I’ve lived in New Mexico my whole life.  Minus a short field season in Illinois a couple summers ago, but I’m not sure two months really counts!  So I viewed this move to Oregon as kind of a big deal.  I wanted to make sure I took the time to do it right and get the most out of it.  The logical solution, of course, was to take two weeks to travel from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Lakeview, Oregon.

I planned my trip in a way that I could spend a lot of time alone, but break that up with visits to important people in my life.  My route took me to as many state/national parks and monuments as possible, all of which I had never visited before.  Thus, when I wasn’t stopped over in a town with old friends and family, every experience was new and most importantly, unfiltered by the presence of another.  It was just me, with myself for company.

I departed Carlsbad on April 18th, excited by the unknown in front of me.  My vision quest, as my mother liked to call it, had begun.  My experiences alone afforded me opportunities for intense solitude, self reflection, and immersion in nature.  I was reminded of the beauty of my autonomy, and my relationship with nature was strengthened more than I could have anticipated.  My experiences with others, be they old friends, new friends, family, or strangers, reminded me of the beauty of closeness with other humans.  So much growth had been packed into those two weeks and I felt a renewed sense of being and belonging in the world.  When I arrived in Lakeview, over 2400 miles later, I felt anything but sad that my experience was over.  I was renewed, refreshed, and excited about the experience that lay ahead.

My first week on the job was intense and wonderful.  Off the top of my head, only a couple species (Juniperus sp. and Castelleja sp.) were familiar to me from my home in southern New Mexico.  My plant ID skills were, and continue to be, tested to the max but I am already learning the vegetation here at a shocking rate.  I spent my first week learning about AIM by spending time with those field crews, as well as scouting potential populations to identify and collect from for Seeds of Success.  I also spent a fair bit of time in the herbarium at the office learning about the native vegetation.  I had fun identifying some of the tricky forbs that are popping up in the desert here thanks to spring rains.  Some of these forbs even threw some of the experienced range staff for a loop!  Identifying them has been a rewarding challenge.

Overall, these past few weeks have been incredible and very formative.  I’m incredibly excited to see what challenges the future has in store!  Learning new plants, seed collection, pollinator habitat projects – there’s a lot to be stoked about!  I think my time with the BLM in Lakeview is going to allow me the chance for an incredible amount of growth and for that, I’m grateful.

• Brennan Davis, BLM – Lakeview, OR