It’s been another month already? Time flies, and I’m already more than halfway done with my internship.
Setting up transects for our Sage-grouse Habitat Assessment Framework
This month we completed our long-term vegetation trend monitoring portion of the internship. The past couple weeks I have been working on habitat assessments for the Greater sage grouse conservation initiative. It still requires vegetation monitoring, but we use different methods for collecting data. We are mostly concerned with shrub canopy cover for nesting and availability of sage brush and preferred forbs for consumption. We’re able to complete multiple sites in a day, but it goes especially quickly in areas of low diversity and minimal to no shrub canopy cover.
Thankfully, the weather lately has been bearable, but last month was brutal. Working out in the open desert can be exhausting when it’s over 100 degrees F and there’s no shade for relief. On the worst day, Diana and I finished off a 2 gallon cooler of ice water. Hydration is no joke!
Celebrating America properly with friends, the great outdoors, hot dogs, and sparklers (of course)
Chelsea, Diana, and I visiting the Sawtooths for a day
I’ve also had the opportunity to do some more exploring this month. The 4th of the July weekend I went camping in Hagerman. I also went swimming and cliff-jumping here in Twin Falls (Dierkes Lake & Hidden Lake). Last weekend I went with fellow CLMers, Diana and Chelsea, on a day trip to the Sawtooth National Forest. I’m so glad I finally went because it was absolutely beautiful!
View from an overlook at the Sawtooth National Forest
I try to balance my weekends with rest, work, and play. I love visiting new places around me, but I’m also trying to prepare for my post-internship life. Soon enough, this adventure will be over and I’ll need a new job.
This week the range techs in my office got to participate in a river clean-up day on the Snake River near Hagerman. We got to see our CLM friends from the Jarbidge Field Office, which was fun. Our group of 7 took an inflatable paddle raft, led by our fantastic guide, Evan, from the recreation department in the Boise Field Office. We went at a leisurely pace looking for trash to pick up, but there was honestly no trash in sight. Evan guided us through the eddies and fast waves, giving me my first taste of white water rafting! Afterwards, we all enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch at one of the picnic areas near by.
Taking a float break from all of that cleaning (Feat. Diana in the background)
The rest of this month we will continue with our HAF studies, and hopefully visit some new areas in Idaho on our free time.
Until next post,
Carla–BLM Shoshone, ID