This past week, another intern with the Carson City Botany Team and myself, traveled west over the Sierra Mountains to attend the Basic Wetland Delineation certification course in Sacramento, California as our alternative training to the Chicago training in June. The class was taught by two instructors with the Wetland Training Institute based out of Wisconsin. The curriculum was centered around the 1987 US Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual. While there were several hours of lecture on various aspects of wetland delineation, we also spent three full afternoons practicing delineations in the field. We frequented vernal pools that were in full bloom, as well as a riverine site and a disturbed site.

For those unfamiliar with wetland delineation, the Corps Manual provides guidance for professionals on how to decide what is a wetland and where to map the boundary. There are three criteria used to evaluate a site: vegetation, hydrology, and soil. If these three parameters reflect wetland features, then an area can be designated as a wetland and falls under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers (with expanding buffer habitats surrounding the wetland usually falling under state or other federal agency jurisdiction). The purpose of wetland delineation is to map the wetland and use the information for protection or development purposes.

While I do not have any pictures to post from the trip, I can mention some of the plants we saw in the vernal pools and the other sites. In the pools, we found woolly marbles (Psilocarphus brevissimus), tidy tips (Layia fremontii), frying pan poppy (Eschscholzia lobbii), goldfields (Lasthenia fremontii), and field cluster lily (Dichelostemma capitatum). I also saw a familiar friend from the Midwest while I was out surveying in one of the riverine areas: water smartweed (Persicaria amphibia). This plant is recognizable in the early vegetative stages by the black chevron on its leaves. I was elated to find such a familiar face amid all of the new friends I was meeting (I suppose I just accumulated major nerdy botanist points for this statement…hahaha!). The vernal pools of California are quite a sight when in bloom; the overwhelmingly bright yellow flowers are seen from afar, while the purple gems are hidden until one comes closer. I was blown away by how beautiful all of the pools were this past week.

Overall, I had a wonderful time learning about wetland delineation this week. Both instructors were incredibly knowledgeable and had worked together for so long they were comfortable teasing one another in class. They were full of great stories that illustrated the concepts they were trying to teach. I met several people within the environmental science field who came from all sorts of backgrounds and professional settings. Best of all, I learned several new plant names and reconnected with an old plant friend! Traveling over the mountains and through the vernal pools was quite the adventure this week and I am grateful for the opportunity to gain such valuable skills in wetland delineation!

Until next time,

Maggie Gray, Carson City BLM District Office, Nevada

The journey from my sunny San Diego suburb to my tiny Utah town took me much farther than the 637 miles by car and has shattered my preconceived notions about what a desert is and how one lives without the Pacific Ocean close at hand.

These boots were made for techin’, and that’s just what we’ll do.

For one thing, the journey took me from the endangered Coastal Sage Scrub ecosystem of Southern California to the underappreciated desert scrubland of the southwestern Colorado Plateau ecosystem. Though these landscapes superficially share some similarities, their differences are achingly palatable to my homesick eyes. ‘Wait, it snows here? And in mid-April?’ ‘Monsoons? That can’t be right…I thought that this was a desert.’ ‘But where’s the igneous rock? All I see is sedimentary. There’s no granite anywhere.’ ‘Lake Powell has a “beach”?’ Ah, the naiveté of a bewildered transplant!

The next stage of my journey has involved trying to wrap my mind around the magnitude of my surroundings. Everything about the landscape of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (hereafter: GSENM, as we in the know refer to it) is simply and complexly grand. That’s always the first word that springs to mind when trying to describe the vast array of canyons, cliffs, ancient dunes, fossilized dinosaur tracks, shifting hills, slickrock faces, riparian oases, and fractured crust that compose the indomitable monument. Grand and virtually indescribable.

The view from my tent door.

How does one convey the variety of natural wonders to an unknowing audience? How does one capture the subtle hues of red on a rock when the ever shifting clouds overhead affect the shades on the ground from moment to moment? How, oh how dear reader, am I to brag about this on Facebook when words and pictures fall desperately short of the mark?

The last, and probably most important leg of my journey has been understanding that the answers to my questions are all: I can’t and I shouldn’t really even try. This place is meant to be experienced with all of one’s senses working together to create an honest portrait of what living beauty is. Perhaps the monument is like a reverse of Dorian Grey’s picture – as the world becomes more impoverished of species diversity, wild places, and harmony with nature, locations like Escalante will become lovelier because they will become only rarer in the future – they will be a snapshot of bygone histories that we should always cherish.

