In addition to the valuable career experience gained through the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Conservation and Land Management (CLM) Internship program, there are plenty of good times to be had as a CLM intern! Anyone who pursues a career in conservation and land management must be willing to get his or her hands dirty. One must also be okay with other discomforts and what some may consider “unpleasant” encounters with various wildlife ranging from insects that enjoy a good blood meal (on you!) to plants that enjoy lathering you with their potent chemicals. In this field (either way you look at it–career field or the outdoor office), there’s just no way around the dirty work.

TICKS. A day in the field–espeically during the spring but also on spring-like days during any other season–must end with a tick-check. Finding just one on me can incite the psychological game of thinking that I keep feeling one crawling on me…This spring, I saw one in our work vehicle after it had not been used for at least 3 days and I have also found one in my place of residence…So look carefully! You never know where their hitch-hiking journeys will take them and get them closer to you, their potential feast. Has anyone researched whether the color of clothing worn is correlated to tick attraction? I think they like brown pants…

Tricky ticks…tiny, camouflaged, stealthy…they could move and hide anywhere without me even knowing–yuck!

BARBED GOATGRASS. “Yikes! Is that a grasshopper in my pants!? Oh, no. It’s just barbed goatgrass.” This is probably the typical thought process of anyone who walks through a patch of this horrible albeit effective invasive annual grass for the first time. Make it a contest: how far up one’s pant leg can a barbed goatgrass seed head go before it gets too annoying that it has to be pulled out? I had one come up out of the top of my pants…does that mean I win? 🙂

Head of invasive barbed goatgrass

Sea of barbed goatgrass on a rare plant preserve

Never underestimate barded goatgrass…it can and does enter the bottom of your pantleg and can maneuver all the way up to the top of your pants

YELLOW STARTHISTLE. Multiple ways exist to combat this nasty and highly invasive species in California, but it’s incredibly ept at reproducing profusely, flowering throughout the summer and fall, supplying the seed bank with a large number of seeds every year, choking out natives and taking over the landscape. Because I have been working on a rare plant preserve, we do not use herbicide but instead have been attacking armies of yellow star thistle by hand removal and bagging. How satisfying to remove them one-by-one and see an area of the preserve void of YST…at least for the moment as we may have left behind seeds, which is why combating invasives is a constant battle.

Yellow starthistle (most invasive weed in California?!) in bloom, defenses ready…

Pulling yellow starthistle at Pine Hill Preserve

“Yellow starthistle–you’re goin’ down!”

POISON OAK. Whether we like it or not, poison oak is native in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California. And, of course, one of the federally endangered plants at Pine Hill Preserve–El Dorado bedstraw–likes to grow in the understory of live oak or black oak woodlands…where it is not uncommon for poison oak to flourish. To make it even more exciting, this plant species is small and dies back every winter so to see it or find it among the oak leaf litter during its growing season, one must get close to them as well as these toxic chemical-exuding plants which love to cause itching misery to any who dare touch them…or simply brush against them unaware. But the icing on the cake: El Dorado bedstraw is dioecious. To try to gain an iota of understanding about this species to begin working toward development of appropriate conservation strategies for it, we attempted to identify male and female plants within two separate populations. This required getting on our hands and knees, bending our faces to the ground and using our handlenses to determine if the minute, pale flowers were male or female. Avoiding poison oak was impossible. So El Dorado bedstraw: small, inconspicuous, federally-endangered plant species which commonly grows among poison oak. No wonder not much is known about this species!

Poison oak…”Leaves of three, let them be.”

Stand of poison oak in autumn

Attempting to identify male and female plants of the diecious El Dorado bedstraw (federally endangered)

FUEL BREAK CONSTRUCTION. Fuel break construction is a top priority for the Pine Hill Preserve because the chaparral plant community is composed of highly flammable shrub species. Not only so, but the Preserve consists of five main discontiguous units; thus, the edge to core ratio is significant. Furthermore, the Preserve exists approximately 30-35 miles east of Sacramento, California, where the population is growing and development is expanding; hence, a notable portion of the Preserve’s boundaries are considered Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Because human health and public safety are a top concern and the potential for wildfires consistently exist (especially during the hot, dry summers and as fuel loads continue to increase), management of Pine Hill Preserve emphasizes a proactive, preventative approach by incorporating fuels management. Fuel breaks involve the removal of woody vegetation on BLM land which borders private property on which residences have been built; the typcial width of a fuel break is 100 feet. At the Pine Hill Preserve, shrubs are generally cut with chainsaws; the brush is masticated, chipped and deposited, or piled and burned. Because the majority of the rare plants at the Preserve either respond favorably to fire or require it for seed germination, prescribed burning is a preferred option to simultaneously promote public safety and rare plant conservation. Conducting a prescribed burn of brush piles in a densely developed area requires a lot of preparaton and specific environmental conditions; fortunately, this was achieved during April 2011 at Pine Hill Preserve.

