Hi everyone,

A lot has gone on since my last blog entry. Many seeds have been collected – both SOS and local restoration collections – and many cows have been counted! Most of our time has been spent on SOS collections. We’ve done lots of rangeland health and utilization assessments and plot readings using belt transects and gap intercept measurements. Monitoring of rangeland (i.e. looking for trespassed cattle and counting and getting brands; checking the success/failure of reservoirs and presence of noxious weeds) is also a common weekly task. I’ve also done several rare plant surveys, which I really enjoy. We also conducted a plant inventory for a large riparian area, which was really fun and I’m sure we’ll return there for a wild rose collection or for further monitoring/inventory. One day was spent assisting the archeology crew in a survey, and soon we’ll participate in a raptor survey and possibly participate in a pika survey during the ‘pika blitz’

bugs on basin wild rye seed head

Clarkia borealis

garden spider

scarlet gilia

Brokeoff Mt. peak

Hood’s phlox

Clarkia borealis