May 26, 2011
This was my first week of work at the BLM field office in Missoula, Montana! I could not have asked to be in a better place. My boyfriend and I finally arrived in Montana last week after the 34 hour drive from Ohio. We had the chance to see some beautiful parts of the country as we drove across the U.S. When we reached Montana I was blown away by the grandeur of the mountains, and the beauty of the land. I knew immediately that this was the perfect fit for me.
During my first week of work I had the opportunity to learn some new field techniques, identify some sensitive and culturally important plants, and go on a raptor survey! All that in one week, I cannot imagine what I will learn in the next five months.
My first assignment was to go to an area called Rattlesnake Gulch, to find Keeled Bladderpod (Physaria carinata) a sensitive plant that only occurs in Montana. It is primarily found in Granite and Beaverhead Counties, on south facing slopes that are made up of calcareous limestone. As we hiked up the very steep slopes, Layla my co-worker spotted the Bladderpod. It is such a small plant that you could very easily overlook it, thankfully it is in bloom and is much easier to identify. We continued climbing up the slopes marking the lowest and highest points where we found the Bladderpod on our handheld GPS. As we climbed up to the top of the slope at 5700 feet we noticed that the Bladderpod no longer occurred and the soil had changed. We made note of this and started to make our way back down the mountain. About halfway down, Layla paused to take a picture Basalmroot in bloom that covered the hillside. As she was taking the picture we heard a strange noise coming from where she was standing. She looked down and to her surprise saw a rattlesnake near her feet. She notified me and we quickly and cautiously made our way back down to our vehicle. Now we know why that it is called Rattlesnake Gulch. When we returned to the field office we asked if it was common to see rattlesnakes in that area. To my surprise many of my co-workers have not seen a rattlesnake around here in years. It was a reminder for Layla and I to be alert and aware of our surroundings while working in the field.
Keeled Bladderpod
Throughout the week I had the opportunity to learn some new field techniques and had the chance to identify some native plants of Montana. My mentor John took us out to an area near the Blackfoot River to find Bitterroot, Montana’s state flower. We found a few small patches that were not in bloom in a grassland near the river. Along our walk John pointed out many native species found in this area; Idaho Fescue, Rough Fescue, Lupine, Larkspur, Shooting Star and Camas. Camas is a culturally important plant that has been used for thousands of years, as a food source by the indigenous people of the Northwest.
As part of our training John showed us how to operate the Trimble GPS that we will be using to map sensitive plants and monitor invasive species. This is such a great tool to have out in the field and will help us give more accurate information while we are collecting our data. To end the week we had the opportunity to go on a raptor survey with the wildlife biologist. We counted all raptors that we saw in a 55 mile stretch. We saw kestrels, red-tailed hawks, ospreys and bald eagles! This has been an amazing first week and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from my mentor and co-workers at the BLM!
CLM Intern, Lea Tuttle Missoula Field Office