I am each of these people at one point or another.

BLM-LFO

Fall has hit Lander, which means cooler weather, more precipitation, and that our seed collecting has come to an end. Except for the various Artemisia species and the occasional opportunistic collection, we have finished our Seeds of Success seed collecting. We managed to surpass our goal of 20 collections, and we are creating herbarium labels for our vouchers in preparation for sending our specimens out to the various herbaria.

Since we are spending less time monitoring potential collections, we have been able to help out with other projects around the office. We helped one of the fire guys by flagging juniper trees that are going to be cut down. The water-hogging junipers have recently started to encroach on areas of our field office that are used for grazing and are causing previously riparian areas to dry up. Rachael and I had polygons on our Trimble marking the areas that are going to be cleared, and our job was to flag the perimeter of the polygons so the cutting crew will know which areas need to be cut. We finished flagging the first three sections, and were gearing up for the last and largest section, which looked to be about 8 miles in circumference. However, we showed up to find that the polygon designated an area covered in sagebrush, with not a juniper in sight! Why someone thought that area might have junipers remains a mystery, but at least it saved us a lot of time.

The area we were supposed to be flagging- not a juniper in sight!

We also helped to conduct a survey in our field office of Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis), one of the four plant species in Wyoming listed as Threatened or Endangered. We began the survey by driving 4 hours to a site near Casper that the plant is known to grow at so that we could see the plant in person before we began looking for it in our field office. When we reached the site, we spent 30 minutes searching the bank of a stream for the plant. The plant is less than a foot tall and grows among grasses and sedges that are almost twice its height, which makes it very difficult to spot. Eventually we found one, and then another, making our long drive worth it.

Spiranthes diluvialis

We spent two days visiting potential habitats in our field office. Not much is known about where the plant grows, but there are a lot of factors that eliminate habitat as potential, such as banks that are too steep, too alkaline, or too moist. We did find two orchids, but neither was the species we were searching for. The only way to differentiate Spiranthes diluvialis from other orchids is by its flowers. However, each individual plant can go several years between flowering events, so the survey will need to be conducted for several more years to ensure the survey is thorough and complete.

Since our mentor is a wildlife biologist, we have been helping him with some wildlife work as well. For the past week, we have been visiting previously mapped white-tailed prairie dog colonies in our field office to determine whether they are still active. We have also found some colonies that were created more recently, so we are mapping those by walking around the boundary with a Trimble GPS. This is quite a bit more difficult than it sounds. The white-tailed prairie dogs spread their holes out, so it is not always possible to stand at one hole and see the next one. One colony we mapped was over 3 miles in circumference, and we could walk for several minutes before finding another hole.

It has been interesting to get a sense of all the monitoring that is required for the sensitive species in our field office. As October approaches, our work will probably turn away from plants and more towards wildlife (and office work). Our mentor has some sage grouse related projects lined up for us, and we have been working on tidying up the loose ends for our Seeds of Success collections. Beyond that, we are excited to take on whatever projects come our way.

Bonus pictures:

Petroglyphs at Castle Gardens, a popular destination for visitors in our field office

When searching for plants, sometimes you find other surprises

Cirque of the Towers, one of our weekend backpacking destinations

Lara Grevstad

BLM Lander, WY

Floating the River

The sky still dark and stormy

We set off late, damp

Floating the river

Water thick with sediment

Red as the canyon

Floating the river

We treat teasel and thistle

Avoid the milkweed

Floating the river

Searching the grassy shoreline

Perfect habitat

Floating the river

Anticipation building

An orchid, hiding

Floating the river

Found our tiny friend in bloom

Ute Ladies Tresses

Floating the river

Rain drops fall on our dinner

The clouds have come  back

Floating the river

Bald eagle dives and catches fish

Shares it with a friend

Floating the river

Wind is blowing at our backs

Mission accomplished

Recently, the weather around Salmon, ID has begun to change to fall. We have had our firsts frosts and snow, the mornings are much colder now, and it is harder to wake up in the morning with the reducing daylight. The changing of the season has also brought a change in my work. Working more with the range crew at the office, I have begun a fence mapping project of one of the more remote areas within my BLM field office. The mapping project forces me to hike all day long in country that I otherwise wouldn’t get to. It has been absolutely beautiful. I am seeing parts of the field office I didn’t even know existed, and am in awe with the beautiful landscape that is right outside my front door. The wildlife has also been amazing. The other day while GPSing fence, I stumbled right across 3 moose, 2 foxes, 2 rattlesnakes, and the largest herd of elk I have ever seen. To be quiet out in the wilderness surrounded by such amazing wildlife is almost a sublime feeling. This project has given me such an appreciation for the beauty that the Salmon field office holds.

