Greetings,

Happy New Year. The holidays came and went pretty quickly. Since going back to the grind, not much has changed. I continued to work on the PowerPoint up until this last Thursday, when I finally completed it. In some cases, the results were as I expected, but in others, not so much. Probably the most surprising result was the lack of seeding of certain species. For example, just less than 110,000 lbs of Vavilov II (agropyron fragile) was distributed since 2011. Vavilov II is a popular seed to be planted throughout the Great Basin due to its drought tolerance. More recently, it has been a popular substitute for a variety of different species when they are not available. However, in three seasons, approximately 110,000 lbs was distributed across three states. In comparison to prior years, that’s quite the decrease in distribution. I think the fact that it is an introduced species plays a large role in how often it is used.

Anatone (pseudoroegneria spicata), a bluebunch wheatgrass, had results that I expected. Since 2011, over 270,000 lbs of Anatone has been seeded in 8 different states. That’s twice as many lbs as Vavilov II in nearly triple the states.  Since it is a native species from South Eastern Washington, it is a more widely accepted species, with little to no controversial drawbacks.

After completing the PowerPoint on Thursday, I was able to jump right in to the next project of calculating historical seed prices for some of the most popular species to be sold from the warehouse. The species included bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg bluegrass, Wyoming big sagebrush, and a few others. Depending on need, the prices of some of these species changed in price by a little, or a lot. For example, Wyoming Big Sagebrush sold as low as $1.88 per lb during one seed buy, and went as high as $35 per lb in another seed buy. The final average over a 5 year period ended up being $11.56 per lb. Now, the increase in price (from $1.88 to $35) did happen over a period of two years, but when studying all the price changes over a 5 year period, the increase in price is considered to be a drastic one. On the other hand, Sandberg bluegrass had gradual increases and decreases in price. The low came in at $2.09 per lb and the high came in at $12 per lb. The average was $6.45 per lb. As you can see, some of the changes were huge, where others were not.

A couple weeks before Christmas, I completed an informational seed booklet. Upon completion, I had it copied professionally for distribution. Over the holiday, I received the copies and thought I would post a few pictures of the finished results.

Information about Basin Wildrye. Courtesy of NRCS.

Until next time.

Eric Livermore

Bureau of Land Management

Boise, Idaho

January 10, 2014

Las Cruces, NM

It’s always nice to end something on a high note. Seven months ago I kicked off my CLM internship with a field trip to the Guadalupe Mountains in search of the rare plant Dermatophyllum guadalupense, or the Guadalupe Mescal Bean. This location in southeastern New Mexico along the Texas border is a proposed ACEC, or Area of Critical Environmental Concern, and our mentor, Mike, needed a better understanding of the plant’s distribution in the region prior to completing the required paperwork. However, our strenuous hike up a canyon in 104 degree heat was in vain, for we did not find any new Mescal Bean plants.

This week- my last week as a CLM intern- Mike and I ventured back to search a different part of the Guadalupe Mountains that hadn’t been surveyed since the 1980’s. We spent two days in the field and located at least six new populations of the Mescal Bean, several with more than 300 individuals! We also identified other locations in the region that are also suitable for the plant due to similar geology. It turns out that the Mescal Bean is likely locally abundant in the Guadalupe and Brokeoff Mountains, or, as Mike puts it “rare everywhere but common somewhere.” Furthermore, the populations that we found appeared healthy, and the small plants scattered throughout the population suggested that plant recruitment is faring well. This finding was amazing. I cannot think of a better way to end my internship. This experience has truly come full circle.

Mescal Bean Habitat, Guadalupe Mountains

Mescal Bean Habitat, Brokeoff Mountains

Guadalupe Mescal Bean

Guadalupe Mescal Bean

I’ve come so far since the beginning of this internship. During my time in Las Cruces, I’ve destroyed a pair of hiking boots and driven about 25,000 miles while on the job. That distance is equivalent to driving from coast to coast across the United States about 8 times. More importantly, I’ve been able to explore and learn about a part of our country that I never would have visited without this internship. I cannot think of a better way to spend a few months after graduating from college.

