This is most likely to be my last week here at the BLM in Medford, OR. My partner and I have finished the annual report and our final task is now sorting through our vouchers, performing quality control, and shipping vouchers out to OSU and the Smithsonian.

It’s been an interesting journey. While printing out maps and reviewing vouchers, waves of memories of the amazing landscapes and small adventures that were flew into my mind. I was reminded of how rewarding this experience really was. I learned an immense amount of knowledge and wisdom and had the opportunity to meet many people from across the pacific northwest that are involved in native plant seed increase, native habitat restoration, various research projects, and more.

I’m not sure what will be next. I’ll be spending my time finishing up my graduate program at Southern Oregon University and graduating in March with my M.S. in Environmental Education. I go back and forth about returning for another season next year. I feel ready to move on to something else, but at the same time I’m terrified of job hunting.

My interest these days is in encouraging the public to enhance their landscapes with native wildlife habitats and I hope to find some sort of work that allows me to do that in some capacity. I feel that my experience here has given me the experience necessary to move in that direction, given the numerous ecoregions, habitats, and microhabitats that we have explored along with the botanical surveys we conducted at all of these locations. I am especially interested in figuring out how to get native plant materials to the general public in a more accessible and affordable way. I have also had the opportunity to do mycological education with kids and adults recently and I would very much like to lead educational mushroom hikes next year during Spring and Summer.

At any rate, so life continues.

I wish everyone the best in whatever it is they end up pursuing. But above all else,

Take it easy.

                – Jason Wilson

Greetings World,

There have been some more exciting developments in the land of Pediomelum pentaphyllum, which I’ll probably discuss in more detail in my next post. The short version is that there were previously two broadly-defined populations known in Arizona. Now there are, depending on how broadly you want to define them, four or five! Put that on top of the new population we found in New Mexico, and we’ve gone from three populations to six (or seven) this year. It’s still rare, but it’s looking like Pediomelum pentaphyllum is at least in better shape than we thought. For the next few days, I’m going to go look for more–amazingly, they’re still up, at least in southeastern Arizona. This goes on my list of reasons I love the southwest. Not too many places have good botanizing in November!

For the moment, here are some photographs of another rare plant in the Las Cruces District. On the 21st of October, I went out to Alkali Lakes to tag along on a research trip by Evelyn Williams of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Evelyn has been studying Lepidospartum burgessii. This is a rare shrub found only on gypsum, in two populations on the west side of the Guadalupe Mountains (one in New Mexico, one in Texas) that has been the focus of research on both its population genetics and reproductions. It rarely (if ever) produces viable seed and has been difficult to propagate from cuttings, but we might have gotten some good seed on this trip–the rate of apparently well-developed fruits is very low, but perhaps it isn’t zero.

The New Mexico population is at the Alkali Lakes Area of Critical Environmental Concern, an area of low hills of gypseous clay around low, dry depressions (a.k.a. “lakes”). Lepidospartum burgessii is not an immediately appealling plant. From a distance, it looks like a fairly anonymous grey shrub:

On closer inspection, though… well, it still looks like a fairly boring shrub, to be perfectly honest, but it does have nice little yellow flowers rather like those of Ericameria nauseosa:

Later, it has nice fluffy pappus which is attached (unfortunately) to mostly shriveled empty fruits:

The Alkali Lakes is also home to a variety of other uncommon plants that are found only on gypsum, including Senecio warnockii:

And Mentzelia humilis var. humilis:

Another rare plant in the area, although not an obligate gypsophile, is Coryphantha robustispina var. scheeri:

Alkali Lakes is also a beautiful place!

I arrived home a few days ago. I had a great time during my internship at the Park. I met a lot of great people and I got to see some super amazing things. I am so grateful I was able to experience Alaska. I have always wanted to go to Alaska and this was a wonderful way to do it.

For my last post I figured I would just include a few pictures of the cool things I saw and did during my internship. Thank you CLM and Wrangell-St. Elias I had a wonderful time during my internship.

Today will forever be remembered as a great day in the world of seed collecting!  I have finished picking, sacking, packing and sending all of my late bloomers and am happy to add 13 new collections to my list and reach a grand total of 32 seed collections!!!!

The days are getting shorter and I am no longer a pirate sailing the open range pillaging seeds from unsuspecting plants.  Most of my time has been spent uploading and cleaning up all of the data I’ve collected over the season.  There is something about a clean and organized attribute table that puts a huge smile on my face.  I have also been updating and organizing the herbarium.  Here are two of my favorite pressed specimen from our herbarium.

