Hello!! My name is Rachel Snyder and this is my first post as a CLM intern! I’m working as a botanist in Bakersfield, California for the Bureau of Land Management. I started just about a month ago and am already digging into the new plants here! I am used to the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest (Oregon), so being in a much drier ecosystem has been a new and very helpful experience in spreading the expanse of my floral knowledge. So far, my favorite new flower that I’m obsessed with here is the thistle sage, Salvia carduacea. The petals are so dainty and the seeds are tucked away under what seem like a tuft of cotton. I love it 🙂
Salvia carcuacea
Our field office is located in the San Joaquin Valley, nestled between the Coast Range Mountains and the Tehachapi’s. The range of our field office extends from the Pacific Coast all the way east into the foothills of the Sierras. So far, I’ve done monitoring for re-seeded native species at the Carrizo Plains National Monument; released burrowing owls at Atwell Island; came along on a Standard & Guideline (S&G) at a beautiful grazing site of ours just NW of Paso Robles. An S&G is like an assessment of land that we permit out to private entities for grazing use. This assessment makes sure that no degradation is occurring on our lands as a result of grazing. We visually inspect for the status of plants, wildlife, cultural or archaeological artifacts (if they occur) and an overall rangeland health assessment. Like I said this was a beautiful property that was not noticeably impacted by the grazing occurring upon it; it is wonderful to see multi-use happening on our lands by private and public entities!
Monitoring for re-seeded native bunch grasses
Me, with a burrowing owl before I release it at Atwell
Vista from atop a rolling hill at a BLM site near Paso Robles
Perhaps the most exciting endeavor I’ve had in my internship thus far, happened just this week. The other CLM intern in my office and I got to go to Nevada this week for training in the national Seeds of Success Program. We drove to Nevada and got to meet lots of other interns and employees from public and private entities throughout the west. It was so great to meet fellow interns from the CBG as well as some awesome ones from the Great Basin Institute! (Shout out to Sam, Elise, Andy, Lara and Krista!) It was so nice to meet everyone and talk about where we were all from and what we were working on. We spent some time in the classroom and then got to go out in the field, to the beautiful Red Rock Canyon, just west of Las Vegas to do a mock seed collecting. It was a really great experience for which I am very grateful – thank you Chicago Botanic Garden!!
The visitor's center where we had our indoor training
An amazing view from our classroom
Out in the field, Oenothera caespitosa (Tufted Evening-Primrose)
– Rachel S
CLM/CBG Intern
Bakersfield, CA