These guys stuck with me til the end (barely)

On that note, goodbye New Mexico! It’s been real.
-Elisabeth Ward

A Cuscuta species (six are known from the SBNF) in bloom near City Creek, off of Hwy 330, on Jan. 3, 2014. (Most individuals had senesced)

At the Mountaintop RD, I’ve been continuing work on a guide to the invasive plant species of the SBNF.  It’s interesting to read through the literature and synthesize the available information.  I enjoy thinking about how to format and present identification information in a way that is visual and understandable, especially for species that are more complicated to identify (such as Myriophyllum) Along with the invasive species guide, we are going to begin writing invasive species management plans for wilderness areas on the SBNF.      

The holidays were relaxing.  I hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain with a co-worker on Christmas Day.  Among other pebble plain species, we saw Boechera dispar (pinyon rock-cress).  Over New Year’s I explored the northeast part of the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness.  Although not rare, Scutellaria mexicana (formerly Salzaria) was an interesting find.  It will be spectacular to see in bloom.  

My fellow intern and I have been collecting with a lichenologist from UC Riverside, who is compiling a lichen flora of the San Bernardino NF.  Because lichens are so under-collected, we’re finding a lot of species that haven’t been found on the forest before.  We collected near Keller Cliffs (sandstone) on January 3, and noted giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata) in the canyons on the way in.

Big Bear Ranger Station

US Forest Service

December passed by quickly this year (or last year, I suppose), but not without some oddities. First of all, all of the weather stations predicted snow; this is  not unusual in and of itself–snow is periodically predicted–but in Eugene, “snow” typically means that snow will fall from the sky, but will not stick to the ground. However, in this case, it stuck–all six inches of it. For a city where our winter weather usually consists of rain and fog, six inches of snow is a big deal; I had never driven in snow and ice, and judging from the sheer number of cars haphazardly abandoned on the side of the road, neither had many others.

Unfortunately, this weather interfered with our plans at the office. We had planned to plant numerous nectaring species plugs for the Fender’s Blue Butterfly, but had to wait for the snow to melt. During this time, Eugene also saw an unusual drop in temperature; it reached Eugene’s second lowest recorded temperature in history, -10°F, and let me tell you, I have lived in this area for nearly my entire life, and I did not know that it could even reach negative temperatures here (well, that’s one question answered).

We had initially worried that the cold weather would have damaged the plants waiting to be be put in the ground, but fortunately they survived and were ready to go when the snow melted. Luckily, my cohort and I had much appreciated assistance with the planting, in the form of a small high school class. In a matter of hours, we had all of the plants in the ground. It was quite nice to have a little bit of field time during a time when I am usually firmly situated in the office.

That was really most of the excitement for December. I took a short time off for the holidays to visit family, and am happy to be back in the office. I am also ecstatic to see that Eugene’s normal winter weather–rain, and lots of it–has returned.

Till next time!

I wrapped up my internship at the BLM Colorado State Office at the beginning of December (making this post just a little late…), and after spending the holidays with friends and family in Oklahoma, I am currently procrastinating  writing this from the New Hampshire Seacoast. After a few trips between Colorado and Oklahoma to move out of my apartment and pay one last visit to the Rockies, I once again loaded up my hatchback and embarked on a cross-country haul to join my fiance in New Hampshire.

As I renew my efforts to hunt down a job, I can’t help but reflect on how much I learned and really enjoyed my time as a CLM intern. Before this, I had only limited experience doing fieldwork, but after being privileged enough to work in some truly gorgeous places in Colorado, I can’t imagine my life and future career without it. Beyond the simple joys of fresh air and the beauty of nature, as a scientist, I would miss the intimacy that comes with going out into the natural world and really learning what is going on out there. If I learned nothing else from this experience, it would have been worth it for this little epiphany.

