to capitalize on their leases, which were sold years ago (see? Enter the “bang”). The BLM is supposed to manage all this.

My job was to create a GIS model that would standardize analysis of how much and which parcels of habitat would be lost with each drilling activity. Then, I executed the model for various areas of Fortification Creek and made maps in preparation for a meeting with management about well permitting. I also suggested a new metric for evaluating the quality of the remaining habitat.

In the process, I learned how to make models, about state director reviews of field office decisions, and about many more of the wildlife issues associated with oil and gas drilling in the Powder River basin. I wish I had been able to stay in Buffalo longer and develop that project more fully. It was exactly the sort of worthwhile activity I wanted to be doing, and my days flew by.

It really is a different world out there. How many APDs in the POD got SDRed? Who was the NRS? Yeah, thought so. The difference that I can see in myself, in terms of specific learned topics, general understanding of BLM/government workings, and philosophical maturity regarding energy development and wildlife, is huge. Situations are NEVER as simple as they seem, and there is almost always another (often quite reasonable) side of the story.

Working in the Buffalo Field Office was a pleasure. I have never worked in quite so friendly an environment, and I certainly plan to keep in touch with many of the people I met there. And, of course, it was hard to watch the Big Horns in the rearview… but I know I’ll be back. Thanks to all who made all this possible, and all who will come after and add to the ranks of people who really care.

Miriam Johnston
BLM Buffalo Field Office
Buffalo, WY