Lewisia rediviva                                               Calochortus nuttallii

I will be done with my CLM internship next week and have had some time to reflect on my time in Lander.  Over all this has been an incredibly enriching experience that has benefited me in a multitude of ways.  When I drove across the I-90 in May I was able to see my surrounding change from the familiar lush hills of Appalachia to the plains and prairies of the mid-west and finally settling into the less familiar high deserts and mountains of Wyoming.  The trees were gone and there was a strange aroma in the air (I soon identified that smell as artemisia tridentata).   Due to the nature of my SOS position I was able to dive right into a botanical smorgasbord of 2.5 million acres!  I had the unique opportunity to connect the biological dots and get a better understanding of how plants are related, how different plants adapt to radically different ecosystems, and gain a greater appreciation of the diversity of life.  I was also able to experience the life of a BLMer.  I was able to go out with different people and get valuable experience in range-land monitoring, wildlife monitoring, a ton of GIS experience, and even some weed and pest work.  It was helpful for me to talk with them about their career choices and listen to their candid advice about working for the government and working in the sciences.  There is absolutely no question in my mind that my experience here has given me the tools to advance myself in the elusive world of gainful employment.

Believe it or not, I did not just collect seeds for the entire time I have been out here.  Living in Wyoming has been an interesting experience that I never thought I would have and will never forget.  If biology has taught me anything about survival, it has taught me to adapt or die, so adapt I did!  Some serious highlights include the 4th of July celebrations in Lander.  A parade, a rodeo, more fireworks than my little heart could imagine, and a hike with fellow CLMers that culminated in a jaw-dropping mountain stream rockslide…I can honestly say I have never felt so patriotic.  I also had a great time getting to know the town and its people by being a die hard garage sale picker.  Let me tell you, there are some good deals in these garages.  The garage sales were so bountiful that it got me out of my house at 8am every Saturday morning and all of my Christmas shopping is done!  I was also able to take advantage of Lander’s convenient location just a few hours away from Grand Teton and  Yellowstone National Park, minutes from the Wind River Range and immersed  in natural wonders.

All in all, my experience working with the BLM and the Chicago Botanic Garden has given me great experience and incite.  I have recommended this program to many peers and appreciate all of the people that work to make it happen.

Thanks again.

Usher clear.

Emily Usher – Bureau of Land Management – Lander, Wyoming

Well mates, what can I say? It’s officially time to call down the final curtain on my experience in Idaho. It’s a strange feeling. I honestly couldn’t summarize my experience in a little blurb or string of sappy adjectives. Because my whole time out here, from April to October has been made up of these little moments (milliseconds really if you look at it in the grand scheme of life) that have made me smile, think, learn or laugh uncontrollably and I could not hope to describe their meaning and significance.

It’s amazing to me how much Idaho has become part of my life—even the little things, like visiting the library or the long daily drive out to the field sites. I came out to Idaho back in April with little idea of what to expect, since this was my first time out west. It was a whole new landscape, set of plant species and environment but I ended up learning so much about working in an agency, fieldwork, plant identification and western history and culture. I never imagined how beautiful my CLM state and neighbors would be, or how many adventures I’d go on!

I think I can speak for all CLM interns when I say we all moved out somewhere foreign and made a new life for ourselves. New routine, new people, new lifestyle. We should all be proud of ourselves for being able to do that…as well as grateful for that opportunity. I feel incredibly lucky to have been an intern on this program and met amazing people and worked in a government agency. I not only had the opportunity to complete different types of monitoring, wetland delineations and rare plant surveys in crews, but also to shadow staff in my field office to experience what their work entails, which provided me with insight on what career path I would be most interested in. I was constantly struck by how kind and open-minded all my co-workers and BLM staff were, welcoming us into their office and sharing advice and their experiences with us interns.

I think the perfect way to say goodbye to Idaho was returning to the beginning of our crew adventures when we camped at the Diamond A. This last week that I worked as an intern, we went back to our Big Cottonwood campsite near Murphy Hot Springs. We marveled at how much it had changed with the seasons passing. We first camped there in spring when the river rolled by so fast and the canyon had not fully greened into summer. We continually visited the area in the summer and as I discussed in a previous post, a lot of memories were forged in this site. But this time the cottonwoods were yellow and the grasses were golden.

The air was crisp, but there was this stillness to it that made one feel like the canyon was holding its breath. And the colors! It was as if someone had taken a paintbrush and painted all the leaves yellow! It was beautiful. While I missed the green leaves and warm summer days, but at the same time, I collected some yellow cottonwood leaves. It seems that everything has its time, but it can’t last forever. The things that truly matter, that mean the most to us, we always take with us and revisit.

And so, with that my dear Idaho, I bid you farewell, knowing that when I direct my myself east on Route 30 to leave Twin Falls behind, there is no doubt in my mind that someday I will return.

