Calochortus brumeaunis

Lupinus argentus var. argentus

So what does a seed scouting mission look like? Scouting for seeds takes a surprising amount of time and effort, and my technique for doing the scouting is an evolving process. Here’s what it looks like at the moment:
Monday, I went out scouting. I was scouting for two Crepis species, C. acuminata and C. occidentalis, two hours north in the Bodie Hills. At my first stop I found plenty of C. acuminata, and also stopped to key out and collect a specimen of Calochortus brumeaunis. My next stop was further up the highway. I was concentrating of finding Crepis occidentatlis, as I had not seen any sign of it at my first stop. While I did find lots of the other Crepis species that I was looking for, I could not positively identify C. occidentalis. Instead I identify a large population of Lupinus argentus var. argentus, for which I collected a few voucher specimens in case I decide to go back to collect seeds. My last stop was supposed to check out a population of lupine and prickly phlox further into the Bodie Hills. After surviving road construction delays, and bumpy dirt roads, I turned into the pasture through which I had to pass to get to these two dense clumps of plants. About a quarter of the way down the road I found myself at a stream crossing that had not been there the week before when we found the populations. But I had heard stories about people getting stuck at this spot in the mud. I got out of the truck to look at it. It was 18 inches deep. I could go through and have accomplished something with my afternoon, or I could get stuck, and have to call in to get someone to unstick me from the mud. I decided to back up and try to find another population.

Crepis acuminata

The training in Chicago was a welcome change from the desert, and it was a lot of fun to meet the other CLM interns and hear about their experiences.

Giant Allium

In addition to the important things we talked about, like working for federal agencies and more about the program, it was wonderful to spend some time in the Chicago Botanic Garden!  Very different from the Mojave Desert, with gorgeous and unusual flowers, not to mention the abundance of water, but very enjoyable.

A tarantula hole

Since returning to Nevada, we have worked on perennial plots, mostly in Barstow, CA.  The hiking can be intense in the heat, but we get some amazing views.  Summer is definitely the time for animals to hide, but we still manage to find some lizards and insects.

An old miner's house, maybe?

Old car

We also come across interesting man-made objects, like old cars and abandoned buildings.  In the coming weeks, we will be working on entering all our data from the season, which will be interesting.  Hopefully we can get a little more time outside before we are done!



The high desert district of southwest Wyoming may seem like a barren land, but in reality it is host to a whole cast of interesting critters. While mapping Mountain Plover habitat, our paths were constantly crossed by quick-footed prairie dogs (or p-dogs) and ground squirrels. P-dogs not so anxious to get across the road ahead of us sat on their burrows, Buddha-bellies inflated in front of them. More excitingly, we were lucky enough to spot three Burrowing Owls in, which had taken over two former p-dog abodes. Burrowing Owls take advantage of the many burrows created by p-dogs. Burrowing Owls are shy when approached by humans on foot, but surprisingly remain sentinel by their burrows when approached by trucks, which allowed us some pretty good views and photos. We had an opportunity to learn about other neat owls in Wyoming when we did an owl survey late one clear night during a full moon. We spent that time with members of the Forest Service working in Bridger National Forest. Three sensitive owls live in southwest Wyoming, including the Boreal Owl and the Great Grey Owl. We stood under the stars and broadcasted the calls of these owls from what looked like a small stereo with two speakers in hopes that any nearby owls would return with their own calls. Being late in the season for owl surveys, we were fortunate to hear a Great Horned Owl.

We’ve spent much of our time continuing Mountain Plover habitat mapping–for which we have covered approximately 25,000 acres. We have also participated in Multiple Indicator Monitoring (MIM) to assess stream quality and Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) assessments for streams. During all this time we’ve spotted multiple species of raptors, including the Ferruginous Hawk (a.k.a. ferroog), Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Kestrel, and Northern Harrier. The nest below is a nest made by a ferroog. They typically build their nests on cliffs or rock ledges. We saw some recent Golden Eagle fledglings, who were taking frequent rests on ridges.

Another disheartening, but enlightening wildlife find would be the multiple dead fawn we have found throughout our travels. Wyoming experienced a particularly harsh winter, and it took its tole on the mule deer population. It has indicated that only 16% of the newborn fawn survived through the winter and spring months. Luckily the mule deer that have survived look hardy and healthy.

The highlight of the last couple weeks would have to be the spotting of the rare light morph Greater Sage Grouse hen and her six poults of normal gray coloration. No one in our field office had seen a sage grouse of such coloration and our photo below was added to the office wall of fame.

-Larry Ashton and Kira Hefty

What a whirlwind these past weeks have been! After a brief week working with my mentor in the BLM , it was off to the Midwest to attend the CLM training workshop at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

I arrived in the Windy City as one of fifty interns who traveled from their positions out west to attend the weeklong workshop.  Our training was based out of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Science Center.  Nestled among beautiful gardens, the building is a recent addition fulfilling the dual purpose of scientific research and outreach and education — showing the public that scientists are real people too!  Throughout the week our curriculum covered everything from the history of the Bureau of Land Management and plant taxonomy/ identification to proper seed collection protocol and mitigating field hazards.

