Greetings!

Now that our Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) plan has been submitted, we’ve moved right along and started writing an Environmental Analysis (EA) for the Buzzard Complex fires!

My main duties, as per usual, are building models to run reports and then making the maps for the Saddle Draw Fire portion of the plan.

One main skill I have gotten from this internship has been becoming comfortable in Model Builder. I had used it a few times in the past, but never on a regular basis. When you are running the same processes over and over again, it saves so much time if you can just go into the model, make a few changes, and run it again. Also, if someone wants to figure out how you came up with certain numbers, they can look at your models and understand what you did.

Beautiful Model

In addition to making these final products, I’ve also cleaned up the file structure which is pretty complex.  Hopefully every folder now is named so that an outsider can figure out what it contains, and if not, I also went through and created a document that has a short description of the contents of each folder in the Buzzard Complex ESR folder (It’s about 3 pages long…).

I see many of you are wrapping up your internships and I wish you all the best of luck!!!  I’m still around through December and I’m excited to see what fall is like out here in the high desert!!!

As my last few days approach I am adding all of the finishing touches to my internship. It is not as exciting as being in the field exploring new areas and finding all sorts of treasure but it is an adventure in its own. Finishing up and putting together reports at the end of the year is just as important as gathering the data itself.

The most recent project that I have been working on is making herbarium vouchers for the local herbarium, the Oregon State University herbarium, and the Smithsonian herbarium. Some of these do not require being glued down, but a good portion of them do. This is one sticky job!

Looking back on the season brings back good memories. One major highlight being a thistle chop. It required two days of floating down the Deschutes River in a boat and camping all while uprooting Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium). Another great adventure was traveling by UTV to a sage grouse Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) site. I drove the truck and trailer to the unloading site, then got to drive the UTV to and from our destination.

My second year as a CLM intern was just as exciting and rewarding as the first. I was able to live in a new area, work on new projects, make new friends, and gain new skills and qualities to add to my resume. Overall I had a great time and made lasting memories in Prineville.

Where have the last five months gone? It’s my last day at the BLM in Vernal and it’s strange to think I probably won’t ever be back here. Well, in this office, that is. The way it stands right now, I’m going to hang around Vernal until I find a permanent job or I’m accepted to a graduate school program.

That sentence itself demonstrates how much my mindset has changed over the past five months. My original intention for this internship was to gain experience that would enable me to land a seasonal GS-5 position next field season. After that, I had a vague plan of working up the seasonal ladder before landing a full-time, permanent position with the federal government. I worked as a Biological Science Technician (GS-0404-04) for the USGS in South Dakota a couple years ago and since then, I’ve had tunnel vision about working for the feds.

As I stated above, though, that’s no longer my plan. As much as I would love to continue to living a transient life, working as a seasonal for the government, I won’t. Part of it is my personal family situation. The largest part, though, is that I don’t want to. I’ve learned so much during this internship and I’ve definitely felt challenged, but I plateaued around the halfway point. I’ve enjoyed participating in Seeds of Success and helping the weed crew tackle invasives, but I need more challenges. I can bring so much more to the table if given the chance. And it seems the fastest way to be given a chance is to get my Master’s. It’s always been my intention to do so, but this internship has just spurred me to expedite the process.

This internship has also given me more perspective on working for the federal government and I gotta admit, it’s not my dream any more. Don’t get me wrong, I would still work for the government if given the chance. After working in this office, I’ve become more familiar with positions I could qualify for and I’ve made some professional connections so my odds are better. I’ve experienced the downsides to it, though, and I’ve let go of my idolization. My internship has grounded me and forced me to become more realistic. And I’m grateful for it. I’ve been able to use the tools provided by the program to expand my job search to include other entities besides the federal government.

To be clear, I’ve definitely enjoyed this internship! I would (and will) highly recommend it! This has been my first position that’s actually forced me to use a dichotomous key to (sometimes laboriously) key out a species. I’ve learned to identify so many plants, but have also realized that I’ll never know all of them. And while I should be confident in my identification, I should never be afraid to check myself and admit if I’m wrong.