So long for now,

Maria Paula

Jarbidge Field Office

Bureau of Land Management

Twin Falls, Idaho

It’s September and fall has finally come to Idaho! It really surprised me how colorful the foliage gets out here and how distinct the change in seasons is. We don’t have a lot of trees out here, but the willows and aspens are changing and if you go further north in Idaho towards Stanley there are many more trees changing to shades of red and gold.

And speaking of gold, a spectacular change has come over our field office. The green grasses have given way to the steady sunshine, turning into a sweet gold that is swept around by the whims of the crisp autumn wind. Makes me smile to walk through it as we do Lepa surveys and reminds me of the Eva Cassidy song “Fields of Gold” (that reference was for you, my dear Emily).

This month, I was able to experience fall in the most unique of ways—visiting Yellowstone National Park for the first time! Ricecake, Avery and I went on this adventure and had a blast. This was my first time and although I grew up reading about it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. We spent the first day looking at geysers around the western side of the park near Old Faithful. The geysers were so cool! While exploring the paths around the geysers, we even saw a coyote. Later that night in our campsite, as I curled up in my sleeping bag against the cold night air, I heard the unmistakable bugle of an elk. There was some commotion near our campsite, and it seemed that the elk was very close-by. It was so thrilling to hear it bugle as it continued on and off throughout the time I was awake…the sound was ghostly, almost ethereal…yet mournful at the same time, I’d never heard anything like it.

Throughout the time of our stay, we saw bison, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, elk, mule deer, a badger, hot springs and an endless array of lovely landscapes.

My favorite part was Lamar Valley, which is where the wolves are most populous. I knew it was a long shot to actually see one, but I was most excited to wander around their territory and imagine them watching us from the shadows. We found some wolf scat and prints, which I was rather shamelessly excited about.

The Lamar River was a beautiful place to eat lunch! Later we climbed down to the riverside to become children again, scrambling around the shore rocks yelping in delight at each colorful rock or piece of petrified wood we found (and of course did not collect). We kept finding the coolest rock ever, and then someone would find one even cooler and then someone else would a find a green one…no this white one! No! This piece of petrified wood! Look how pretty it shines in the stream water! Look at mine! And it went on until we chose the best ones to photograph. Truth is, I could have spent the whole day along the Lamar River making all these awesome finds. I can’t tell you what part of the visit was my favorite, but this riverside romp comes pretty close!

This week we’ve been checking the condition of fences for cattle access, especially in canyon areas where they may try to sneak down to get to the streams and riparian areas below. It may sound like really mundane work, but I think for me at least, it’s been one of the most exciting parts of the internship.

So far, every month has been marked by great learning experiences and this one was no exception. Perhaps the funnest, but also most challenging of these experiences was fish seining. Fish seining consists of dragging a net across a river as a way to catch fish. You add a windy day and rocky terrain that is not visible through the water and you get a good workout with some very lovely bruises. I look forward to continue seining this week although I do hope it won’t be painfully cold and windy.

One of our tasks this past week was to survey areas in search of the elusive pygmy rabbits. Searching can get a little monotonous and tiring, specially when you search and search, and there are no signs of pygmy rabbits. This also makes it that much more exciting when you finally spot their distinctive pellets under the sagebrush and you enthusiastically start hunting for occupied burrows. Then you spot a rabbit running through the sagebrush and it all happens too quickly that you don’t get a chance to get a good look or you find yourself disappointed as you realize it was only a cottontail. I’ve been eager to spot one, but can’t say with certainty that I ever saw one and chances are I didn’t. I went out on one of these pigmy rabbits hunts by myself and I’ve got say it’s quite a different experience being out solo. I felt it was pleasantly therapeutic. Experiences are a lot more pronounced and the sense of peace when you are out by yourself is very rewarding.

I am quite sad I am coming into the last week of my internship. It feels like there is so much more to do and learn. It’s too bad it’s almost time to say goodbye.

This past week my team and I set out on a week long seed collecting expedition in southeast of Yosemite. We started in the Bristlecone National Forest to find a population of Lipidospartum, that will be used in genetics research. While we were so close to the Bristlecones, we ventured up into the ancient forest on search of Methuselah, the almost 5,000 year old tree.

Bristelcone

After the ancient trees, we headed up Tioga Pass to Yosemite and collected some riparian species in a beautiful yellow aspen patch. We then drove towards the tufa shores of Mono Lake on the search of some Chenopods and Artemisia.

Our third night we stayed in a rustic town with natural hot springs. In the evening we were lucky enough to relax under the starry sky in hot tubs fed by the mineral hot springs.