Loyal readers: I bring you a quick update from the Fairbanks District Office of the Bureau of Land Management’s invasive plant management efforts.

Last week, I went on a float trip on the Fortymile River with my mentor Ruth, for the purpose of carrying out invasive plant surveys. Our survey sites were BLM designated long-term campsites. The sites are used by gold miners (yep, it’s still a thing here) who have claims on the river. If ever you are struck by an urge to really experience the Last Frontier in all its grit and glory, go find yourself some Alaskan gold miners. Nice folks, really; just don’t mind the 45 caliber pistol on their hip.

No news is good news, at least in the case of this trip, and we found no non-native plants at any of the campsites! We therefore collected “absence data” on Trimble GPS devices to submit to the National Invasive Species Information Management  System (NISIMS). In the event that these areas subsequently do become infested with non-native plants, the absence data will provide valuable baseline references; dates after which such infestations must have originated.

The Fourtymile is a beautiful river, and my mentor Ruth tells me that she set a personal record for wildlife sightings on this trip. Our totals for the four-day float are as follows: two moose (mother and calf), twelve American Peregrine Falcons (my favorite bird!), one beaver, one black bear cub, two marmots, approximately seventy five caribou, assorted song birds and insects, and of course a plethora of spectacular flowers 🙂

Aside from the best float trip ever, my work recently has focused on other invasive plant surveys and weedpulls. I have surveyed and removed Melilotus officinalis (white sweetclover) and Vicia cracca (bird vetch) on major highways and other points of anthropogenic disturbance. When it comes to invasive plant management strategies in AK, you just can’t beat good ol’ manual removal! A little elbow grease. It builds character.