Our second round of seed collecting is going full-force right now. Its been really cool revisiting sites we collected from in the spring, and seeing a whole new group of plants in flower. Fall colors are something I looked forward to every year in the Midwest, but the Mojave offers something special in a whole other way.

We’ve also been able to see more wildlife out and about, doing their pre-winter preparations. While collecting seeds all day, the aspiring naturalist in me gets distracted easily by any movements other than my own. Its exciting to see new wildlife every week, like the kit foxes and coyotes in the dunes, the multitude of insects and spiders (and my first tarantula!), and the migrating birds flying overhead, making their way south.  I have definitely had my share of mini-photoshoots out in the field. Here’s a little taste of autumn in the Mojave:

As the work progresses and the desert begins to cool down, what seems like a desolate land springs to life.  In the Lower Sonoran Desert we have continued
to work on our tortoise study.  We are using ground data and literature to refine spatial modeling to help better predict tortoise locations.  We are also helping through field work to make sure that valuable wildlife resources like
water drinkers are being maintained and not in need of repairs.  Having the opportunity to hike in bighorn sheep country is astounding.  The country in which they inhabit is truly challenging and show just how amazing they are.  That is all for now but more to come soon…

Who knew that beautiful mountains and forest existed immediately north of the L.A. suburbs? Probably lots of people know that; I was not one of them. Driving from the north into L.A., I was flabbergasted by the dramatic beauty of the San Gabriel Mountains. The dramatic peaks and valleys stretch out on either side of the highway. Seen from a distance the chaparral ecosystem that covers them has unique shapes and colors, very distinct from other mountains. The overall effect is breathtaking.

Before coming down to L.A., my original CLM internship position was located in southern Oregon in a small town at a BLM office. I went from that to a suburb of Los Angeles working for the Forest Service. The change was extreme, but I have enjoyed learning a whole new set of skills and the inner workings of another government agency. The hectic pace of a city put me off at first, but once I became accustomed to the sheer amount of humanity I began to like it. Plus, you can’t beat the convenience of living in an urban area.

I am working on the weed crew, doing invasive weed removal in the area of the Angeles Forest that was burned by the Station Fire two years ago. The work consists of hiking into canyons, following drainages and pulling invasive plant species by hand. Although the job is physically demanding, it is extremely rewarding.

Since the field season ended a few weeks ago I have been in the office working on various winter projects. One of my main tasks is to set up our new herbarium. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the herbarium at the University of Montana to get a better idea how to process and catalog different plant specimens.  The collections manager at the herbarium was nice enough to show me how to process and catalog different types of plant specimens. Altough our herbarium here at the BLM is much smaller it will be a great resource to have. I am also working on a sensitive and rare plant field guide for next field season,  which will help everyone out in the field to identify and document any sensitive plant species on BLM land. Although I have been working in the office I did get a chance to go out in the field last week. I got to tag along with a few of the foresters to go check on a thinning project that just started. I was really surprised to see how great the project looked, they were taking mostly dead lodgepole pine out of an old growth stand of douglas fir. I also got to see how they fell and buck the trees with big pieces of equipment called feller bunchers. Overall it was a really great experience to see how the process of thinning works and how it can be done in a sustainable way.  I learn something new everyday, this experience has been so awesome and I am grateful to be here for the next two months!