I’ve never actively protested herbicide application to control invasive plants, but I worked in an environmental chemistry lab so sometimes it’s difficult for me to think about where all those chemicals could be leaching. After walking through stands of Russian olive and swaths of teasel, though, I’ve realized that a lot of the time, herbicide application is the only way to control infestations.

Since I’ll be working odd jobs until my next career move, I’ve definitely appreciated the normal hours (and the pay) of the internship. One downside, though, is the copious amounts of driving necessary to cover this area. I’m sure other interns also experienced this, but I am so over driving 2+ hours just to get to a site. I would rather stay closer to the office and hike around, but I realize that’s rather unrealistic in the West.

I’m really happy that I landed a position in Utah as I’ve always been enamored with this state. In and outside of work, I’ve seen a lot of cool things and I’m very grateful for that. I feel like I can move on to other states now and feel content with my Utah experience. As for Vernal itself, however, I haven’t fallen in love with it. I’ve discovered some gems, but in general the town seems geared toward fast food, big trucks, oil and gas, and church – none of which is my scene. After this, I’m aiming to live in a college town again, where I hope I’ll be around more like-minded people.

This has been an amazing experience and I’m immensely grateful to all those who helped me apply for an internship and make the most of it. A big thank you to Nadia, Tim, Amy, Jessi, Krissa, and Rebecca!

Stay classy, fellow interns.

-Dani

BLM

Vernal, UT

“The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”

II John Muir II

The Pink Dino – my favorite landmark in Vernal.

This is my final blogpost!

I have gained so many new skills at this position. I feel proficient at using ArcMap now and entering element occurrence data into the Natural Resources Information System (NRIS). My driving skills have also gotten so much better. I am now very experienced driving so many different kinds and sizes of vehicles on on some pretty bad forest roads. The terrain here is very difficult to traverse because it is so steep and rocky. I also spent a ton of time writing our invasive plant guide. Writing is something I am not very good at and I have a hard time reading over and editing my work. I definitely feel more like a real botanist now.

I got to do something I have wanted to do since college this year. I got to design and implement a lichen air quality study. I fell in love with lichens when I took a class on lichens and bryophytes. Lichens are so cool because they are great indicators of presence or absence of air pollution. They also accumulate pollutants in their thalli. The levels of pollutants can be measured in a lab. I set up a system of plots throughout the San Bernardino mountains and collected two target lichen species: Umbilicaria phaea and Rhizoplaca melanopthalma. I have sent the samples off to a Forest Service lab and when the results come back then the SBNF will have a better idea what kinds of pollutants can be found throughout the forest.

One of my major goals in this job was to improve my computer skills. I still have a long way to go, but I feel so much more competent using the Microsoft software, understanding computer terminology and being able to do things to make my computer run better. I have definitely met that goal and want to continue learning.

I made some great friends in my office and my mentor was great as well. This has given me a completely different outlook on Southern California. I always associated with the cities, but am so glad that I have had the opportunity to explore these beautiful mountains and deserts.

Here are the last of my photos to enjoy:

The gorgeous rattlesnake we saw on a night survey for Arroyo toads.

The FS sensitive Arenaria lanuginosa ssp. saxosa.

The beautiful Banning Canyon where my last lichen collection plot was.

Umbilicaria phaea was my other target lichen.

The black oaks are starting to change color already, probably because of the drought.

Another shot of Banning Canyon.

A neat looking calcium carbonate rock.

Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca was one of my target lichens for collecting.

My packaged lichens before I sent them off to the lab for testing.

The FS sensitive Horkelia wilderae.