I flagged rare plants while AmeriCorps crew members cut woody chaparral vegetation with chainsaws to construct a fuel break

TRASH REMOVAL.  Public lands are just that: land managed to be 1) used by the public for purposes appropriate to the nature of the land and its resources and 2) enjoyed by members of the public. Individual citizens (taxpayers) each have a stake in public land; along with this right comes the responsibility to respect and care for the land. Unfortunately, some assume that their right as a stakeholder permits them to utilize public lands as dumping grounds (for whatever reason…I assume it’s to save money and perhaps the time it requires to take it to a landfill or pay monthly garbage fees…but then it puts the cost of one individual’s trash removal on all taxpayers and takes away time that civil servants could otherwise be dedicating to valuable management activities). Preventative measures such as installing posts and signs work to prevent such illegal dumping on public lands…some of the time.

Household trash dumped at the Preserve

An old appliance dumped and lumber added to one of our brush piles–this can be dangerous and adds extra work for fuel reduction/fire crews who are already working hard

Illegal disposal of a sofa and mattress at Pine Hill Preserve (public land for the conservation of 8 rare plant species and the unique soil in which they grow) near a major highway; we loaded it and took it to a landfill

FACILITIES MAINTENANCE. Most folks who enjoy using public land for outdoor recreation activities (whether it be hiking, biking, equestrian use, birding, photography, rafting, fishing, hunting, etc.) appreciate the land, its natural resources, the opportunity to use the land, and the facilities constructed on the land for enhancing their recreational experience (i.e., parking lots, restrooms). Hence, they typically respect these aspects of public property by keeping it clean and restricting activity to what is allowed. However, there are always a handful of people who do not use public lands and facilities for the intended recreational uses; instead, vandalism becomes their “recreation activity” of choice. As satisfying as it is to clean up a vandalized site, I much prefer proper care and respect of public lands and facilities by all inidividuals. Civil servants whose job it is to maintain public facilities have a big (sometimes kinda nasty) job, but they also get to contribute to enjoyable projects such as staining a bridge to improve the aesthetics of a walking trail through a lovely natural area.

A vandalized restroom painted and repaired

Staining a bridge at Dave Moore Nature Area as part of a volunteer work day

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying their internship as much as I am. We have rocked the Special K Ranch native plant materials program this year. We have now planted around 50,000 Wyoming Big Sage seedlings. We have worked hard and have managed to fill all the orders. We have hit all of our goals and are now in the black on our inventory for next years planting season. I had some help from a few fire crews from the USFS in Nevada and the BLM fire crew in Billings with

transplanting them into their new pots.  It was a nice break for them from all the fires we have had and it was incredibly awesome for the residents of the ranch to be able to mingle with the people they admire so much.

When we were done for the day the crew let the residents tour the fire engines and play around with the lights and sirens. They had a great time with them!

Last Tuesday, I and three dozen of my Department of Interior coworkers from across New Mexico found ourselves back in the classroom. It could have been college. Except this was the office conference room, and our instructors were part of a cadre of retired BLMers and Forest Service folks sent to Carlsbad to give us a lesson in PFC. Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) is a tool for quickly assessing lentic and lotic, i.e. water-based, systems. While a lot of thought must go into completing the PFC, it’s actually a fairly straightforward list of 17 or 18 yes or no questions. What allows this simplicity is the team approach PFC takes. Each group must have at minimum a hydrologist, a vegetation expert, and a soils scientist. Discussion of each question is a must.

Wednesday continued the retro theme—field trip! Our interagency caravan went to apply our training at two sites along the Black and Delaware Rivers. My first thought was “goodness, I’m glad we have specialists with us.” Whether “floodplain above bankfull is inundated in ‘relatively frequent’ events” was beyond me. Our embedded instructor set the tone for a thorough discussion of each point, and though it was all I could do to follow the discussion at first, by the end of the second site I could advocate an opinion. And though I’m still no soil expert or hydrologist, I do have a feel for PFCs, a sense for the group dynamic and the considerations to bring to each question.

