It’s hard to believe it’s already been a month since my last blog post. We’ve been crazy busy here in Vernal and time is flying by!

Since my last post, we’ve revisited the White River and set up our monitoring plots. We had a larger crew this time as we were joined by two crew leaders from Utah Conservation Corps – as they’ll be in charge of cutting down the Russian olive this summer, they were scouting the area. One of the leaders was from Minnesota and we bonded over duck, duck, grey duck and how we pronounce the word “bag.”

Whilst on the White River, we hiked to “Goblin City” and got this great view.

The following week, we went into the field with folks from the BLM in Meeker, Colorado and from the Colorado Natural Heritage Program to scout for White River penstemon (Penstemon scariosus albifluvis). The first day was pretty uneventful, but on the second day we discovered a new population! We spent the day scrambling up and down steep shaley slopes, mapping the population. One of the women working with us later confided that she was 87 years old! She was trekking up mountains just as well as the young bloods. I’m totally going to be that person when I get older – still working field days in the desert after retirement age.

My partner in crime, Hector, taking in the view.

Hector and I also revisited some plant populations that we had been monitoring. Our first collection was the Streptanthella longistrosis at McCoy Flats. Collecting the long siliques  spoiled me as the seed picking was relatively quick and easy between just the two of us. Later that day, our field office hosted a safety day for all its employees and I got to change a flat tire and use an extinguisher to douse a fake fire.

For the rest of the week, we teamed up with botanists from SWCA, an environmental consulting firm, to conduct yearly Sclerocactus monitoring. We used quadrats to collect data on canopy cover, including that of Cyanobacteria and lichen. One of the women from SWCA had done her thesis on biological soil crusts and told us that in some desert environments, Cyanobacteria is the only nitrogen fixer present! Protocol also dictated that we collect 10% of the cactus seeds which was pretty cool since I’ve never seen cactus seed before.

All of my gear for Sclerocactus monitoring, including a stylish pink tool belt.

This past week was devoted to the CLM Workshop at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. The majority of this year’s interns were present and it was great to be around so many other young people with similar interests. Not only did I learn more about Seeds of Success, but I also got a crash course in Botany of the West, and a refresher on monitoring and management methods. All of the speakers who presented to us were fantastic and they definitely inspired me to continue on my path to be an ecologist!

The Chicago Botanic Gardens at sunset.

A close-up from the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

“The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”
II John Muir II

BLM Vernal Field Office