We met up with Fish and Wildlife Service’s bighorn sheep crew at six in the morning. It was a beautiful day— the sun had yet to break over the Marble Mountains, and there was a chill in the air. We were there to help with (or, let’s be honest— tag along with) the May bighorn sheep survey in the Marbles. Each Needles BLM intern paired off with a bighorn sheep crew member, and we dispersed into the mountains.

Sunlight breaking over the Marble Mountains

I was incredibly lucky to be paired with Dr. John Wehausen, who has extensively studied bighorn sheep populations in California since the 1970’s. As we began our ascent, John gave me a rundown of the population dynamics in the Marbles and the surrounding area. As we worked our route through the range, we stopped at each vantage point to search the landscape for the bighorn sheep. At one point, we turned a corner, and John literally sniffed the air and said, “Sheep were here.” The man knows his sheep.

Dr. John Wehausen glassing for bighorn sheep.

John also has a great deal of botanical knowledge, and we talked about the plants we were seeing throughout the day. Although I have been studying these plants for the past three months, I began to see them in a new light as their importance was explained in terms of bighorn sheep nutrition.

Blue flax (Linum lewisii) south of Clark Mountain

By doing the survey, we learned how to identify bighorn sheep and lamb pellets. This is a skill we will continue to use throughout the rest of our internship. Because we spend so much time in the field, we can help gather information on bighorn sheep activities for researchers that may not get over to those areas as frequently.

A beautiful lunch spot in the Mescal Range.

In other news, Jessica and I have been very busy! We have been following the blooms and have identified populations of several sensitive species, including Sphaeralcea rusbyi var. eremicola, Grusonia parishii, (lots of) Coryphantha chlorantha, Mentzelia tricuspis, Senna covesii, and Penstemon utahensis.

Jessica in Picture Canyon, where we found a population of Mentzelia tricuspis and got caught in a thunderstorm!

Also, we have recently been spending more time surveying for invasive plants. Our positions are funded by an Off-Highway Vehicle grant, so we have been driving primary OHV roads and documenting populations of invasive plants. Along the way, we also document populations of Asclepias spp. for data on Monarch butterfly habitats. See Jessica’s blog post for more on that!

Asclepias erosa in a wash near the Cadiz Dunes.

Happy trails,

Kate Sinnott

Sensitive and Invasive Plant Monitoring Intern

BLM – Needles Field Office

After driving 3 days and 1,775 miles, I was greeted by Sky Country! Coming from the corn and soybean fields of Ohio, I was in awe of the snow peak mountains that enveloped me in every direction. Montana is the definition of beauty. From its towering peaks, to brimming hills of conifers above and sages below, to winding rivers and the allure of catching a glimpse of mountain lions, grizzly bears and wolves; this is a land that is flowing with biological and cultural treasures. Treasures that I, as a Conservation and Land Management Intern, can not wait to discover.

My first week in Dillon, MT partnering with the BLM proved to be an adventure. In addition to journeying to remote field sites, using 4×4 trucks following dirt paths up steep mountains, I was trained in several range management techniques. I learned how to take aerial cover using the Dauben-mire method, how to check exclosures and allotments, and most excitedly I started expanding my Montana floral knowledge, learning the forbs and grasses native to this unique Intermountain Region.

Field site near Dillon, MT.

Abandoned gold mine near the ghost town of Rochester, MT.

I am excited to see what this summer field season has in store. It has always been a professional and a personal goal of mine to work in the Western United States, and I am thrilled to embrace this opportunity to the fullest.

Until next time!

Steph Smith, BLM- Dillon, MT

I often ask myself how I got so lucky when I’m out in the field hiking the canyons and foothills of central Washington. After all, how many people can say that the work they do for a living is exactly what they’d want to be doing in their leisure time? Observing the landscape, exploring wild places, and (of course) learning all the plants I can get my hands on…none of this even feels like work to me. Out in the field, there are days when I can’t keep a cheesy grin off my face, simply because I’m in awe of my own luck at having found my passion. However, that giddy feeling was never so strong as it was these past two days, when I was introduced to the cutest endangered species there ever was…the unforgettable pygmy rabbit!

Pygmy rabbits are the most critically endangered species in Washington, due mainly to habitat loss. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to help boost their population by keeping rabbits in protected enclosures to breed, then trapping them, taking data on them, and releasing the young into the wild. Luckily for us CLM interns, our supervisor Erik volunteered us to help out with the trapping. The result was the most fun two days of work I’ve ever had!

