Hello Bloggers!

After two months, I can say Montana now feels like home, and there are no complaints here! Being surrounded by mountains, wildflowers and some Ponderosa Pines is quite a marvelous experience. Missoula is located along the Clark Fork River, and it is absolutely breathtaking. While looking for the sensitive species bladder pod a few days ago, a humming bird came to greet us at the bottom and top of the ridge, which is a very good omen, so this is going to be a great field season. The field office is blooming with excitement of the summer and all of the seasonals are officially here!

I am primarily a Forestry technician, but a wonderful part about the Missoula field office is that we are able to dabble in a myriad of different types of fieldwork. As a forestry technician I predominantly preform forest inventories, which include: assessing the forests habitat type, age and abundance of trees, richness of understory vegetation, and what wildlife has utilized the land and we look for any sensitive or invasive plant species.

Xerophyllum tenax (Bear Grass)

I have also participated in fence building, which has truly tested my muscles. Fence building is definitely a tedious, meticulous activity. We had to set up “H” posts, that held the fence together at critical locations, and then put in posts intermittently until the next “H” post. Pounding in the posts is unquestionably the hardest part. We were on a really rocky, steep slope making it difficult to put the posts in, but we did it! Here are a few pictures of our success!

My Mentor, being a model fencing citizen

Until next time!

Hello stranger,

Just finished up another long week in the Jarbidge Field Office completing habitat assessments for the Greater Sage-grouse, a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

I’d like to tell you about my favorite day this summer: Tuesday, June 3rd.  We – a BLM monitoring crew made up of four CLM interns and a temporary employee – were spending our third week camping in the stunning canyon formed by the Jarbidge River.

Jarbidge Canyon

It sure is nice waking up with the birds and bugs.  We loaded up our two trucks with food and water, navigation equipment, vegetation and soil monitoring equipment, and motion tablets for data recording.  Taters and I were on our way out of Idaho and into Nevada, heading towards a point on our map and GPS called “Little Island.”

I love when the vast, rocky desert of southern Idaho and Nevada, blanketed with sagebrush, suddenly opens up to reveal a lush green canyon.  We drove to the edge of one of these oases, loaded up our bags, and headed downhill.  We soon realized that our destination, Little Island, was on top of the opposing canyon wall, guarded by columnar shaped rock outcrops like a castle wall.  So we pointed to a gap in the rock wall, and then pointed our steps in that direction.

About two miles, one creek crossing, and a lot of rock scrambling later, we discovered why the site was named Little Island.  Little Island is an island in the sky, standing tall between the juncture of two canyons with an incredible view of the snow-capped Jarbidge Mountains.  Spirits were high as we counted, measured, and described the grass, brush, forbs, and soil of the area.

Indian Paintbrush

The day concluded back at the campsite where the rest of the crew was waiting for us with a fire and hot dogs ready to roast.  A crescent moon, and an incredible view of the stars followed shortly after.

Thank you everyone who helped me get going on this incredible journey.

Take care,

Jonathan Kleinman

Jarbidge Field Office

Bureau of Land Management