Signing off for now,

Austen, BLM, Salmon, ID

As September rolls in the field season is starting to roll out. We still have some work to do in the field, mostly range tasks. This includes checking on range improvement projects and utilization. Range improvement projects are things like troughs, cattle guards, and exclosures. We drive out to them and evaluate how successful they are. For example we check to make sure the cattle guard hasn’t filled in with dirt, which would allow the cattle to cross it. This has involved a lot of driving through a lot of new country. This can be challenging because a lot of the BLM roads are either not marked or not in great condition.  Some days were more successful than others. Utilization involves looking at the height of grazed and ungrazed grasses to see how much of the forage has been consumed. The University of Idaho has developed a tool to estimate the percent of weight consumed by looking at the height. We did several of these transects, then visually estimated the percent utilization across the pasture.

One of the more fun things we got to do was go out with a group from the office to do a proper functioning condition (PFC) evaluation on a stream in Muldoon Canyon. This area is a beautiful part of the field office, where there are stands of both Douglas fir and aspens. Getting to see how a PFC works was really interesting. A PFC evaluation is more of a qualitative evaluation than a quantitative one. A plant list is made and then various aspects of stream condition is looked at. The group goes through a list of conditions that should be met for a healthy system and then discusses if they are met or not. It was really interesting to see how this process works.

We also got to go out and do a tour of a fire area that burned a couple of weeks ago. There was a large fire in the field office that burnt part of the field office near Crater’s of the Moon National Monument. We went out with people from Idaho Fish and Game and the Agriculture Research Service. There are some state sections inside the fire and Idaho Fish and Game came out to coordinate their rehabilitation with what the BLM was planning to do. The ARS came out because they are going to set up some test plots inside the fire to look at what types of grasses do best. It is extremely important for the BLM to be able to get perennial grasses out after a fire to prevent cheatgrass from taking over, the ARS is looking at different cultivars, natives and near native cultivars to see how they do competing against the cheatgrass. It was really interesting to hear about the fire rehabilitation plan and to hear about the planned experiments.

In exciting news we found a new occurrence of a special status plant and didn’t even know it! We did a plant clearance for a project along a spring near the Snake River. We were doing the survey  for the Chatterbox Orchid, in addition to finding the orchid we found a new occurrence of Sand Verbena. The Sand Verbena is a new addition to Idaho’s rare plant list. We are now going back and adding it to the plant clearance next years interns will have to do a full survey for it.

When I first told people I accepted a job in Shoshone, ID I received a lot of interesting comments.  From, “isn’t the whole state just potatoes,” to “are there even people there?” For this post I have decided to compile reasons why Idaho is more than potatoes, and why it has grown on me.

I have found Idaho to be an excellent home base for exploring the west. I have had the opportunity to visit Crater Lake, the Wallawas, the Avenue of the Giants, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Craters of the Moon, and Glacier National Park. I feel that it is fitting that I have been able to visit so many of our National Parks during the park service’s centennial year. I am also excited that I got to see one of Glacier National Park’s 25 remaining glaciers, which are predicted to disappear as early as 2030! Something else I have enjoyed doing is comparing the photos I have taken at these places to pictures from 1961 that a past professor has been sending to me as I visit them. As you can see below, not much has changed at crater lake in 45 years except the photo quality.

Grinnell Glacier today

Grinnell Glacier in 1961

Wizard Island in Crater Lake today

Wizard Island in Crater Lake in 1961

Phantom Ship in Crater Lake today

Phantom ship in Crater Lake in 1961

The gem state also has a lot of “small hidden gems” that don’t exactly fit into the precious stone category. My fellow CLM interns and I have stumbled upon a hand carved Tibetan prayer wheel blessed by the Dali Lama (one of two in North America), the widest main street in the nation (right here in Shoshone!), the jump site for when Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River in 1974, the Perrine bridge that people commonly base jump from, Shoshone falls (which is 45 ft taller than Niagara falls!), the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America (Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park), Hells canyon which is the deepest gorge in America, the first city in the world to be powered solely by nuclear power (Arco), and the site of the first nuclear power plant and nuclear meltdown in the world (Atomic city).

Another benefit of working in the Shoshone field office is that the staff is amazing. There is never a shortage of garden fresh veggies or fruit for us to take home, they are extremely helpful with career advice, looking out for new opportunities for us, and can always be counted on to give great recommendations for weekend recreation. From the beginning they have all made us feel welcome. Both my mentor, Danelle, and the other CLMs’ mentor, Joanna, deserve a special shout-out. They have gone out of their way to make sure that we get the most out of our internships, which I feel like is a challenge since there are 5 CLM interns in the office.  Even though I was hired for Seeds of Success, the list of projects I have participated in takes up almost an entire page, and I expect it to continue to grow until I leave in November. We recently received the excess from our collections back from Bend. The amount that we got back shocked me, since it feels impossible to gather over 10,000 seed when you are actually collecting. However, turns out that we well surpassed that limit on 6 of our collections, and still have one more to send in!