It was decidedly not all that I learned, however, and in listing the benefits of my internship, I have to mention my mentor Carol, whose experience, example, and staggering knowledge of Colorado flora taught me more than I can express. I am also grateful to my co-intern Darnisha, who showed me the ropes and was infallibly patient with the questions of which I asked way too many. Though my time as a CLM intern is over, I am still not sure if I believe how lucky I was to spend my first summer out of school traipsing through the Rockies, hungrily learning the names of unfamiliar plants all around me, and stumbling on breath-taking views practically every time I turned around. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity the CLM program gave me, and I am excited to see what new opportunities lay ahead.

Hoosier Ridge, Colorado– See what I mean about the views?

Best wishes,

Katherine Wenzell

The winter has been a mild one here compared to the frigid January temps we had last year. Though we have still received some snow around the area! The field office has slowed down quite a bit over the holidays. It was pleasant to see things slow down a bit and enjoy the area over this holiday. It was amazing seeing the valley and surrounding mountains covered in snow as I was leaving for the Thanksgiving break. It doesn’t snow in the valley often so it was a thrill to drive through the snow and rain for a solid 6 hours In The DESERT! Bring on the precipitation!

The Holiday was filled with many parties before slowing down over the break. The office had a really nice Christmas party and a farewell to one of the Law Enforcement officers. It was followed by an evening of bowling. It was a treat to be able to enjoy and chat with everyone in a more casual setting. I also helped with the Christmas Party for the Student Conservation crews. We had dinner and desert prepared for about 25 crew members/leaders and all enjoyed an evening of homemade gift exchanges and conversation. The gift exchange was by far the highlight of the night. The crew members all drew names for gifts. All the gifts had to be made from scraps that had been discovered in the desert over the past few months. They were all so unique and hilarious! Definitely a highlight of the evening.

It has been such a pleasure to continue my close connection with the SCA Desert Restoration Corps in my current position. I led one of the work crews last year and worked closely with the BLM. It’s been great to be able to assist the crews and leaders with information, projects, and general orientation to the area. Last year I experienced land management from the field and daily restoration work. Now, I have been given the opportunity to see things from the larger management perspective. I have enjoyed learning about all the pieces that are balanced and juggled in a land management agency. I have enjoyed the work that I have completed in the wilderness areas.  I have been able to be out in the field gathering data and seeing the actual condition of the land. It has really allowed me to connect with each area that I am surveying and to see it’s unique beauty. The freedom I have been given to oversee field work and projects has been amazing. I have enjoyed the freedom of discovering these lands and learning to view them through the world of use and protection. I have learned a lot through the combination of field monitoring and GIS mapping. I look forward to continuing to work in both areas. I am also looking forward to learning a bit about grant writing and wilderness inventory reports in the next few months.

I am very thankful for the last 5 months here in Ridgecrest. It has been fun and educational. I am so glad that I do not have to say goodbye right now and that I get to continue working with everyone here. It has been awesome getting to know everyone in the office and I have made some good friends. A big thanks to everyone who has supported me through this internship, this includes those in the Ridgecrest Field office and those with the Chicago Botanic Garden. Thanks for making this position available! And a special thank you to Dana for finding a way to keep me on!!! I have sincerely enjoyed the last 5 months and look forward to the next 5!

U2 Joshua Tree location

Yes, U2 fallen Joshua tree!

What? Pictographs!

Inyo Mountains and my rig

Arial photography marker! I had no idea!

Beautiful Coso Wilderness hike

Mining cabin

Old jugs from Coso cabin

Owen Lake Dry Lake bed and southern sierras

Homemade wooden gift!

Yes that is hanging from his ear!

The entire SCA clan!

So…this is it. These past five and a half months have seen me collecting hundreds of thousands of seeds, planting a couple hundred pounds more, doing plant surveys for everything from post-fire monitoring to sage grouse habitat assessments, and tracking sage grouse all over the (northern half) of the field office. It was a lot to pack into what in retrospect seems a very short time—even if I started the internship wondering if five months was going to feel too long.

I came into Bishop with relatively little plant experience and an attitude towards sage scrub that was ambivalent at best. After spending five months in the Bishop field office mainly focusing on seed collecting and vegetation surveys, I can say with confidence that plants are pretty darn cool (don’t get me started on fire restoration projects or shrub adaptations to arid climates unless you want to be there for a while). As for the scrublands—if it weren’t for the lack of deciduous trees and, well, moisture in general, I could happily spend years really getting to know the ecosystem.

