Hello again everyone. It seems my internship is coming to an end here in wonderful Kemmerer, Wyoming. I have had a wonderful time and I have been able to gain so much knowledge; I would have never had the chance to learn without the CLM program and my mentor. Having a chance to work in the wildlife field is something I will never forget and hopefully I will have the chance to do again. Much of my time this winter was spent doing paper work, although paper work can be very boring, I was able to gain understanding of what NEPA work really is. Also, I was able to spend much of my time this winter working in the ArcGIS program. This program seems to very valuable, but can be very complex. When field season finally did role around I spent time mapping springs and reservoirs for habitat functionality. I was able to complete Sage Grouse lek surveys, which by the way is really cool, if any of you reading this ever get the opportunity to do lek surveys make sure you jump at the chance.
Although I did have a wildlife internship, all of my background and degree have been focused in the Range Ecology aspect of land management. Having the Range background, my mentor let me also spend some of my time with the Range Management Specialists in the office. This time was spent learning how to do important tasks, such as grazing permit billing, grazing permit transfers, learning the BLM filing systems, and working in the computer programs RAS and RIPS. With the aspect of understanding Range Ecology and Wildlife Biology I feel I have a better understanding of the relationships these two fields have with each other.
With the ending of my internship I will be taking a week off over the 4th of July week, and returning to the Kemmerer BLM office as a seasonal Range Technician on Monday the 7th. With my return to work I will have the opportunity to continue working with others at the office, and continue my learning process working in both, range and wildlife. Hopefully after this summer technician position I will have gained enough experience to find a permanent job with the BLM. If I haven’t by then, hopefully I will be back as an intern next winter. Have fun, and be safe!
Jeremy Sykes
Bureau of Land Management
Kemmerer, WY