Productive Exploration

Hello Fellow CLMers,

Our 2015 collecting season is already off to a good start! I have been here in the Medford, OR BLM office since early March, watching plants transition from their winter dormancy to spring blooms and in some cases already seeding. My collecting partner for the season, Ryan King, started on April 20th and we have already been out and about; covering a lot of diverse landscapes, elevations, and floristic habitats. Since this is my second year working on the Seeds of Success program, I have been getting Ryan up to speed on the protocols and techniques to be most efficient in the field. We have already shipped off 11 collections to the Bend Seed Extractory since the start of 2015, and we currently have 5 other species drying out in our seed shed getting ready to be shipped.

Since out district office has been participating in the Seeds of Success program for over 13 years, we have been focusing on making collections in areas that have not yet been targeted, or areas with rare and endemic plants. This has proven to be successful and quite fun. Over the past few weeks we have explored lots of amazing places in our own backyard that neither of us had ever seen. We hope to keep this momentum going as the season progresses.

-Mason

Medford, OR BLM