Since PFCs are conducted in the growing season and I have less than two months left in my internship, these assessments will not be the biggest takeaway from my CLM experience. Still, this training may prove valuable in the future. Riparian systems are a critical part of the landscape, and this assessment is not just BLM specific, but common to many resource management agencies. And as a final piece of good news, despite dire warnings about chiggers I came away from the training bite-free.

Sadly, this will be my final blog post as a CLM intern. I recently accepted a position as an Americorps volunteer as a Prairie Science Specialist at the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM, haha!) in Olympia, Washington! Check out www.southsoundprairies.org if you are interested! I just moved in yesterday, leaving Lakeview a few weeks early. I am super excited to be in Olympia (It’s between 2 awesome National Parks!!!) and to return to doing research, something that I really miss. . It’s quite an adjustment going from the extreme temperature fluctuations of the sagebrush steppe to the mild and rainy temperate rainforests and prairies. I have a lot of catching up to do on prairie ecosystems, and I can’t wait to learn about the projects going on at CNLM!

Last weekend a group of us drove around the remaining part of our weed mapping study area on our way to some hot springs in the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. As we sped past the tens of thousands of acres that will eventually be scoured meter by meter for invasive annual grasses, I realized how extremely vast our study area is. This trip really put things into perspective for me. I know we can’t possibly come close to meeting our initial mapping goals, but it is nice knowing that we are a small piece of the puzzle. Although I am quick to forget it, our work here really is important. Even though it may not always be very fun, exciting, or thought provoking, it is still a significant contribution to the land managers and others looking to make informed decisions about this huge expanse of public land.

Overall CLM has been a great work experience! I have learned a ton. A brief list would include: using Junos, keying out grasses, collecting seeds, monitoring range land health and utilization, navigating crazy BLM roads, and the importance of comfortable boots! It’s been great working with a variety of personalities and having a really laid-back boss, shout out to you, Brennan!

CLM has also been a great experience on a personal level. I’ve definitely gotten to know myself a lot better, I’ve had a chance to discover what I am really interested in, and pursue a (tentative) direction that I would like to go. Although I’m super optimistic about the future, I can’t help but be sad when I reminisce about the wonderful 4.5-ish months spent in Lakeview. I’ve learned so much including: how to French braid, how to eat more vegetables, how to play darts, and I’ve even learned to like some country music! Most importantly I’ve learned that saying yes to an adventure is always more fun than staying home.

I am definitely going to miss all the good times and the awesome people that have been such a huge part of my life here. It’s amazing how quickly complete strangers can become your best friends. It was super difficult to say goodbye, I wish I could just take everyone with me so that I would never have to say it! Farewell fellow CLMers! If you are in the Seattle/Olympia area anytime between now and next September please let me know, I would seriously love some visitors!

Over and out,
Sarah Krock
Lakeview BLM

The past few weeks have seen me chasing grouse all over hill and dale. I don’t know if grouse have a great appreciation for scenery, but they sure do love to hang out on top of hills with beautiful views. Though I’ve mastered the tools of telemetry sometimes it still throws surprising curveballs. Once we heard a pretty strong signal from the top of a mountain. We went down to the foot of the mountain, hiked around searching for the signal, and finally found it faintly pulsing from miles away in the valley. From the opposite side of the valley we could hear it ever so faintly back in the interior. With square miles of roadless valley between these two listening points we had to stop for the day and hope that the bird moves by the next time we look for it.

One of the perks of tramping these hills is all the other wildlife that turns up. Like the golden eagle perched solemnly on a fence post or darting kestrels with voles hanging from the talons. Tiny praying mantises with stunning defensive displays. When we startle a herd of deer or family of antelope I think of the hunters who would enviously place themselves in our shoes. Of course that’s what makes the area so splendid. It is public land so anyone can come and stalk around and see the awesome animals and even hunt them if that is their desire.

Much of the area inhabited by the grouse is the site of an old burn. It’s fascinating to see the progression of recovery. The diversity of forms post-burn that attracts the grouse. I’ve seen all stage of burning at this point. An actually fire, its terrible billows of greasy, poisonous smoke. So visibly foul and polluted, striking fear even when one is safely out of the way. Since then I’ve seen a wash of green grass appear in a matter of days on the slopes. We visited another burn site where the BLM had flown seed and was chaining the ground to turn up the soil and promote germination. A powerful piece of machinery. At the same site a bullhog was in action, placidly chomping down on the  the charred junipers. It’s very thought-provoking to see these powerful forces of destruction, both wild and man-made, that are contradictorily serving to revitalize the landscape.

