Wow!!! Hello everyone! The last month had been crazy with all sorts of activities that kept the CLM interns in Wenatchee, Washington busy! Fire season started out with a bang in the beginning of July. After the Wenatchee fires, fires were developing all over the state! The very warm weather, the high winds, and the low humidity created the perfect red flag conditions. Fortunately for the other interns and myself, we were able to proceed with our jobs and continue working out in the field. Our main goal for Jenny and I for this month was to do NISIMS. We would travel to areas that were impacted with fires in the past and record data points and polygons of various invasive plant populations that were present. This information would be used in ESR reports to help with future restoration efforts in terms of treatments and bio-control.

Most of the areas we have monitored or spent our time looking for golden eagles in the past have burned. For those who read my previous blogs, you may know Douglas Creek and Sulfur Canyon. These areas had wildfires recently. Thankfully, it occurred during the time when the juvenile golden eagles fledged their nests. The helicopters and smoke would not be good for young eaglets. O:

Smoke from various fires have filled the valleys during the month. The Wolverine Fire up near Chelan had been a real pain to deal with. The smoke from the fire had steadily moved throughout Wenatchee, Brewster, and Entiat area. We would have to wear a mouth guard to help us do our jobs! Despite all the smoke, Jenny and I have been to different post fire sites such as R-Road, Foster Creek, Burbank Creek, Mills Canyon, Sulfur Canyon, the Wenatchee Complex Fire, and the Carlton Complex Fire. Each of these areas have been fascinating and native plants have been making a comeback…somewhat…^_^;; There were some weeds that were taking the opportunity to settle in the exposed landscapes such as various bromes (Bromus), Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), common mullein (Verbascum thapsus), and various tumble weeds such as tall tumble mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum) and Russian thistle (Salsola kali/tragus). Walking amongst the burned areas have been very interesting to see, even with some invasive plants!

We went to a recent fire area in the Douglas Creek area. (No worries, Krissa and Rebecca! There were no active fires in the region and we were with trained professionals from the BLM to look at burn severity and intensity.) Some areas were charred black with areas of white-gray spots where the shrubs used to be! The valleys and the steep, wooded terrain developed really severe fire conditions. The basin wild rye (Leymus cinereus) looked like they were recovering!! Some areas that we have visited had pink and red fire retardant all over the landscape!! It felt like we were on Mars, it was so red!! The BLM along with other Government agencies in the central Washington area have been dealing with severe fires lately and they have developed plans to help with the restoration of the landscape. Determining on the severity and intensity of the burn, the landscape could become fully functional again within 5-10 years with treatments and seeding based on various federal agency reports!!

Chasing the Whirling Dervishes

Some of the coolest things I have seen on this internship were the massive dust devils that twirled around the landscape between Waterville and Sulfur Canyon. (I jokingly call them whirling dervishes because they whirl very fast and there would be many of them in the landscape.) The dust devils were massive and were way bigger than the smallest of tornadoes I have seen on my travels. Some of these dust devils could be seen from miles away, reaching half way to the cloud layer above!

These dust devils were normally brown, but if they were shaded by clouds, they could look like a fire. O_o Normally, dust devils would spin for about 15-20 minutes. Their peak activity was around 3:00 to 4:00pm. Jenny and I would drive through some very large dust devils. They may look massive and very threatening, but they were lightweights. They would only shake our truck before moving onto the next barren field. Most of the farmers were worried about their crops burning from the fires, so they harvested most of the crops leaving behind barren soil fields. The dust devils would then pick up the top soil and carry it elsewhere. Some of the dust devils traveled at speeds over 70 mph. Few of the large ones had multiple vortices!!

A few times out in the field we have encountered smaller dust devils. They loved to go after our hats or throw tall tumble mustards at us. We just braced ourselves and continued monitoring. (On a side note, never chase one, they are too fast if you are chasing them on foot.)

(Here is a video of one of the larger dust devils I saw near Bridgeport, Washington.)

The Journey Through Ancient Lakes

One day I went with Reed to an area called Ancient Lakes located near Quincy, Washington. This place was very interesting! They had a lot of unusual plants growing in the sagebrush steppe! We saw a variety of Asters, Astragalus, and blazing star (Mentzelia laevicaulis??). When we got to the basaltic outcrops, we saw a very nice view of the Columbia River!! Near the cliffs, we saw a lot of hedgehog cactus (Pediocactus nigrispinus). These cacti were amazing to look at!! They were bunched up and held very colorful needles. I took many pictures of these species of cacti… ^_^;;;

One of our main goals for seed collection was to collect from the blazing star. These plants were found in rocky areas like quarries or on the edge of lithosols. They were easy to gather seed from, but you had to watch out. Their foliage is extraordinarily sticky and some of the seeds were infested with larvae. You had to be careful when selecting the seed from each plant.

On our way back to the car, we saw a few buffalo/ American bison (Bison bison) in the field next to us. One was on a hill of apples. It was like the bison was on top of its treasure and no one was able to approach it. It was funny to observe. There was even a mischievous coyote trying to take a few apples for herself from the treasure hill. Overall, the day was successful and we were able to collect a decent amount of blazing star seed for the next S.O.S. collection.

NISIMS in the Mist

Recently, Jenny and I visited the Carlton Complex Fire area. This was the area where one of the largest recent fires in Washington history occurred. NISIMS was a priority in this area. When we were in Brewster and Pateros, the Wolverine Fire was very active!! The smoke was so thick, it created a dense fog in the Columbia River Basin. Jenny and I used masks to help us deal with the smoke. The masks were not really effective, but they did help negate some of the smoke from entering our lungs. Most of the area looked like southeast China and had an eerie vibe to it. When we were doing NISIMS, we recorded all of the brome, tumbleweed, and Dalmatian toadflax populations. Along by Brewster, there was a large amount of Dalmatian toadflax. This might be a good area for future bio-control introductions. (They would release a weevil insect that would eat and reduce the toadflax population significantly.) When moving between sites, the day looked overcast with the smoke and some clouds. It permanently looked like it was 6:00pm the whole day!! Jenny and I recorded various populations and headed back to the Wenatchee BLM.

Moment of Zen