I’ve never been skilled at identifying grasses. In all of my botanical college courses, we focused on eudicots and I had little to no problem learning the language of plants. For some reason, though, grass terminology has never stuck with me. Any grasses I’ve learned have quickly been forgotten. This internship is the first time I’ve ever had to actually use a dichotomous key to identify a plant. And yet, I’ve successfully avoided keying grasses for the past 4 months. But this avoidance has finally come to an end. My mentor has officially gone on maternity leave and while Hector is well versed in grasses, I knew it was time for me to step up to the plate. A couple weeks ago, I discovered a wispy, cobwebby grass in the wetland Hector and I were scouting for Spiranthes diluvialis. It definitely had potential for an SOS collection and as we are becoming desperate for species to collect as the field season wanes, I was determined to identify it.

I spent two hours slowly making my way through the key, learning and relearning terms such as glume, spikelet, panicle, awn. This field office boasts a slew of PowerPoints dedicated to the plants of this area rife with photographs and descriptions. Every time I thought I had the answer, I would look it up in the PowerPoint. Time after time, I had to admit that my sample looked nothing like the grass I had keyed it to be. Finally, I had it: Muhlenbergia asperifolia or scratchgrass. This particular species is an oddball compared to the others in its genus and I had gotten severely confused by its unique open panicle inflorescence. Nonetheless, a success is a success.

With my mentor on maternity leave, Christine, a Natural Resource Specialist with a background in botany, has taken over as our supervisor. In mid-August, Christine and our usual gang headed to Green River, Utah for a 3 day River Rescue course. A large part of the remaining field season will be spent spraying weeds on the A, B, and C sections of the Green River. The most intense rapid in all three sections is a Class Three called “Red Creek Rapids,” but for the most part, floating the Green River is pretty easy and uneventful. My mentor, Jessi, is pretty safety minded, though, so she sent the five of us to this course.

Morning view from our campsite.

The instructor, Nate Ostis, was a great teacher and he obviously had a lot of personal experience both rafting and rescuing on the river. He succeeded in terrifying me of all moving water, but not to the point that I’ll never raft or kayak again. He always referred to the river as a “lubricated mountain” or people boating on the river as “falling down an avalanche.” By using that language, he really changed my mindset on rivers. He has been a part of many rescues and even more recoveries so he’s acutely aware of the hazards of the river.

Me in my “avalanche” gear.

We spent half the time out of the water, learning knots, throwing throwbags, and talking safety. The rest of the time we spent in the water. Our first assignment in the river was to swim down some rapids! It was one of the best classes I have ever taken.  I highly recommend Nate Ostis and the River Rescue course to anyone interested in river safety.

Demonstrating the strength of our shore-based, 2 point load sharing anchor.

We had the chance to put our newfound skills to the test with one last trip down the Green River. The four of us teamed up with two weed technicians from the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to tackle the Canadian thistle and teasel on the “B” section. Along the way, we discovered a whole island full of Spiranthes diluvialis, in bloom over a month later than Jessi had originally estimated.

The “B” section of the Green River.

Red Creek Rapids are nearly visible upstream.

My other highlights include making it all the way out to the Book Cliffs! I’ve been close several times for seed collection or weed spraying, but I finally travelled those last 10 miles to see what all the fuss is about. Additionally, one last seed collection enabled me to make it out to Nine Mile Canyon – another gem of this area.

The Book Cliffs!

“The Great Hunt” petroglyph panel in Nine Mile Canyon.

-Dani

BLM

Vernal, UT

This will be my third winter here in the California Central Valley and so far I have yet to experience any significant precipitation.  California is in a serious drought, and currently there is no end in sight.  Climatologists are predicting another winter of less than average precipitation.  Conditions (for both plants and humans alike) are continuing to become more and more extreme, but it seems everywhere I look people are FAILING to acknowledge the gravity of the situation.  The ignorance and apathy I encounter every day in regards to these conditions is alarming.  I see irrigation systems running to irrigate non-native turf lawns ALL OVER TOWN, and, during mid day I might add.  I see excess runoff from irrigation systems and car washes running down the the street drainage for blocks and blocks.  I see people watering on days that are not allowed per the drought water restriction plan in effect throughout the city.  My own landlord was trying to tell me that I “had to” flood irrigate the lawn to keep the grass green “in accordance with the neighborhood”.  Seriously?!??????  It wasn’t until I cited city ordinances outlining the city-wide water use restrictions in effect, and called his attention to the fact that flood irrigation was currently a FINE-ABLE OFFENSE, that he finally stopped making lease violation threats.  What I’m wondering is, what is it going to take for people to realize that fresh water is a limited resource in the California ecosystem?  Honestly, I will probably not stick around long enough to find out.  Water reserves here are dwindling at an alarming rate with no predictions of recharge.