My internship here ends in just a couple of weeks. Let’s hope I’ll manage to track down the lingering confounding grouse and see the elusive wash of green on the burn fill out and soften the blackened hillsides.

Hello again,

I am currently working on my 6th month here in Coos Bay, Or and it has been a few since I last posted. Things have been going well here on the coast, still plenty of weeds to inventory. I have found it very interesting to watch each plant as well as all the native plants go through their phenology as the summer season progressed. Now that the fall season has arrived, many of these species are shutting down with the much shorter and overcast days and everything is coming to full circle for the year.

One of the most exciting personal side projects I have out in the field along with my bird, herptile, and mammal lists is finding and sampling all the different berries Oregon has to offer. I believe I have successfully sampled all known edible berries except a few that I am currently waiting on to come into season. Each day out in the coastal mountain range never seems to get old. I enjoy so much getting to work in or near some of our late successional reserves and get to enjoy the look of an old growth (some sights not even logged) mixed coniferous forests. It has been such a great experience here getting to experience an entirely new ecosystem and have learned so much.

Luckily, I get to continue working here through the middle of December and will continue surveying as long as it is possible then switch to do some GIS work on the data collected from this season. I have very much enjoyed this position and look forward to the next 3 months I have left here in Oregon.

Nathan Reese

Earlier this week I did something a bit different and attended the inaugural “Outdoor Summit for Youth” BLM conference with a couple other CLM interns.  There were lots of BLM staff and representatives from other governmental agencies and non-profits in attendance.  The conference was put on by the BLM in California with a goal of finding ways to improve young people’s access to and connection with the outdoors.  The BLM wants to better educate, engage, and employ youth to inspire interest in natural resources and to cultivate future leaders.  I’m very excited to see that the BLM recognizes the challenges they face in reaching younger people, especially in underserved communities.  Like most CLM interns, I already have a love for the outdoors and want to work in the environmental field.  It’s hard to say which experiences sparked my interest, but I think it’s important that everyone be given the opportunity to go on a hike for a field trip or go camping or help out with a restoration project or really do anything that creates some curiosity about the outdoors.  I’m already aware of how many incredibly opportunities this internship program has given me to grow and gain new experiences.  However, attending this conference made me realize just how lucky I am and how important it is for others to gain access to similar opportunities.  I’m curious to see what sorts of ideas the BLM took away from the summit but am also glad to be out of a conference room and back at the PMC.

It is my last day here in Klamath Falls, OR, after an awesome internship with USFWS.  I can now PIT-tag fish, electrofish streams, net shock fish like a pro (well, more like an amateur that doesn’t suck quite as much as when she started), stream survey like nobody’s business, and have learned some pretty nifty excel and GIS tricks along the way while wading through our season’s data.  Probably the most fun I’ve had is getting know, camping with, and generally having an awesome time with my fellow interns.  Thanks guys, for a most excellent field season.

My first thought upon arrival at the Lakeview office this summer, looking up at the towering stacks of trend monitoring binders, was “yeah, right.” With 158 three-inch binders full of trend plots in combination with the person-sized cabinets of utilization and project folders, I figured there was no reasonable way we would even open most of them. You know where this is going; four months later I can look at most of those binders and see accomplishment instead of a mountain of endless work. Now starts the real fun of synthesizing all our data with those from the past 40 or more years to determine rangeland health and to assist in the writing of numerous EAs.

Our field season here was wonderful. In addition to learning a ton about plant systematics, ecology, and management practices, we had a lot of fun driving all over the resource area. As a biology purist, I’ve never been very interested in rocks but the area around Lakeview has some of the most interesting geology I have ever seen. In case the southern Oregon desert isn’t high on your list of tourist destinations, consider looking up some of the amazing places we have been on field days: Fort Rock, Crack in the Ground, Hole in the Ground, the sunstone collection area, Abert Rim, the Coyote Hills, the Christmas Valley sand dunes, the obsidian needles mines, and the various lava flows, uplifts, and mesas common to the area.

Although the amount of daily driving has skewed my version of “close,” there are also some amazing sites within a few hours for weekend trips. This little town in the middle of nowhere turns out to be smack dab in the middle of everything. I have not had a single disappointing weekend so far what with the accessibility of Mt. Shasta, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Eugene, Bend, Sisters, Mt. Bachelor, Reno and Lake Tahoe, Boise, and even Portland. It has been a great summer for camping and adventures, but fall is in the air (it has already gotten down to the 30s and 40s here at night) and I’m excited to see what the next few months will bring.