The excess seed from our collections. It is so satisfying to see how much we got back!

Perideridia gairdneri collection

There is never a dull moment here. As I was finishing this post the woman who works the front desk came into our cubicles, and told us a bull snake was in the hallway by the break room. Marissa, one of my fellow CLM interns, sprinted down the hall to wrangle the snake. Being the team player that she is she, in her own words, “threw her body in the way to protect everyone in the office,” and as you can see he was truly terrifying.

Marissa after capturing the snake

Our Thursday afternoon visitor

I’m going to assume that quite a few, if not most, of the people in the natural resources field grew up in a family that spent time in the outdoors.  Whether it was camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, bird watching, or visiting National Parks, it seems that most people in this field are influenced by childhood memories.  I know I am in this field because of my upbringing.  My dad has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for over 30 years, my mom owned a pet grooming business, and as a family we spent all our free time outside.  I’m lucky and I know it.  Now, I’m married to a man that currently works for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department doing some of the coolest research on bears and wolverines.  Our free time together is spent outside, mostly hiking and fishing.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Unfortunately, not everyone was granted the opportunities to get outside and develop a love for the natural world.  

I called this post “The Things We Take for Granted” because of a recent trip my husband and I took through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.  To us, seeing a bison, elk, or bear is common.  It doesn’t phase us.  We were there for the scenery and hiking opportunities.  Watching all the people there stop in the middle of the road to take a million pictures of a bison seemed silly.  We were mad that the traffic was stopped all because of one – not that impressive – bison.  But, then we got to thinking.  How can people grow up and not know their animals?  How can someone be in their 40’s and not know what the difference between a white-tail deer and a mule deer is?  We had taken our upbringings and current experiences through our jobs for granted.  We were fortunate that we had people in our lives that took us out into the woods and taught us more than a course in college ever could.  We have backcountry skills.  Seeing the other tourists in their yoga pants and flip flops in 45 degree weather makes us cringe.  But, they don’t know any better.

My job with BLM this summer has allowed me to be outside almost every single day.  Through rain or shine, I’m outside.  I haven’t seen anything new in the way of wildlife, but I have gotten to know a new area that I have developed a love for.  I get to watch the antelope fawns grow up.  I get to see the circle of life feed a hungry golden eagle.  I get to continue to be blessed to be outside and increase my knowledge of the natural world.  I’m lucky and I know it.  I know I take things for granted, but I know I’m one of the luckiest people in the world.  I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.  I hope all of you are enjoying your jobs this summer as much as I am and I hope you know just how lucky you are.  Keep up the good work, everyone.  The world is counting on us.    

The night air is cool in the desert. Leaves rustle, the sky darkens, and thunder rumbles quietly in the distance as this evening’s storm gathers. The field season has continued to progress well, presenting inevitable challenges and unexpected delights along the way. Countless conservationists have crossed our paths, each leaving a significant impact on my ecological outlook. Everyday experiences with this landscape have been similarly impactful. Recently I encountered my first endangered species, Ipomopsis sancti-spiritus (holy ghost ipomopsis), in the Pecos National Forest. I appreciate the balance of the inexplicable delicacy of this endangered species with the incredible majesty of the night sky in the wilderness. Weekend adventures intensify my connection to this landscape- climbing through slot canyons, trudging through gloriously lit sand dunes, and exploring the hidden mysteries of ancient cave dwellings. I am looking forward to seeing what the fall brings!

Ella Samuel

Santa Fe, NM BLM

One of the recent projects I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in is raising Monarch butterflies. Monarchs are under a variety of threats including loss of habitat, particularly milkweed. Although there are a variety of types of milkweed, this is the only group of plants that monarchs lay their eggs on and monarch caterpillars eat. Monarchs also have a variety of predators and parasites, including the tachnid fly, a parasite that lays eggs inside monarch caterpillars and kills them.

In order to avoid parasitism and enable tagging, one of the biologists in the Klamath Falls USFWS office collected monarch eggs and caterpillars from patches of milkweed in the area to rear in captivity. Within 1-5 days of being laid eggs hatch into caterpillars which spend the next 10-14 days eating milkweed and becoming exponentially larger before forming chrysalises. The monarchs then develop inside the chrysalis for 9-14 days before emerging as adult butterflies.