There are many cities throughout the state that are quickly running out of water (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/08/02/cities-running-out-of-water/13443393).  In some cases, wells have been pumped dry and small communities have been forced to either pay absurd costs to have water trucked in, or relocate.  In a state like California with a 42.6 billion dollar agricultural industry (cdfa.ca.gov), you better believe that this water crisis is eventually going to be felt across the country.  Perhaps you have already been paying more for your produce; maybe even doing so unknowingly.

In my SOS collections this year I have noticed several large populations that have produced lots of seeds in years past have produced little to none this past season.  Could this be coincidental?  I doubt it.  Many of these native species have evolved genetically to be drought resistant, but even still show signs of stress in such extreme cases.  Part of my position at the Cosumnes River Preserve is managing restoration projects.   When native plants are installed for re-vegetation, drip irrigation is required in summer months for 2-3 years during the plant establishment period.  With water rights here continuing to tighten and the Department of Water Resources auditing every ounce of water pumped from the rivers and streams, I am concerned that the water we use for habitat restoration at the Preserve is eventually going to be reduced, or cut off.  People need water, our agricultural crops need water, and our environment needs water.  With a finite amount of water in the Western ecosystem, management is critical.  Would you be willing to spend more money on your groceries if you knew that by doing so water was being allocated to habitat conservation projects in California?

So far, my experience as a CLM internship has been fantastic.  It’s been the best of all worlds being out here in Wyoming! I have been to visit the Black Hills, the Tetons, and Yellowstone, I have rallied at Sturgis with the bikers, and I even had the chance to take time off and visit a friend in Jamaica! It was a nice break from the dry heat of Wyoming and I was able to see a lot of the country. I traveled everywhere from Falmouth to Montego Bay to Kingston, and finally, my favorite, Portland. I snorkeled and swam in glistening waters, ate breadfruit, and biked through historic plantations. She showed me the people and the buildings of Jamaica and it was nice to focus my attention on something other than plants for a while, even though I love them, and even though I did find myself focusing a lot of my attention on the tropical species I don’t get to see very often.

Surfers at the beach in Boston Bay, Jamaica; one of the only beaches that is really “surfable”!

Just a few of the bikes at Sturgis!

Even with all the fun times I have been having and trips I have been taking, this has also been the learning experience of a lifetime.  Each day I gain a new piece of knowledge that is helping me to make decisions for my future career.

I have so far learned to:

1)      Run an irrigation system, guage water levels, and weed the evil bind weed at Whelch

2)      Monitor rangeland health using line point intercepts and daubenmire readings

3)      Measure habitat for sage grouse suitability using sagebrush intercept and walking transects

4)      Collect a variety of different seed types, ranging from fleshy fruits to tiny grass seeds

5)      Create herbarium specimens

6)      Read soil texture

7)      Communicate with individuals in other parts of the BFO and other offices in the area

8)      Contribute ideas and knowledge to the PRBR project conducted by another intern in the BFO office

9)       Attended the Wildlife Society Conference in Sheridan, WY!

The whole group and one of the great Wildlife Biologists from our office, DON!

This past week was an exciting one, as I mailed off a majority of seed collections from our office to Bend. It was like sending my children off for their first day of school. (I think I even teared up a bit) Bend confirmed that they had arrived and that everything was in order. In total the team has collected 16 full collections of seed, but there is still more to collect! Now to collect and ship out the rest!

Just a few of the collections I packed up to be sent off to Bend Seed Extractory!

