My name is Vince and I have been a CLM intern for about 3 months.  It had definitely been a bumpy ride getting used to a new life.  I moved from South Carolina to Palm Springs, CA, and I have never lived anywhere other than South Carolina before, so this was definitely a change for me.  I work at the BLM South Coast Field Office working on the Dos Palmas Project.

Dos Palmas is a preserve that was created by the Coachella Canal, the Canal was lined and is no longer providing water to several Palm Oases in this preserve.  Basically, my job is to help restore these Palm Oases by planting existing vegetation that is no longer growing there because of the lack of water.

This experience has been great and I love it out here.  I have met several amazing people and made friends; I hope to stay in contact with.  I have also learned quite a bit during my internship.  I took a course on GIS, something that everyone seems to know and now I do too.  I have learned several different desert plant species, and seen several different desert animals.

The summer is finally approaching and today the high was 115 degrees, sweet, I survived it!  Hopefully I will be able to survive all of it, I am sure it will be a challenge that I have yet to conquer.

I found this oasis on one of my first visits to Dos Palmas!   This is an awesome place.