Although training entailed several powerpoint presentations, we were also able to put our new skills to the test in the CBG’s nearby gardens and habitat preserves. I was given the first-hand opportunity to encounter the frustrations of using a dichotomous key to identify unknown plants and face the difficulty of determining the proper plant sampling technique.  Although challenging at times, with our instructors’ knowledge and support at our side we were able to master new skills and even have a few good laughs along the way.

Training was not only a great opportunity to brush up on skills vital to my new internship, but also to meet many of my fellow interns.  I had a blast hearing about the beautiful scenery, management projects, and general ridiculousness that others have experienced during their positions.  It’s nice to know that regardless of how challenging my job may be at times I’m not in it alone.

Near China Lake

The desert has a surprising variety of landscapes. The only downside is that you have to travel far and over some truly rugged terrain to see them. Even after several months working all over the Mojave Desert I am still struck by how few people have the opportunity to see the places I have been.

5 minute rainstorm

Often the weather can be unpredictable, but this can lead to some very interesting scenery.

Red Rock Canyon

Rainbow Basin

Every week I still see something new, leaving me with the sense that I could never truly see all that is out there. Which is fine with me, I hope to never run out of new places to experience.

I have been in my internship for about 4 months now, which is primarily collecting seeds for Seeds of Success. My team and I have been collecting like crazy, for almost all of the time we have been here, and have made about 40 collections total thus far. While I have learned a lot about the plants and landscape of the Mojave, and knew my work was important for restoration, I didn’t fully understand why…didn’t get the “big picture”. Until now. I recently attended the CLM training and, shortly after, a Desert Restoration Workshop, where I learned how important native plant materials programs are. I also learned how programs like SOS are highly valuable for ecological restoration, as there is a “need for seed” in the Mojave (and elsewhere). Arid ecosystems in general are slow to recover from disturbances, which include land use for solar and wind projects, recreational uses, exotic species, and waste dumping, just to name a few. And things are also shifting due to climate change. Often the balance of these ecosystems is upset beyond the natural point of return, because the rate of change far exceeds the speed of ecological adaptation capabilities. This is where active restoration comes in to place, as well as a preventative-like type of restoration with the creation of adaptive communities. Native seed collecting, over a wide range of habitat in order to match specific plant types to their matching microclimates, is really at the basis of these restorations today. And this is what Seeds of Success is all about. I am excited and proud to be a part of such a movement.

The rainy spring and early summer made it feel like we were never going to get out in the field. It was not wasted time, though, because we were able to do a lot of research on what plants would be good to target for collection. Now a good number of these plants are producing seed and the excitement is growing as we keep monitoring for the perfect time to harvest. To date we have been able to do collections on three different species and anticipate many more in the near future. I still haven’t got used to the fact that something so enjoyable is my job. It truly makes me appreciate this time in my life, and I look forward to the surprises each new day brings.

A little over a month and a half ago, I loaded up my little Saturn to the roof and began my two day, 19 hour trek from my home in Missouri to my new home in Southwestern Utah. I will admit, I was scared out of my mind. The furthest west I had ever been was Kansas and I wasn’t sure what to expect living alone, 1300 miles from everything I’ve known for 22 years. Despite my initial uncertainty and fear, the move ( and internship) have changed my life both professionally and personally in ways I never thought possible. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with both western plants and animals. The projects that I am currently working on include assessing vegetation plots, using telemetry to track our local Greater Sage Grouse population and conducting fenceline surveys.

My most memorable experience thus far?  Tracking and flushing my first Sage Grouse.  I had never even seen a Sage Grouse and had  no idea what I was getting myself into. It was a female and I spent about 30 minutes triangulating her position. I was completely estatic when the graduate student I was working with informed me that we were close enough that I could hop out of the truck and follow my female on foot. I wiggled and twisted my way up a hill scattered with sage brush, intently focused on the steady beeping coming from my telemetry set, letting me know I was closing in. Suddenly and unexpectedly she flushed about four feet in front of me, literally almost scaring me to death. The loud noise of her beating wings made me jump so bad that I scared the graduate student who was another ten feet behind me. I had done it! It was such a rewarding experience. I turned to the graduate student with the biggest smile on my face and she smiled back saying, ” Congrats, you just tracked and flushed your first bird.”

The feelings and experiences I’ve been blessed with are ones I will never forget and though I wouldn’t have guessed it two months ago, Southwestern Utah is exactly the place I want to be.

The days are flying by on the west side of the country. Working ten-hour days in the hot sun make the weeks jet past, while the weekends fill up with their own time-crushing diversions.

July started off with a bang for me at the High Sierra Music Festival, and a hang gliding flight. I followed that up with a trip back home to South Dakota the next weekend. After so much traveling I was excited to spend some quality time in the field and in my trailer.

At work seed collecting season is in full swing. The pressure is on to meet the ARRA collection requirements of the internship because most of the species on our target list mature within the same three weeks. This is no time for slacking. Calluses have begun forming between the pointer fingers and thumbs on my hands, and I’m running out of music to listen to on my iPod, but a feeling of satisfaction comes after each collection is complete. Although stripping seeds from plants might not be the most exciting activity of the internship, it makes me feel productive to know restoration work will be the direct results from my actions. It has also given me the opportunity to really explore the large Lakeview BLM resource area. The diversity of landscapes in southern Oregon continues to amaze me.

As July comes to an end, I find myself wishing summer would slow down (well, maybe not between the hours of seven to five).

The lengths I'll go to collect seeds!