The autumnal chill in the air is a sure sign that the field season is coming to a close. Thus, this is my last blog post from my internship in Farmington, NM. My co-intern finished last week so it’s just me for the next few weeks. Although today is the last official day of my CLM internship, I will be staying on for a few extra weeks as a volunteer to help whip our herbarium into shape and possibly assist with some other ecological monitoring around the office. We are working to wrap up our season and will be finishing up our last SOS collection next week, which should bring our total to 32 SOS Collections for this season. It may not sound like a lot to some, but I consider each one of those collections a hard-won victory due to the continuing drought in Northwest New Mexico.

Range Management Specialist Angela Yemma prepares to collect Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail) complete with plastic bag booties! Note: The plastic baggies failed spectacularly and we ended up with wet feet that day. Next time we will definitely wear waders

This internship has greatly improved my plant identification skills. Although I completed some botany coursework in college, this internship was a place to put what I learned in school to use and expand greatly upon those skills. Back in Massachusetts, I spent a great deal of time studying trees, only to work in a place where there are very few trees.  Although I struggled at first, I think I truly rose to the challenge and learned a lot along the way.

I will definitely come away from this internship with a greater appreciation for the desert! It’s incredible how everything just comes alive after the slightest bit of rain. I will miss the enormous skies and beautiful landscapes I’ve been privileged to work in and visit this field season. The Four Corners region is an incredibly diverse and special place.

Some beautiful badlands in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

I would like to thank the folks at the BLM Farmington Field Office for a wonderful season. I was made to feel welcome here and like a member of the team. The biggest thanks go to my wonderful mentor, Sheila Williams. She took me under her wing and showed me the ways of a botany ninja, as well as gave me a candid look at what working for the federal government would be like. An additional thanks to Hannah, my CLM sister and buddy throughout the internship. She dealt with my eccentricities way more than anyone should have to and was a joy to work with.

Hannah, Sunny and I enjoying the sights in Coyote Buttes, Arizona

After I leave the Land of Enchantment next month, I will be headed for South Florida to enjoy a warm winter and (hopefully) find more fieldwork. We’ll see what the future has in store for me.

Hello my fellow CLMers,

Originally I believed this internship at the Buffalo Field Office (BFO), Wyoming, would last me until November and then I planned on heading back to Vermont.  Plans changed last month when I got offered an extension till January. After talking to my co-workers, I realized myself and one other were the only people interested in the extension.  I thought, “hey, more for us!” But, as the other interns slowly leave, one after the other, I am left alone and lonely in the small 4,500+ town.

Justin C. left last month and having been a CLM intern in Burns, Oregon 2013, he mentally prepared me that it would get slow.  Overly enthusiastic I thought, “hey, I would love to have that period in my life where things slow down”. Although, things haven’t really slowed down, the opportunities are there, but I have limited myself. I don’t want to over-commit and spread myself thin. Consequentially, I have had and am bound for slow days.

My time is divided between two projects;

One of those projects being my own, Powder River Basin Restoration Initiative (PRBRI) work, restoring Wyoming’s native habitat in the Greater Sage Grouse (GSG) ‘core’ area.

The ‘core’ area is determined by multiple GIS layers indicating where the GSG migrate, brood, and lek. These numbers are determined by ocular estimation, telemetry and other field methods.  I have not gone out on a GSG survey yet, but hope to sometime with the Wildlife Biologists.

My work for PRBRI is to compare the vegetation seen in aerial imagery (classification), captured this past summer,  to what’s on the ground, also known as ‘ground-truthing’. With snow cover now on the ground, I can’t map vegetation outside, so this will be strictly GIS work until snow melt.

The other project is for the Range Specialists, it has the acronym RIPS-Range Improvement Project something-heehee. This is when Sara, Jill and I, with our mentor, Charlotte, have gone out to BLM land, via F-150 trucks, to map data points for fence lines, stock tanks, reservoirs and counted cattle herds, with GPS Trimble. We have a range improvement data dictionary that was created by previous CLM intern, Nicholas Dove. Also, we record weed encroachment on the aforementioned data points. This will be a winter long project and an easy way to get in the field instead of another office day.

Outside of work, I am hanging with what’s left of my friends/co-workers in town. One of them being this lovely lady;

Puggle=Pug+Beagle 

This 10-year old is still spunky and dresses in warm apparel. She fashions the latest faux fur-lined hoodie with skull and cross bones on the back. Her purple plastic footwear keeps her paws warm from the snowy and freezing outdoor temps. Seriously, freezing (see below)!

Check out that -8F reading!

Aside, from the freezing temps, it has snowed here in Buffalo, Wyoming.

:: My apartment’s      parking-lot::

Thankfully snow removal is included in the rent..speaking of rent it is CHEAP in Buffalo, WY. Especially when you split a 2-bedroom apartment between 4 people! There have been times we have all needed space but now that 2 of them are leaving it’ll be bittersweet with all that open space.

After all the slow days, I still have a lovely apartment to sleep and eat in. It’ll be desolate after everyone’s departure from Wyoming, but it’s home.  My Plan: put up my feet and drink some hot cocoa once the place is cleared.  Also, working out at the YMCA around the corner and visiting my local library are all good things to keep a college town gal busy in a small town.

Hope you enjoyed,

Heather B.