Well, I asked for it.

Here I am again in Cody, staying busy in the early spring and prepping for the even busier late spring and early summer. The sage-grouse are dancing now in all their glory, so it’s time again to make the early morning drives to my assigned leks to count the romantic hopefuls enthusiastically displaying their prowess as top quality mates. Their dedication is impressive, and I chuckle to watch it increase all the more when the ladies arrive for a casual stroll through this year’s candidates.

Once the sun comes up, the sage-grouse tend to disperse and go about their day as I go about the rest of mine. It’s hard to generalize about what a typical day involves, but anywhere I go in the field office, there is always work to be done. Inventory of infrastructure, such as fences, powerlines, stock tanks, and roads, as well as natural resources like plants, rabbits,

raptor nests, and other wildlife, is a continuous project. I enjoy knowing that all this data collection can benefit wildlife and our understanding of human impact on nature. GPSing roads not previously mapped, for instance, can be included in the DDCT (Density and Disturbance Calculation Tool) analysis of potential impact on sage-grouse within their core habitat areas.

Another project I’ve begun working on is mending fence along an area that has previously undergone significant habitat restoration measures to take back the ecosystem from invasives like Russian olive and saltcedar. Soon we will be planting more native shrubs like silver buffaloberry as replacements, but first we want to make sure we can keep the cows grazing happily in their own pasture nearby, instead of trampling and browsing on all the juicy vegetation we put in. After all, good fences make good neighbors.

Other projects this year have included some drafting of an Environmental Assessment (EA) document, planning a lesson and activities for 6th graders at a Natural History Day event in May, putting the final touches on the wildlife section of the BLM Cody Field Office website and submitting it for approval by the State Office, and preparing all manner of supplies and plans for seed and herbarium specimen collecting. Busy, busy, busy. You just can’t help but be productive with all the things there are to do in the CYFO. Bring it on, field season.