Hiking in the Zebra Slot Canyon

With 1/5th of my time in Escalante behind me, I have much to look forward to: a community of like-minded office mates; a brilliant, optimistic, plant-loving co-intern; endless opportunities for exploration on the monument and beyond; a whole new ecosystem and a huge array of native flora to learn and to love; knowledge that working for the Seeds of Success program will have real world conservation implications in the uncertain future; assisting in  early morning hummingbird studies; lending help in late night bat surveys; planting willows for bank stabilization; working for the BLM; collaborating with rangers, scientists, and citizens for a brighter future; and heaps more.

With all these thoughts buzzing around in my head, I can’t help but ponder: what is it that Bilbo used to sing about the Road? Something about where it was going…? Ah well, it will come to me eventually! Until it does, may your paths lead you to new wonders around you and new discoveries within you.

In the spirit of adventure,

Elise

Escalante Field Office, BLM

My first two weeks working for the Vale District BLM have been pretty atypical. The first three days of my internship were filled with some GIS based workshops; ArcPad and GeoBOB. During these workshops, I got to brush up on my GIS skills and learn the basics of GeoBOB, a biological database used by the Washington/Oregon BLM. I also got to meet my co-intern, Amanda, and two other CLM interns from the Wenatchee field office, Jenny and Justin. I apologize for not taking a picture of all of us using our GPS units to make point data of garbage cans in the parking lot (the closest we could get to recreating real field observations).

This week, my mentor, Susan Fritts, was away at a seed conference in Sante Fe, so Amanda and I didn’t get a chance to go out into the field for botany. We did, however, get to spend a day rearranging our herbarium (it was previously being digitized out of office), and practicing our skills keying dried specimen!

Our beautifully arranged herbarium!

We made the mistake of trying to key out a species of  Astragalus for practice. They are notoriously tricky to key out in this area because there are so many species here.

The rest of this week was spent in the field with other technicians in the office. On Wednesday, I went into the field with a range technician, Bob, to check on the quality of a nearby road. I learned a lot! Bob grew up in rangeland on a ranch. He was able to provide me with a lot of perspective on grazing and ranching, things I am not very familiar with since I grew up in the suburbs of Minnesota and went to college on the west side of the Cascades. I realized that not only in this area is there a lot of conflict in belief between conservation and land utilization (be it grazing, hunting, or mining), but even in this agency, particularly this office, there is quite a spectrum of beliefs. Bob and I continued to discuss the history of this rangeland while we lunched on the banks of the Owyhee River.

A typical view of the range around Vale.

The Owyhee River. Not a bad lunchroom!

On Thursday, Amanda and I went out with two wildlife technicians. Our day started at 4 am, when we left the office in the hopes of spotting a sage grouse lek. Unfortunately, after driving for an hour and standing in the cold for another two hours (a brisk 20 degrees, with wind), we didn’t see a single sage grouse. We drove to a different location to check another lek site, but still no sage grouse. By this time in April, the mating season is coming to an end, so it is not unusual that we didn’t spot any sage grouse, but I was still pretty bummed since I’ve never seen one before.

At 9 am, it was time to start our Columbia spotted frog (soon to be listed) and egg mass count at Dry Creek. Trying to find egg masses along the edges of the creek turned out to be pretty hard. With so much algae growing in the creek, almost everything looked like an egg mass.

An actual egg mass!

Once it started to warm up, we spotted more and more frogs (no pun intended). At some points it became difficult to count because there were so many frogs out in the sun!

A female Columbia spotted frog. In this species, adult females are often much larger than adult males. This lady was pretty little at only about 4 inches long from nose to tail.

Amanda and I finished our week by learning to change the wheels on our giant 4×4. Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. If any photo documentation of this event existed, it likely would have involved two very sweaty CLM interns each with a grimace that rivals that of Grumpy Cat. After spending a lot of time practicing tire changing, we ended our day with a drive with the district’s range specialist, Bill, learning about Vale’s ecological and cultural history.

Over all, it was a pretty fun two weeks! After spending many hours in a truck, my biggest takeaway lesson is that people use the term “road” very generously here. A freshly graded gravel road is practically a highway!

