Another month has passed working at the BLM office in Safford, AZ and it is hard to believe the summer is almost gone. I have extended my internship, and am thrilled that I have more time to be involved with all the interesting projects that my mentors are working on.

Our crew has been working on restoration projects a lot within the last month. Sands draw is a 480 acre wildlife exclosure in the Sam Simon Valley. This area has excluded grazing in recent years in an attempt to re-establish a native grassland. The San Simon Valley use to be almost entirely grassland, but in the late 1800’s was so over-grazed and degraded that cresote scrub-bush dominates now. The workn in this exclosure consists of digging holes, pre-watering the holes, planting native grass seedlings with a product called dry-water, rock and straw mulching the seedlings, and then top-watering the plants. It is a time consuming process, and the seedlings must be handled with care to ensure their success. Our BLM crew has worked in this area several times, and last week an American Conservation Experience crew traveled to the area to assist in this work as well. Having a larger number of workers in the area brought new challenges, but also allowd us to get a lot of seedlings in the ground. Due to the complexity of the process used to plant the grass seedlings, teaching a large group of mostly inexperienced workers took time. Once the group was up to speed on the procedure the work went smoothly.

The last day the crew was in the field with us, we went to another wildlife enclosure called Howards Well. This area has a large pool that is home to populations of Desert Pupfish and Gila Topminnow. The sedges and cattails that ground around the waters edge have begun to severely encroach on the water habitat. The plants have to be cut back in order to prevent too much sediment build up and complete loss of water habitat. The crew helped us to clear the pond of the sedges and cattails with hand saws. The work that the ACE crew assisted us with was very strenuous and challenging and they should be commended for their endurance.

I am continuing to prep for SOS scouting trips and collections. We will be doing our first SOS collection next week! Very exciting. I finished a study guide of all of our target species and rare plants to keep an eye out for, and in down time look over the guide to be ready for collecting season. I have also been introduced to GIS and am learning to transfer coordinates from my GPS unit to GIS. We will also be using GIS to look at soil maps in an attempt to find areas where certain plant populations may be likely. GIS is a daunting program with so much information to offer. I am excited to become more familiar with it and learn more ways in which it can assist me in my work.

Work in Bonita Creek to removal non-natives continues. It is a staple to our fieldwork and we don’t usually make it more then a couple weeks without visiting the stream. Its a lovely place to work though, and I enjoy knowing that it will be part of my schedule. However, at some point the non-native removal will be a complete success hopefully and the native populations will be able to thrive without our weekly intrusions.

An exciting meeting took place several weeks ago in which myself and five others met to discuss possible project ideas at Discovery park, Eastern Arizona Community College’s auxiliary campus. Jeff had the awesome idea that we should install a pollinator garden. The plans are in motion now, and the group that will be working on the project, myself included, is an interesting collaboration that will undoubtedly produce amazing results. Discovery park is expansive, and many other project ideas were discussed at the meeting as well. The potential in this park is really thrilling. The new greenhouse is up and running now and Alex Dragotakes, the greenhouse manager, has started seeding! The greenhouse grand opening is just around the corner, and I think the community is really in for a treat.

My days continue to be varied and fulfilling. I’ve already learned so much in my time here, and am very pleased with my growth in field biology, restoration, and conservation. I hope all the other interns are enjoying their experience as much as me 🙂

the mystery collector?

Stepping into the Sagebrush Steppe

My Conservation Land Management and Seeds of Success internship started out a bit abruptly. I went from just beginning to settle into a job at a local native plant propagation nursery when I heard about this fantastic opportunity to be a part of the Seeds for Success program and contribute to the International Seed repository at Kew Gardens in England. I jumped ship (actually with great support from the nursery) for this opportunity. With some quick response on my part (and fabulous support), I found myself (albeit a bit late in the season) here at Oregon’s Prineville BLM and contributing to not only Sage Grouse Restoration , but also the SOS program.
I missed the training in Chicago where I would have met Krissa and the Staff at Chicago Botanic Garden as well as the other CLM interns, but I have been following the blog entries to catch up and expose myself to what everyone else has been doing. Thanks for the Support Krissa and the help getting me on the payroll so quickly!
Coming into this program in the High Desert in mid-July meant that much of what is out in the Sagebrush steppe was decadent.” Necrobotany” so to speak! The high desert is full of color early and as the heat builds, so dies the vegetation… and that is in June. It’s a mad race now to find a live specimen for the herbarium and collect seeds before they all drop. I try to be in the field all 4 days a week.
My area for collection is huge and on the far end of the district. Like all the other interns, it seems, I make the long drive to the office only to pick up a rig and head back the other way to the field area for collection. At least I can do much of my scouting on good gravel roads to start and have not yet had to use a UTV (not having time to get certified on some of the other equipment has definitely reduced my options and encouraged me to hike and bike a lot more into potential collection sites). I don’t have a SOS team here in Prineville but I have been welcomed by field technicians as they head out to the field and they invite me along when they know of a good collection site for me. I get to benefit from their expertise and knowledge.

Castilleja chomosa ( red)

One of my first forays with my supervisor, Kristin Williams, was monitoring one of the special status populations of Calachortus longebarbatus (It was still there considering the pressure of gazing in the Big Summit Prairie area of the district),

calochortus longebarbatus

Luina serpentine ( did not find the populations) and assorted Castillejas . On the way I had some great views and a great population of Castilleja chromosa ( in yellow and red) and monarda fistulosa to contemplate.

Castilleja chromosa (yellow)

For my bigger collections, I have been lucky to have the support of the Heart of Oregon Youth Corps (part of Americorps). While most of the crew admitted they did not to want to do this for a living, they good naturedly took direction and supported the effort. It’s much easier to collect 20,000 seeds in a day with 10 people than with one! Together we reached our 20,000 seeds for Carcocarpus ledifolius, Eriogonum saphaerocephalum, Tetradymia canescens, Kolleria cristata, and hopefully a few more.

collections spilling out of my cubby

My cubby is starting to look like a fire hazard with bags of seeds spilling out into the walkway. Bend Seed Extractory here I come!

I have also had the wonderful opportunity to help with a few other areas of the BLM, from Bat Telemetry research to range management, recreation planning, wildlife monitoring and perhaps even archaeological research – all while scouting and collecting for my seeds.

Of course there are a few trials and tribulations in this bucolic setting of happy seed collecting in the High Desert: 5 bee stings; 2 fire ant bites ( I’m allergic); severe thunderstorms ( got in the rig in the nick of time) ; weak paper bags that rip and pour all those hard won seeds out onto the ground; the oops moment of realizing there is a second species that looks startlingly similar that just got dropped into your bag; cheat grass in the socks, shoe laces and pant legs ; GPS problems because the SOS maps are so large; camera glitches with the fabulous new camera with a macro lens! ( yes have to go back out and get those pics that did not get saved onto the SD card); and a few bumps and dings along the way.
All in all an excellent start to an excellent adventure.  Maybe I will make it to the Wall in the BLM herbarium someday?

Wall of infamy for SOS?

Robin Snyder
CLM/SOS Intern 2013
Prineville BLM, Oregon