Another month has passed here in beautiful Boise–it’s so hard to believe we only have a month and a half left! Time sure flies when you are out in the field having fun!
The temperatures have been steadily increasing and we have gotten used to working in above 100 degree weather (I commend all of you in the Mojave and Palm Springs!) From this I have rekindled my love for being up for the warm glow of sunrise and feeling like the only person awake for miles–a love that disappeared after many years of all-nighters studying and working. The earlier we go out, the cooler it is, and the more wildlife we see–Red-tailed hawks and antelope have been the most frequent. Although today Zander and I accidentally flushed around six Ruffed (potentially Dusky) Grouse out of some trees in a drainage and both nearly had a heart-attack!
Most of the work we have been doing as of late are Habitat Assessment Framework transects for Sage Grouse. There was a large fire last year that burnt several pastures that our mentor had done HAFs in that were potential preferred habitat (PPH) for the birds so we spent a few days going back to those transects and pastures and comparing the vegetation and regrowth. In a few sites they had seeded the area and I was extremely happy by the amount of recruits growing and the prevalence of native vegetation, both seeded and natural! We still plan on doing a few more collections, but at this point in the year most everything has dispersed its seed and dried up. We partner with Idaho Botanic Gardens and with some local collections our office has done in the past they are growing out native forbs and shrubs to do plantings for fire restoration this fall. Hopefully we will be around still for when those planting parties happen! Another area we are being exposed to is the fascinating riparian world. The Four Rivers Field Office is lucky to have Al Tarter– a 5th generation Idahoan, former rancher and farmer, and natural resource specialist–to work in the riparian and watershed management sector. He has spent many hours with us over the past few weeks sharing his wealth of knowledge on stream classification and potential functional condition for streams. It has been a wonderful experience hearing and learning from someone who understands the viewpoints of the many stakeholders that are affected by and affect stream health from personal experience and can read the land and water like a storybook.
This past month or so I have really gotten a feel for the office and the extent of the land we manage. It has been a great time doing these riparian workshops because Al is not only training us interns, but several permanent employees across the office. This has been great because I had somewhat been struggling with the fact although we work in an office with lots of people, we rarely get to interact with people because we are in the field or typing away at data sheets in our cubicle. Getting out with other people in our office has made me realize how much I value the human element in my career. Originally I thought it would be great to be out isolated in nature nearly every day, and granted, it is very peaceful and beautiful, but it is also incredibly refreshing to have interactions with other beings and it adds an additional element of fun to work. Noticing this has definitely made me reconsider what sort of career path I would like to go down!
Speaking of meeting people and traveling, I have made a few friends outside the office the past month and have been really getting to explore the city and surrounding areas. I also had the opportunity to explore both Eastern and Northern Idaho and had the most experience of getting to camp on a beach on the Salmon River under a full moon and beautiful starry skies. The fact rivers with beaches existed blew my mind. I had no idea there were such pleasant rivers to play in! Coming from Colorado I’ve been used to canyon rivers or cold rivers with really rocky banks and bottoms. Not the Salmon! (And apparently several other Idaho Rivers). It was so wonderful to take a midnight swim to cool off and then to wake up to sunrise and a beachy plunge! Its amazing how different North and South Idaho are, and it was great fun exploring Cour D’Alene and the Targee National Forest.
Zander found an awesome campsite for us near a creek after doing HAFs all day in above 100 degree weather–such a nice treat after a long day!
Camping on a beach of the Salmon River in Riggins, ID.
Al Tarter teaching us “youngins” about riparian health and potential functioning condition of streams.
Found this not so little Wolf spider on the way down to a canyon. Later on I found one in my house . . . hint: It wasn’t cool and exciting and was more on the side of terrifying.