I am looking forward to getting out in the field to learn more about the local flora, start surveying sensitive species, and collect seed!

Hey everyone,

This is Ellie, one of the new interns at the Richfield, Utah office working with Dustin Rooks. Sam and I have had an awesome and busy first month! For the first half of our season we will be monitoring (mainly) two T&E cacti species, Pediocactus winkleri and Sclerocactus wrightiae. They are two amazingly small cacti (some just 1cm in diameter) that blend in perfectly with the soil’s texture, making them difficult to find. They’re rather finicky, only emerging on years with good rain and barely breaking the surface. This year was a bit dry and we’ve had sites with hundreds and sites with less than ten. However, this week they’ve started to “pop” with delicate flowers, making them easier to spot.

Much of our work is near Capitol Reef National Park; the geology of the area is so interesting and unique. For example, many of our sampling plots are in the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, which resembles a “moonscape” of hills of clay that are striped white, pink, red, and purple. There’s actually a “Mars station” nearby, where people go and experiment like they’re living on Mars. I’ve found Utah is full of cool and weird things like this, making this experience all the more exciting.

I’ve already learned an immense amount about the geology of Utah and plants of salt desert shrub, and am looking forward to continuing.

As for living in Richfield, it’s definitely different compared to Tucson (my hometown), but I like living in the country. The Sevier Valley is beautiful and green, surrounded by tall snow-capped mountains. A 20-minute drive outside of town takes you to a reservoir with wildlife and recreation opportunities, perfect for birding, boating, and fishing. Everyone is extremely nice and neighborly, making me feel right at home. I’m happy to be a part of the CLM program in Richfield and am excited for the rest of the summer!

A few memorable experiences so far:

• Going to the Hanksville field office and working with Dave Cook, the wildlife biologist, who aids in the quest for cacti.
• On the way to one of our sites, we stopped in a canyon and saw a still-standing petrified tree. The fossils here are awesome.
• Our first day was checking a dinosaur dig site for cacti. An awesome start to the field season.

Ellie

Hello fellow interns!

My first month in Richfield, UT has been great so far! As a Minnesota native living my whole life in the Midwest, the West has been more beautiful than I could imagine. And I have surprised myself with how fast I have been able to pick up a new flora. The desert is desolate but there is still so much beauty to be found!

Evening primrose

Our average day so far has consisted of a drive over to Hanksville, UT through Capital Reef National Park and then going to different macroplots to monitor either Sclerocactus or Pediocactus. My mentor jokes with us about how sick we are going to get of these cacti, but they still have not bothered me yet. So for our first few months, most of the work is going to center around these two genuses, and then we will start working more with seed collecting for Seeds of Success, which will involve going to a lot more different areas and some overnight camping. Outside of work, Utah has been a great place for exploration. Just this past weekend, the other CLM intern and I drove down to Zion National Park. So much beautiful scenery and great hikes! We will definitely be going back again! I am also looking forward to improving my skills with fishing and hopefully catching some trout. That is all I have to say for now, until next time!

Capital Reef National Park

Sclerocactus wrightiae

Zion – Angel’s Landing

Sam

Richfield, UT

Hello! I am your guide, Justin Chappelle! I am a CLM intern with the Wenatchee Field Office in Washington. Today, we are going on a rugged journey through the western portion of the Saddle Mountains in search of rare plants, cool animals, and interesting rock formations!!

Welcome! I am glad you could make it on this awesome tour! We will start with the dune community of the Saddle Mountains. The western portion of the mountains along the Columbia River is known for its windy conditions. A lot of the eroded sediment from various scabland features in the valley collect in this region. The sediment is blown here and deposited along the talus slopes!! Some of these dune features host an assortment of rare plants and animals. Many scientists travel to the Saddle Mountains to study and monitor the various plants and animals of this region. Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) nests are commonly monitored, various bioblitzs are performed to develop species lists, and lichens are studied to help understand the surrounding ecosystems in this region. Hopefully, we will get to see some interesting flora and fauna!! Oh…. I forgot to mention, we might encounter a few ATV people! So be on the lookout and wear bright colors!

The sand here is very soft and weathered! Due to the amount of traveling each of the sediment particles undergo, they form into a smaller, spherical shape. Many wind patterns and tracks could be found within the sandy, open areas.