Sage brush as far as the eye can see in the Bodie Hills

Working in a small field office is great for getting to know people in every department, and I really got a sense of how the office as a whole operates. Seeing how the BLM carries out its mandate to manage for a variety of uses at the ground level was an experience that was both fascinating and valuable—seeing the challenges involved in balancing occasionally conflicting activities and the value of working directly with the public was valuable in shaping my ideas on what I want to research down the road.

Bishop proved to be an ideal location to see firsthand a variety of conservation efforts throughout the Eastern Sierra. Being in town for both the announcement of Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog critical habitat and the announcement of the Bi-State sage grouse population as federally threatened provided opportunities to see different federal agencies interacting with the public, which was interesting in itself, and to get a better sense of the differences between the agencies and their philosophies on habitat management, which was fascinating.

Winter is coming to the Eastern Sierra

All good things must come to an end, and once again it is onwards to the next thing—whatever that is. My time as a CLM intern has helped me articulate a few things about where I want to end up in the long run, and even if I don’t end up in a land management position my current research interests definitely reflect my time spent working with land managers on the ground.

Many thanks to my co-workers and friends in Bishop—I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with. I certainly won’t forget the time I spent wandering the Bodie Hills in the name of all things sage grouse or exploring the Indian Fire any time soon.

Until next time!

The elusive sage grouse

January 6, 2014

Las Cruces, NM

Hello and happy New Year! Today is my first day back in the office after a relaxing holiday vacation, and it sure feels great to be back. Chicago, where I am from, is currently experiencing record low temperatures with a high of -12 and a low of -16. Let me repeat that. Today’s HIGH in Chicago is predicted to be -12. Las Cruces, on the other hand, is still experiencing highs in the upper 50’s and lower 60’s. Like I said, I am very happy to be back.

Before the holidays, Kate and I were busy monitoring the rare plant Peniocereus greggii var. greggii (Night-Blooming Cereus or Queen of the Night cactus), which is a cacti found exclusively in southern New Mexico, northern Mexico, and west Texas. This species has high ornamental value, and has been extirpated from several regions due to overcollection for commercial and private distribution. For more information about this species, see the New Mexico Rare Plants web site.

Night-Blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii var. greggii). Photo Credit: Mike Howard

For three weeks, Kate and I travelled to several populations scattered around the bootheel region of New Mexico to gather data on the species’ health and scout the region for new individuals. Currently, there is very limited data on Peniocereus greggii var. greggii, and its habitat preferences are poorly understood. One thing that is known about the species, however, is that it typically grows within a nurse plant, such as Creosotebush (Larrea tridentata). This relationship is beneficial to the Night-Blooming Cereus for several reasons: (1) the shrub overstory provides physical protection from herbivory, trampling, high winds, or other potential sources of damage, (2) the shrub canopy also provides shade, which may prevent damage from excess solar radiation, (3) the nurse plant also increases nutrient and water availability.

Kate and I were assigned to monitor this species because BLM New Mexico has an ongoing project that may threaten the relationship between the Night-Blooming Cereus and its nurse plant. Restore New Mexico is a nine-year-old project whose mission is to restore New Mexico’s land to its former species composition. This includes promoting the spread of native grasses in the Chihuahuan Desert region of the southern portion of the state. Shrubs, such as Creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) and Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) have come to dominate the Chihuahuan Desert due to a combination of climate change and overgrazing. In order to facilitate the establishment of native grasses, BLM New Mexico applies herbicide to large portions of its land to kill off the dominant shrub cover. This approach, however, may be problematic for the Night-Blooming Cereus since the herbicide kills off its nurse plants.