Prairie Junegrass! Probably one of my favorite collections becuase of how simple it was to collect!

Now that some of the seed has been sent to bend, I have also begun compiling and organizing the herbarium specimens to be sent to the Smithsonian. The grasses have been a pain to deal with, but I enjoy looking back at the old flowers we have collected and pressed. It’s awesome to have been able to follow full populations from flower to seeding and to have kept track of them along the way.

Winter has really started approaching quickly. The snow we received Wednesday and Thursday was brutal! A cruel joke in the form of a white blanket. Luckily, my roomies and I made the most of it using our hot tub, but being snowed into the office last week was not the most exciting thing!

Yes, It’s septemeber. And yes, this was only the beginning of snow falling.

And yes, I did pretend to be an orca and swam in Lake De Smet four days after this snow!

Today is my last day at my internship. Five months at the BLM in Vale, Oregon has allowed me to grow immensely, professionally and personally. With this internship I aimed to strengthen my plant identification skills, become more familiar with the workings of a government agency, learn more about plant and soil interactions, and gain field monitoring and surveying experience. I am satisfied that my experience these past five months has allowed me to reach each of those goals.

I have been exposed to countless new plant species and quite a few animal species as well. I am now able to correctly identify numerous plants in the field, and confidently key forbs, rushes, sedges, and grasses to species using a dichotomous key. I will admit, rushes, sedges, and grasses take a bit more time and effort than forbs, but considering my lack of experience prior to this position I am pleased with my growth.

My familiarity with the workings of the BLM has come mostly from my interactions and conversations with coworkers. While I was not a part of the processes that determine funding, land management, species, range, etc. decisions, my in depth conversations with various employees have allowed me to paint a more complete picture of how the BLM in governed, and the current projects throughout the district.

I was able to spend a week with the Environmental Site Inventory crew performing soil and vegetation surveys in southeastern Oregon. I was not only taught how to perform both of these surveys, but learned several indicator plant species and soils types for various major land resource areas (MLRAs). I enjoyed using the soils information, present vegetation, geography, geology, and climate to determine the MLRA, determining from there the pre-described or newly discovered ecological site, and finally rating the health of the ecosystem. It was like solving a puzzle; highly enjoyable.

I have also greatly strengthened my ArcGIS skills. After frequently using ArcMap to locate our field sites, and taking a Basics of ArcMap10.2 and Geoprocessing course, I feel highly more competent at preforming a variety of ArcGIS tasks. I created a map of all previous SOS collections sites for future uses. It was a great way to practice my knowledge, and believe it will be useful.

I have grown personally as much as I have professionally. I have learned a lot more about which aspects in a job I do and do not enjoy, where I can improve at work, the kind of location I thrive best within, and where certain aspects of my life fall on my list of priorities. There are also several truly good-hearted people I have met here. They are the reason my experience has been so rich. As ready as I am to move forward, it is sad to say goodbye.

I do not have another job lined up right now. I have been/am actively seeking work; just have not snagged anything quite yet. I have made quite a few contacts during my internship, whom have been extremely helpful. I do plan to apply for another CLM internship. I feel I can still benefit from another round. I would like to have a more research oriented internship/job next, with more statistically sound monitoring, where I can analyze our data in an effort to help make wise land management decisions. My plans right now consist of a week or more trip to Portland, where I’ll meet up with my sister, and then return to Vale to continue the job hunt and gather my belongings. If I do not have a job by the end of October, I will most likely move to the Denver area. I have been looking for work in this area, and hope that making the move will help. I’m a bit nervous for what is next, but more excited than anything else.
Colleen Sullivan
Vale, OR BLM
colleen.sullivan781@gmail.com

It’s now September in New Mexico, the days are pleasant, topping out around just 85 degrees. On our last SOS collectors call, many teams elsewhere are winding down, gathering the seeds of sagebrush and winterfat as their final haul. Here however, we are nowhere near the end of our season. We’re in the middle of several multi-visit collections with so many more on the horizon that we are busting booty to fit them in to the puny 40 hour week! Some of the latest collections have been a little frustrating, only because they require several seed-snatching passes and mature unevenly over a period of a few weeks. We claimed one collection on the Colorado Plateau target list, a grass named Sporobolus airoides. That was a fun break because each seed head can contain up to 10,000 seeds, making for a refreshingly simple one day deal!