As we travel up the dunes, we tend to see many native plants starting to colonize the dunes. Plants in the Polygonaceae family (Knotweed Family) could be found along the ephemeral stream areas. Other plants in the Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family), Asteraceae (Composite Family), Hydrophyallceae (Waterleaf Family), Brassicaceae (Mustard Family), and Rosaceae (Rose Family) family could be found along the talus slopes next to the dunes.

Rumex crispus and Phlox speciosa

((Wow!!! Good eye! I forgot to mention that there are many interesting and rare Lomatium species that could be found in the area. Many plants in the Apiaceae Family could be found growing in mid spring! This is Lomatium columbianum, also known as Columbia Desert Parsley. They grow in the Northern section of the mountains, this is a new sighting for this area!! Cool!! Let us take a GPS point and write some notes down before we move on.))

During the afternoon, the dunes warm up and we get to see a lot of unusual wildlife. Insects in the Scarabaeidae family and various lizards bask in the sun. The insects love the flowering plants around here. Lupinus, Delphinium, Erysimum, Astragalus, Crepis, and Phlox species, along with Purshia tridentata (bitterbrush), seem to be a favorite for many beetle species right now!

Wow!! This is amazing! I have no clue what this insect is, but it likes to roll like a ball  down the dunes. Probably it does this to escape predators.

This beetle is found all over the bitterbrush! Looks like a hairy Japanese beetle! Unfortunately, I am not an entomologist, but I think this is a hairy flower beetle of some kind.

As we move through the transition zone between the dunes and talus, we get to see a variety of bird species! It is common to see Rock wrens (Salpinctes obsoletus) and Canyon Wrens (Catherpes mexicanus) in this area. Golden Eagles love to make nests on the steep cliffs, above the talus slopes, along the Columbia River. They prefer an open area where they can easily access the nest. Right now, the Golden Eagles are preparing their nests. If a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) or Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flies into the area, the Golden Eagles would actually attack those birds. Golden Eagles usually do not like to share their territory or possible nesting sites with other birds of prey. Even a red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is looked down upon by the eagles. The American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) use this time to pester the eagles, because that is one of their favorite past times.

Different species of birds love to build nests in these basaltic outcrops!

Oh?? Oh hey! Good eye! You have found  White Throated Swifts (Aeronautes saxatalis)! These birds migrate over long distances and love to build nests in basalt cliffs. There are many nests that could be seen in the holes of the basalt. They are very vocal and don’t mind building nests near large birds of prey or Rock doves (Columba livia)…but they do dislike Merlin (Falco columbarius), which is a common bird of prey that loves to go after the swift species!

As we climb up the side of the mountain, we get to see more beautiful flowers, grasses and different sagebrush and rabbitbrush species. These plants are growing on old talus slopes! Many wildflowers are growing right now thanks to the warm temperatures and rain we had recently in the area.

On the top of the mountains, we could see much of the Columbia River, some newly planted orchards, and power lines that were built by the power company!

Part of the Columbia River Basin.

VVVVVVVVVVAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM
Yay!!! This is a cool opportunity!! The U.S. Airforce uses these mountains and coulees for their training. They like to fly around and adapt to different wind patterns. Almost every other day, we would see them training out in the surrounding area. I don’t know how the wildlife responds to these jets, but they still build their nests here…alright hopefully the jets leave soon. I don’t want to get tinnitus. >_>

The top of the Saddle Mountains were carved by the massive Missoula floods that occurred in the area ~13,000-15,000 years ago. If you are lucky, you could find petrified wood from ginkgo trees deposited here! Various silica rock made from diatoms a long time ago could be found commonly between basaltic deposits.

Silica deposits that contain silica minerals and petrified wood!

There are various trails on the tops of these mountains for rock hounders and people who ride ATVs in the area. Despite the road traffic, the flowers are thriving! There are so many phlox and balsamroot (Balsamorhiza species), you could actually smell them!!

ATV trails weaving up the side of the mountain.

I want to thank you again for your participation in the Saddle Mountains Tours. I hope you learned a little about the area. See you on our next travel adventure!

Justin Chappelle

And now….Your Moment of Zen

A cool looking Diptera on a Balsamorhiza sagittata.

