July in Carson City, NV generally means lots of sun and hot temperatures, and we have had our fair share during 10 hour days in 100+ degree heat. A variety of techniques have emerged amongst our crew to deal with such heat. My personal favorite is storing a handful of ice in my hat. Luckily, over the last two weeks, we have seen a fairly regular dose of afternoon thunderstorms that have helped mollify our heat stress. However, it does look like warmer and drier temperatures are on the horizon.

Generally speaking, this time of the year marks the end of seed collection for the early season bloomers. As these plants wither or go into dormancy in the hot sun, we will shift gears and spend a lot of time doing fire rehab monitoring. This task entails intensive data gathering at recently burned areas in the district that have been reseeded. Once this is finished, it will be time to pick up with the seed collecting once more. Until then, I will be coming up with new ways to beat the heat.

AR