The monarchs I raised are the fourth generation of the season meaning they will migrate to Southern California and Mexico. Once the monarchs became adult butterflies I placed very small polypropylene tags with unique letter and number combinations on each butterflies wing before releasing them. These tags are linked back to a researcher at Washington State University. If these tags are sighted as the monarchs make their journey Southward researchers will be able to determine where that monarch came from and learn more about monarch migration.

Below are some photos of the developing monarchs:

Monarch caterpillars munching away on milkweed.

A translucent chrysalis just before the butterfly emerged.

A monarch dries its wings having just emerged from its chrysalis.

Tagging a monarch before releasing it into the wild.

A polypropylene tag on a monarch’s wing.

Hello, everyone! I’m checking in for the first time from Carson City, Nevada. I moved here at the end of June to become a botany intern with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) only 2 months ago, but I already feel at home. This is a pleasant surprise, considering how different Carson City is than the town I just moved from. It’s amazing how drastically the landscape shifts during the 4-hour drive east from home to here. Ferns and redwoods fade to sagebrush and juniper; ocean breezes dry out and are tinged by smoke. Among the differences, though, there is a familiarity between plants of the desert and of dunes at the coast. A reprieve from the newness of the Great Basin that lies east of the Sierras.

A species of Astragalus that looks a little like the plant we searched for in the Pine Nut Mountains.

In any case, I like it here. The town, which is the capital of Nevada, is calm and simple. The sagebrush steppe is parched by sun and heat, but is a perfect array of pastels. The mountains stacked to our west (the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada’s) are mostly brown, but the pines lining their peaks promise an escape from the sun. We often work in shrubby sage and rabbit brush communities, but sometimes diverge toward these cooler mountains west of the BLM office. I love sagebrush, and the bright red cicadas that shoot out of its branches when you approach too quickly, but I really enjoy our time working in pine-covered mountains.

I first experienced these mountains in my second week of work. We drove to the Pine Nut Mountains and surveyed about 400 acres for a tiny, yet vibrant, rare plant in the genus Astragalus. Ecologists were worried about the fate of this community. They feared that the mixed sage, pine nut tree, and juniper habitat was being dominated by juniper and pine nut trees. Long ago, mild fires frequently passed through and killed tree seedlings growing among sagebrush. The larger juniper and pine nut trees tolerated these small fires well, and a balance between sage and tree-dominated communities was preserved.

Two wild horses silhouetted in the Pine Nut Mountains

But more recently, humans have taken steps to prevent even the smallest burn. Without the thinning capability of fire, trees grow among the sagebrush and gradually replace sage communities. To prevent this encroachment without fire, ecologists hoped to use a large machine to “masticate” the offending trees and give the sagebrush communities a chance to thrive. First, they wanted our help to make sure their plan would not hurt any rare plants that may have been living among the offending trees.

We spent two days combing the hilly pine nut tree understory for the small plant. We found none. During our first night of camping, though, I found a different species iconic to the area. I took a short walk down the dusty two-track we drove in on to enjoy the evening breeze. The dust seeped into my tennis shoes and between my toes as I scuffed along. Turning a corner, I heard a snort. Squinting ahead through the sunset, I saw a fair-haired stallion standing, offended, between me and his chestnut mare only 20 meters away. I dropped to a crouch behind a sagebrush, afraid to startle them more and make him charge, and listened. To be honest, I should have left as soon as I saw them. Wild horses are dangerous, and deserve to be left alone. I knew, and ignored, this fact. I stayed in a crouch, separated the sage with my fingertips, and watched until the stallion reluctantly returned to grazing. He still stood between me and his mare, still occasionally snorted, and still perked his ears in my direction.

Collecting Elymus elymoides, squirrel tail grass

As I crept away to have my own dinner, I considered the difference between this new state and my previous home. The wilderness here is an expanse of sage, pines, wild horses, and predators that wild horses have to be cautious of. It dwarfs the presence of occasional shooters, ATV riders, and BLM botany interns who pass through. I don’t know why I’m so surprised by its vastness; the BLM public lands cover over 60% of the state of Nevada.

A sedge (Carex sp.) collected near Indian Creek

Over the following few weeks, we collected seeds and searched for native plants in the far corners of this territory. I still haven’t become accustomed to the hugeness of BLM land. Though our efforts sometimes seem unfruitful (like not finding the rare Astragalus in the Pine Nut’s), I have been impressed by the BLM’s strength in protecting both the ecological and cultural resources of such a massive area. For example, officials recently stopped the proposed project in the Pine Nut’s. Not because we found Astragalus (which we didn’t) but because the pine nuts themselves are an important source of income for local folks. It feels meaningful to be a part of this group of dedicated people.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

Mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus ledifolius, in the White Mountains