Hello everybody!

Beautiful snow-capped mountains!

Just finished up a whirlwind first week here in the Jarbidge BLM Field Office in Twin Falls, ID and it’s been great so far! Aside from training, I got to join along an agency tour of some sites managed by my field office, which was amazing! It is still cold enough in the higher elevations that the mountains were still snow-capped. I was also lucky enough to get out before dawn to see some sage grouse leks and help with the male counts, which was really cool!

On my free time, I’ve checked some of the hidden gem spots between Twin Falls and Boise, which offer tons of recreational activities, especially hiking and photography, two of my favorites. I’m amazed by how much history is packed into this state and the different landscapes! Some recommended places are Malad Gorge, Bonneville Point, and anywhere in Thousand Springs State Park. I’m a bit of a history nerd, so I was pretty excited to learn more about the portions of the Oregon Trail which ran through Idaho, and it was cool to see the marked pass points and wagon wheel ruts that still exist today.

The sagebrush landscape

Ritter Island was still closed from the winter season, but it’s supposedly a birder’s paradise, so I plan to go up there pretty soon again because it looked beautiful from the gates.

Next week we start some monitoring projects and spend more time out in the field. Can’t wait!

Cheers,

Maria Paula

Jarbidge Field Office, Twin Falls, ID

Indian paintbrush!