I set off on my journey, my car bulging at the seams with all of my stuff for the next five months, on my trip across the country. Beginning in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, I had many adventures along the way. I got to see the St. Louis Arch, stopped for dinner in Manhattan, Kansas (the “little apple”), and had my first ever live sighting of tumbleweed! I also got a chance to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for a day before the three-day Seeds of Success training workshop in Denver, Colorado. I had never been to that park, and it was beautiful! I saw big horn sheep and even got dusted with a few snow flakes! That’s something Virginians don’t see too often in May…

The training was really great, and it was neat meeting other interns from many other states who will be doing similar work. After that, I went to finish getting settled at Miles City in southeastern Montana. A few weeks prior to my arrival I had found out that I would be moving in the same weekend as the huge Bucking Horse Sale, which would swell the small town to many times its normal size! I was able to enjoy a few hours at the street dance and the rodeo.

On Monday morning I jumped right into orientation and training at the BLM, and everyone has been so friendly and willing to help, even when I continue to get lost in the maze of cubicles. This week has entailed a lot of paperwork and procedure training, but we’ve also begun research for determining our target species list for seed collection in the district. It has been a great experience so far, and I can’t wait for it to stop raining so I can get out in the field!!

Brooke Stallings
Miles City, MT BLM

Big Horn Sheep in Rocky Mtn Natl Park