This last week marked my fourth week as a botany intern in the small town of Lakeview, OR.  In that month I have experienced many new things. This is my first adventure out west to the mountains and sagebrush.  Coming from Iowa, the mountainous horizon is a welcomed change from the flat farmland that is present back home.  Learning about this new ecosystem has been very interesting but also challenging.

Conducting a botany clearance at Silver Lake

Already my crew has performed a botany clearance where junipers will be cleared in the future.  Now we have moved on to rare plant monitoring of all of the sites in the Lakeview Resource Area. We have seen many beautiful sights and I enjoy traveling to many different areas each week.

View from Table Rock while surveying rare plants

Most of the interns live in the BLM trailers which are located near the office, allowing us to ride our bikes to work.  With 10 interns here in various positions, there is always someone to hang out with and so many things to do!  I feel very lucky to have so many great people to work with.

A colorful Castilleja found hiding in the sagebrush

The next four months will certainly be an adventure and if the first month is any indication, it’s going to be a great summer!