One of the Peniocereus greggii populations that Kate and I monitored was divided evenly between treated and untreated parcels of land. Therefore, Our Peniocereus greggii var. greggii monitoring work will hopefully be the beginning of a long term project to assess the affects of herbicide application on Night-Blooming Cereus health. While the data we collected this year have not yet been analyzed, we were surprised to find a significant number of healthy Night-Blooming Cereus individuals within the treated parcels of land. However, long term monitoring is still needed to determine whether it is safe to apply herbicide to areas occupied by rare plants, such as the Night-Blooming Cereus.
-Elisabeth Ward

I have been interning on the Mountain Top ranger district of the San Bernadino National Forest for three weeks now. The SBNF is located in the Transverse Ranges of Southern California, about two hours east of Los Angeles. I have been visiting the LA and Orange county area of Southern California my whole life because of family that lives there, but I had never been to these beautiful mountains before so I had no idea what to expect.

It is a world away up here. For one thing we are about 7,000 feet up and the air is clear and the water is delicious. Quite different from down in the city. There are large juniper and pine trees everywhere, and in different areas of the forest it is high desert. They receive enough snow in the winter to have three ski resorts, which I am very excited about. I am happy to say my view of Southern California being all city and no nature is completely wrong.

So far in my internship I have dealt with computer issues (getting my profile set up and whatnot), helped to close off and put up signs to discourage people from entering bald eagle habitat, marked brush piles not to burn that were potential wood rat and rubber boa habitat, and started writing an invasive plants species identification guide for the SBNF.

One of the coolest projects I am working on is a lichen flora of the SBNF. My other CLM intern colleague and I are working with a lichenologist, who works in the UC Riverside herbarium, to document the lichen flora of this amazing area. Lichens are my passion so this is very exciting for me. We have gone out collecting in the field twice and I went down to the university last week to learn about the database the herbarium there uses and enter some historical lichen collections from the late 1800’s. So cool! I am used to identifying macrolichens, the large lichens that are found in much wetter areas, so this is a completely new experience for me because it is so dry here. Most of the small microlichens we look at are growing as crusts on rocks, trees and on the ground in undisturbed habitat. I am learning to use a hammer and chisel to break chunks of the rock off the large granite boulders to take specimens back to the herbarium.

I am having a great time here so far because my coworkers and mentor are really helpful and welcoming. It is great that after three weeks I am already starting to feel like part of the family up here.

Next time I will post some photos!

Adrienne Simmons, Mountain Top Ranger District, San Bernadino National Forest

Farewell from Wyoming!

Well, I’ve come to the end. Time to bow out and let somebody else have an amazing experience in Laramie.

This was a crazy year for the federal government, which meant a crazy year for its agencies (the BLM), their programs (SOS), and their interns. As an intern outside the BLM office, I had a hard time finding the forms I was meant to fill out and figuring out what pieces of each collection needed to go where. The intern before me left some checklists and instructions, and in turn I tried to organize information for the next person. I think that many of my difficulties will be resolved with the introduction of the new website and the online data entry, which will hopefully be available for 2014 field season.

Everyone I interacted with as part of this program was wonderful. The grad students here at the University of Wyoming helped me get adjusted to the lab and to Laramie, and I will miss them all. Ernie and Ron at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium always made time to check my plant IDs and help me improve my skills. Kayla at Bend Seed Extractory could not have been more friendly or helpful. Megan Haidet at the National Office and Andrew Clark at the National Herbarium kindly fielded all my questions. To all of them and others too numerous to mention, thank you so much! I really appreciate both your work and your attitude.

In the new year, I am headed south to do lab archaeology, helping to look at the plant remains from human sites all over the world. So ends the year of the outside jobs. I loved being in the field, and in addition to learning a whole bunch of new plants, seed-collecting gave me a lot of perspective in archaeology. People in the past were gatherers of seeds and fruits, just like me. I have a much better idea of what it takes to live on a landscape like this. Maybe I can get out in the field next summer by doing nature walks focusing on ethnobotany and paleoethnobotany. That would be a kick. I’ll have to check out organizations in my new town.

I loved Laramie pretty much from the moment I got here, and despite the bitter cold, I am very sad to leave. I never get tired of sunrises over the Laramie Range and sunsets over the Snowies. Here some of the photographic highlights from the past 6 months here–I think you’ll get the picture.

Cheers,
Abby D.