Keeping track of collections

Stealing seeds from a pretty little native sunflower

September in New Mexico doesn’t just mean lots of seeds to collect, it’s also the time of the chile. People here just LOVE green chile, and red chile, and both colors together, referred to as “Christmas” if you are ordering it somewhere. New Mexico is the only state to have adopted an official state question: Red or Green? Chile is found in various forms and in any place you can imagine; green chile gravy on your mashers, green chile baked into bagels, green chile blended into milkshakes, and so on. As a newcomer in a foreign land, I intend to try to appreciate this part of the food culture. I am embracing the chile. I try it on/in anything I can. My fellow intern and I will be buying and sharing a 25 lb box of chile, which the supermarkets here roast in giant cages out front. You can smell it everywhere. When they first started roasting this year, you could feel the excitement in the air. Get to NM and try some yourself!

With the weather cooling down a little it is time to squeeze in the last of the warm season Colorado mountain visits on weekends – which will soon be impassable with snow. The conditions are also less hostile for enjoying the desert, so there’s been plenty to do. My trusty companion, Sunny the dog, and I hiked up to Ice Lakes near Silverton, CO recently, and I have to say that was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on. We were also happy to find out that dogs are allowed at Monument Valley Tribal Park in AZ, so we took a little weekend jaunt there. Monument Valley is spectacular. I’m struck by the expansiveness of the skies out west, making every rainbow, thunderstorm, sunset, and brilliant milky way more amazing than ever before. I feel soothed by the desolation and harsh beauty of the desert. I’m considering hiking part of the Arizona National Scenic Trail at the end of my internship so that I might soak in and explore some more of the unique southwest. With cooling temperatures it’s time to start thinking about my next move, next job or adventure. I hope that all of us interns find the right thing for us in the future, winding as some of our paths might be, just enjoy the trip! The other day I was out collecting seeds and a coyote ran out in front of me, just 10 feet away, a rabbit gripped still kicking in its mouth. THAT was cool. Coyote medicine is all about not taking things too seriously, letting go of certainties, and enjoying the unexpected. So I hope we can all embrace a little coyote this summer’s end.

Sunny and I at Ice Lakes

Machines have dominated my internship lately. Machinery is a two faced technological innovation. The tractor replaced horses and allowed farmers to grow more food, but it also lessened the need for farmers and encouraged the growth of a fossil fuel driven system. Trains, planes, and automobiles gave us quick transportation and lowered the cost of goods, but people have lost touch with their communities and forgotten how to live simply. Although I would argue that a majority of these ingenious contraptions have warped our minds and our culture in the wrong direction brewing the perfect climate change recipe, they are now an important tool for genuine earth efforts like restoration. While it has rattled my nervous system, the blade trimmer has given me the power to mow down intimidating patches of invasive blackberry and scotch broom. Without this tool, we might be inclined to overuse the other common approach of glyphosate application. And by golly, I have to admit, it has been pretty fun and we have taken out a lot of invasives!

I was super stoked to venture out with a member of the Long Tom Watershed, one of our vital partners, yesterday to meet with a private landowner who is participating in a grant funded restoration project to restore degraded riparian, prairie, and oak savannah habitat. We discussed the current state of the project along with the next plan of action and associated funding challenges. Then we did some pre-treatment surveys in the oak savannah, carefully dodging the creeping poison oak. There are plans to remove a large portion of douglas fir to open of the canopy and free the oak trees whose canopy is suppressed. This will allow the oaks, now growing primarily in a vertical orientation, to spread out their branches and achieve a more diverse structure more conducive to biodiversity.