The smallest rabbit we captured! The young ones were incredibly docile.

We used two methods to capture the rabbits. The first was setting live traps in the enclosures at the entrances of burrows, and plugging the other exits. Pretty straightforward, but also time-consuming. The second, more exciting method was the herding–it was like a cattle drive, but with bunnies! It was also the most comical thing I’ve ever had to do for work. The enclosure was divided into “funnels” with traps at the narrow end, and the burrows were all plugged. Then, everyone took two pillow cases, lined up at the wide end, and slowly started walking forward, flapping our pillow cases wildly as we went. Each time we saw a rabbit, we had to keep it moving forward, towards the trap. The best thing about this method was the escalating excitement as more rabbits appeared, and then the final push at the end to get them safely into the trap. I won’t even try to describe how goofy we all looked flapping and yelling, since words can’t possibly do it justice. Once the bunnies were captured, we weighed them, sexed them, took tissue samples, and gave them a flea treatment. This meant lots of rabbit handling time–yay!!! Finally, we took the young ones out of the enclosure to pre-determined release points, and set them free!

Helping collect data meant bunny snuggling time!

Katherine releases a rabbit!

Although the pygmy rabbits were the highlight of the past two weeks, our ESR work also continues to be fun and rewarding. We did recon of post-fire treatment at some really incredible sites, and I continued to geek out as I saw new plants beginning to flower (the penstemon is starting now, woohoo!) As June rolls around, I’m preparing myself for hotter temperatures, dustier conditions, and the threat of wildfire. But for now, I’m just enjoying the beauty of Central Washington in the spring, and all of the amazing things I get to do here.

A site near Salmon Creek

My first horned lizard! I had no idea how tiny they were.

Katherine Schneider, BLM, Wenatchee WA Field Office

I am a bit astonished by how much the landscape has changed since my last blog post, less than a month ago. Some seed collections have been successful, while some populations which I had targeted have disappeared. Nonetheless, as species go to seed, some to never be seen again, at least until next year when some other intern attempts to capture a portion of their progeny, a different cast of later blooming species has taken the stage. I am pleased to have this new cast of characters to see and learn, and some of these relatively late bloomers may be prospects for future collections. As for those species to whose release party I showed up late, I wish a future intern luck and hopefully we will learn from these mistakes. When there was not a seed left to collect at a location, I was able to remove some invasive species before they released their seeds. That feels good, as I am removing native seeds from a location for conservation, to also remove some non-native competition.

Those seed collections that have been successful have been rewarding. The Delphinium and Sidalcea blooming in concert was one of my favorite sights this last month, and today I have seed collections to remember them by.

Delphinium and Sidalcea at Kanaka Valley

I revisited the Butte Fire burn area in time to collect seeds of Calochortus monophyllus and Toxicoscordion exaltatum, before camping along the Merced River for more collections. As I collected Lupinus microcarpus along the Merced River, I could hear the legumes splitting a few steps ahead of me, sending seeds flying but not into my bag. It gave me a sense of urgency. There were weekend visitors all around, quite curious about my apparently peculiar activity, so I was able to explain the nature of my work to lots of curious, friendly folks, many of whom want to know the common names of whichever species they have recently enjoyed seeing. I know from experience, they’re much more interested in a common name than the Latin. I heard from them a lot about “what a terrible job I have!” remarked sarcastically. I agree, sarcastically!

John Woodruff from the BLM Mother Lode Field Office in California

Calochortus monophyllus seeds at the Butte Fire burn area near Mokeluemne Hill, CA.

Calochortus monophyllus seeds released before my arrival to the Butte Fire burn area.

As a newbie to the West, coming to Wyoming has been quite the adventure. The mountains! The badlands! Fossils! More cows than people! My time as a CLM intern has been rather short so far, roughly about a week. During this time, I have been a part of AIM training in Rocksprings, a hefty 5-6 hour drive from our Buffalo BLM office. This training emphasizes a protocol for collecting data that will be useful to certain projects that the BLM has going on and was a great way to learn new skills and techniques that will be put into practice once our team gets back to Buffalo. I’m looking forward to the work I’ll be doing through this internship and also to exploring the lovely state of Wyoming!

Corinne Schroeder

Buffalo BLM Field Office