Last time I wrote, we were waiting for rain here at the BLM Farmington Field Office. Now the rains are finally here! Many of our target plants have really perked up and we’re looking forward to boosting our collection numbers over the next few weeks. For now, though, we’re spending quite a bit of time indoors because the increased rainfall means that the roads turn to mud. Therefore, this blog entry is more about the awesome things I’ve seen in my free time.

The San Juan National Forest is only a short jaunt north of Farmington, so we’ve been taking full advantage of the cool mountain air during the hot summer in the high desert. There are so many great hikes that it would take me years to fully explore the forest.

We made a cute snake friend with a Liochlorophis vernalis (smooth green snake) along the Piedra River, CO

As a part of our work with Seeds of Success, we’ve partnered with the BLM and USFS in Dolores, CO to make some seed collections in Southwest Colorado. Last week we visited Disappointment and Big Gyp Valley, where we hoped to find a robust population of Plueraphis jamesii (Galleta grass). Disappointment Valley lived up to its name and was disappointing on that front, but we encountered some good populations of other native forbs and grasses and may return in a few weeks. Additionally, we learned all about one of the first settlers of Disappointment Valley, an English pioneer-woman named Lizzy Knight. After her husband left her, she became a blacksmith in the mid-1800’s to support herself and her daughter and later immigrated to Colorado with her second husband. As a homesteader she began cattle ranching and was the first female resident of Rico, CO. After divorcing, she wound up marrying her son-in-law and the couple lived in their cabin in Disappointment Valley until the 1930’s and the cabin is still standing to this day. Our all-female Seeds of Success team aspires to live up to a bit of Lizzy Knight’s spark.

Big Gyp Valley, CO. The name comes from the gypsum-rich rock in the background. In the foreground, the meadow is dominated by Krascheninnikovia lanata (Winterfat) and Hesperostipa comata (needle and thread)

My parents came out to visit and we took a long weekend exploring Southeast Utah, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. While there I finally got to meet my favorite buckwheat, Eriogonum inflatum.

Eriogonum inflatum (Desert trumpet) at Arches National Monument, UT. The Kayenta Navajo made a lotion out of this plant that was used to heal bear and dog bites.

A lovely view through an arch in Canyonlands National Park, UT.

This past weekend we had the privilege of going on an edible mushroom hike sponsored by the Four Corners Native Plant Society. We learned about a variety of both edible and non-edible mushrooms and took a beautiful hike in the Lizard Head Wilderness west of Telluride, CO. After the hike, we had a delicious potluck dinner hosted by our gracious trip leader where we sampled the mushrooms we collected. I definitely feel more confident about my mushroom field identification and the day inspired me to try my hand at foraging.

Mushroom hunters hard at work.

Chopping up our bountiful harvest of Cantharellus cibarus (chanterelle). They were scrumptious!

This blog post also marks the approximate halfway point of my CLM internship. It’s truly flying by and I feel extremely lucky to have this opportunity. I’m looking forward to (hopefully) making many more collections when the rains let up. With that, I leave you with an enchanting New Mexico sunset:

Sunset at the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness near Huerfano, NM

The temperatures have cooled down a bit here in Southern Oregon. We’ve been enjoying weather in the low to mid 90s for much of the past couple of weeks which has been a much appreciated contrast to the 105 degree weather a month ago.

As far as plants go, the high elevation plants have been seeding for the past several weeks and will probably continue into the next several weeks. We have also been making the last collections of the season from the valley floors. These plants are often quite thorny or hairy which inevitably leads to a painful collection process. We have also been finding a lot of berries such as Oregon Grape, gooseberries and other currants, Bitter Cherry, and others. We have quickly learned that collecting berries can be quite a sticky affair.

I currently have approximately four more days of the internship left before I take off for seven weeks to teach 2^nd – 8^th graders in the field about ecology and the natural history of this region. My work for this internship has definitely beefed up my botanical knowledge, which will be helpful in identifying plants for kids.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about my time here at the BLM. I have discovered a lot of natural areas that I will be visiting for years to come. I am very happy to be able to recognize native plants in my region. I appreciate the knowledge that I will have walking away from this internship. As an avid gardening enthusiast and a hopeful garden educator, I hope that I will be able to use native plants more in my gardens and suggest various native plants and their uses to others.

On the other hand, by working for the agency and performing this work, I have realized that both working for the agency and doing this kind of work is not for me, although I have a lot of respect for those that love this work and this agency. Alas, by the end of this internship I feel like I’m in the same empty place, lacking direction, as I was before I started, and that feels disconcerting and very challenging. But I thank the CLM and Chicago Botanic Gardens for the chance to have this experience. It has been an interesting ride.

– Jason