Well, I’ve been unchained from my desk on trial basis, and was able to get outside and play this week. There was a cadre of congressional staffers touring the Monument this week, and I was ask to speak on the Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) Program and how we are using it to characterize the landscape within the Monument. I got my 10 minutes of fame (as I was the only speaker between them and cold beer), then got to do a seed tour in southern Colorado. Good day. VERY windy. But it was good to enjoy the sunshine.

The Mojave Desert continues to surprise me every day! Around every creosote shrub or Ambrosia dumosa bush there is a new wonder to behold: a wild desert tortoise slowly reaching for a bite of bright orange Spheralcea ambigua flower with its beak, a graceful Calochortus flexuosus mariposa lily purple-hued and magnificent waving in the wind, the desert pavement varnished dark rusty black crackling underfoot. A cobble lined wash no longer full of flowing winter rain but a symphony of perennial golden asters, blossoming buckwheat, and fragrant Phacelia.

Blooming Yucca

For the last few weeks, I have been working with USGS in Henderson, NV collecting data on annual plant species in juvenile desert tortoise habitat. What do the juveniles eat, where, and when? Based on forage availability, where are suitable locations for desert tortoise to be translocated? Translocation often occurs when someone constructs a building or otherwise disturbs an area where the endangered desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, lives. This project represents a component of the ongoing research of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center related to the desert tortoise (See http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Project.aspx?ProjectID=110).

Desert Tortoise!

I have been enjoying getting to know my new business partners: the cryptic Cryptanthas, the peculiar Pectocaryas, and the always exciting Eriogonum. The plants here truly amaze me with their abilities to survive in this extreme environment. For example, the retractable Pediocactus bradyi, a small cactus which retracts into the earth when stressed by dry and cold conditions! 

My new winged neighbors: Say’s Pheobe, Costa’s Hummingbird, Verdin, Black-throated Sparrow, Rock Wren, and yes, The Greater Roadrunner. Nothing is as thrilling as hearing a female roadrunner’s coo-cooing bark ringing out through a Joshua Tree and Yucca woodland and reverberate against fossil-laden cliffs. Though the area is pretty parched now, about 660 million years ago a sea existed here leaving behind layers of shells and other remnants of marine life!

Joshua Tree

That’s all for now – we are about to help another team studying Joshua Tree pollination!

-Amanda

It’s been almost a month since I started my first CLM internship here in Wenatchee, Wa which seems strange – the time has just flown by. I’ve spent the past few weeks becoming acquainted with the structure and politics of the OR/WA BLM, getting my feet wet (so to speak) in the field, and learning ArcMap and its related programs.

The BLM is now the second federal agency I’ve worked for. The first being the National Park Service as a SCA intern at Devils Tower National Monument. Immediately I noticed some differences in how the two agencies operate. As a steward of multi-use land, BLM employees often have to work in the murky gray area where development and conservation meet – something the NPS doesn’t have to deal with. This constant compromise is something I’ve always found really interesting and I’m excited to be able to talk with people who deal with this everyday.

Potential site of new gravel mine.

Surveyin’ for Golden Eagles

Getting all trained up.

Oh, and I’ve spent my weekends/afternoons climbing in the Cascades outside the faux Bavarian town of Leavenworth just 30 min away.

Ready for an afternoon of bouldering.

Till next time!

Hello!

It is spring in the Mojave Desert, and we have begun our field season in full force! As interns with USGS Henderson, NV, it’s our job to characterize the annual (and, to some extent, perennial) vegetation available to juvenile Desert Tortoises. We’re talking quite small tortoises – imagine a four-inch long tortoise!


Despite the widespread drought in the west, the Mojave actually received above-average winter precipitation this water year, and, as a result, we are seeing incredible annual growth! Many of the spring wildflowers are in full bloom, and we’ve been learning loads of new species each day. It seems as though there are another five species flowering each time we visit our field sites! We’ve been kept busy keying out new species, especially Cyrptantha sp. (the CLM guide to Cryptanthas has been a fantastic resource).

Besides amazing new plants, we’ve also seen a number of resident and translocated Desert Tortoises, snakes, and birds!
I am looking forward to adding more species to the list, and learning more about the Mojave as the season goes on! What an amazing opportunity to learn about plant and wildlife ecology!!

‘Til next time,
Daniel Boyes