In the spring of 2015, I graduated from CSU San Bernardino with a degree in biology. A few years prior to that, I had only a budding interest in ecology and evolution, along with a desire to conserve species and their habitat. I did not have a solid idea of what I would do with my degree, if anything, and when questioned I often joked (kind of) that I would be a janitor that talked a lot about biology, as was already the case. Lacking an end goal or specific area of interest, I took a wide variety of courses, a broad look at biological processes ranging from the ecosystem level down to the molecular. For the most part courses occurred inside lecture halls and labs. I most enjoyed those few exceptions in ecology and botany in which we left the classroom for fieldwork. That is why I became an intern at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden after graduating, and why I then sought a CLM Internship. Through the course of the CLM Internship I have learned far more of the flora of California than I previously knew. I have learned more about the chaparral ecosystem; the plant and animal species, fire ecology and associated management challenges. I have learned more about edaphic influences on vegetation composition, and I would love to visit and work in more examples of this beyond the gabbro soil of Pine Hill Preserve. Through this experience I see how much more there is to learn and have deepened my interest to do so. I have acquired new interests. I worked with another intern, who has been documenting pollinators of plant species around Pine Hill Preserve, and his interest in pollinators has rubbed off onto me. I also assisted with bird surveys and California red-legged frog habitat construction and monitoring. I hope to continue to gain experience with wildlife and plants in one place, understanding an ecosystem more completely. My interest in biology really started with wonder and curiosity about ecology and how species have evolved with one another, and now I really hope to someday apply an understanding of ecology to conservation and land management. I am now back at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, because it’s a great place, working in the nursery, seed bank, and on the Angeles National Forest for a restoration project. The planting is a restoration project, but also an attempt to address questions about methods which affect the cost and maybe success of projects, comparing results of weed treatments with and without subsequent native planting, along with planting success with different size/age plants. I would gladly go back to the BLM Mother Lode Field Office in the future, because it is also a great place. Thank you to all the staff at the BLM that welcomed me there, and especially my mentor, Graciela, and fellow interns for working with me.

Right now there are 1000 goats on Fort Ord. BLM brings them in order to reduce fuel loads for potential fires, as well as to cut back on coyote brush that encroaches on coastal grasslands. They are hilarious animals – they climb on top of each other trying to get to higher branches, flutter their mouths as they reach for food, and complain at you with a chorus of goat meeeeehhh‘s if you call out to them. Being in the midst of 1,000 of them is awesome.

making eye contact

Last week I helped out Ranger Tammy with a few of her puppet shows that she gives at local elementary schools. This particular puppet show was to teach the students about fire ecology. It was a bit of a flashback being inside an elementary school classroom/gym again. I realized that I haven’t been since I was in 5th grade, and it brought back some old memories.

Ranger Tammy in her element

Every Wednesday we have students from the local Community Day School come volunteer at Fort Ord. The community day school is a school for students who have been expelled from other schools or who have problems with truancy or behavior – a lot of them have a ton of energy and have never been out in a wild place like Fort Ord before. One day we were pulling up non native mustard when we found a baby gopher snake and an ornate orb-weaver spider.

Baby gopher snake

Orb-weaver

At one of our trailheads we had an eagle scout project plant a bunch of native plants a few months ago. I’ve been weeding and maintaining those landscaped areas, and one day while weeding I came across an arboreal salamander.

Arboreal salamander

Sean Pagnon, BLM Fort Ord National Monument, CA

Normally this is supposed to be the slow time of year for the “ologists” at the BLM Mother  Lode Field Office but this year things have been quite busy. Earlier in the year I helped collect a ton of specimens from some insect traps that we put have been putting out to study the pollinators of our area. Now comes the terribly fun part of washing them with shampoo and then drying them off with a hair dryer (not lying), but it isn’t bad when you have some good tunes. Luckily the barn I am working in has surround sound! Then we will be pinning them and getting them ready to identify using UC Davis’ reference collection.

Other than this, I took a chainsaw workshop a couple of weeks ago and finally got to put it to use today in the field. Looks simple, but when your thinking about the fact that the saw could cut you like butter, it is a bit more interesting. Also today we used one of the normal field saws, which is like twice as big as the almost kid sized saw that we learned on. Boy was my arm tired.

We also have been working to keep a neighbor of our rare plant preserve from riding through on his motorcycle, as this disturbs the habitat and has potential to spread weeds. Since I used to use trail cameras a bit to track wildlife, I decided to put out a camera and see if I could catch the motorcyclers on camera but like 99% of the animals I tried to pick up on camera, the motorcyclers too were very blurry.

Happy Holidays y’all,

-Landon from the BLM Mother Lode Field Office in El Dorado Hills, CA