I have been in the field for the majority of the past few weeks .   May started off finishing out some monitoring of Astragalus sp. and then the following week we headed off to High Lonesome Ranch near DeBeque, CO to assist ranch personnel with locating endangered Sclerocactus sp. on their property and to discuss the opportunities that ranch might have in the preservation of the Sclerocactus sp. as well as other species of concern. Long term trend monitoring and additional surveying were discussed as ways to assess the populations status on the ranch.  Then, the next week we headed down to the Montrose area to assist some of the field office personnel with cactus survey that were to be completed along the Gunnison River.  The remoteness of the areas wanting to be survey warranted the use of the rafts to access the survey sites.  Along the 26 river miles the individuals found represented approximately 25% of the supposed global population which makes one wonder if the global population is significantly underestimated.  Finally, the week before Memorial Day weekend we head to the far southwest corner of Colorado to Dolores.  While in Dolores we collaborated with personnel at a the Dolores Field Office to set up some initial long term trend monitoring for Oreocarya revealii in the Big Gypsum Valley.

Regards,

Nathan Redecker

Lakewood, CO

BLM Colorado State Office