Greeting from Rawlins, WY!

Things has begun to change here for me in terms of work. It is hard to believe that I only have 5 weeks left! We have finished most of our campground maintenance and have moved on to Wilderness Study Area (WSA) monitoring. Our field office has 5 WSAs that we are responsible for. When out monitoring our WSAs there are a few things that we are looking for. We are mostly looking for trespass and vehicles that are driving where they are not supposed to. Another thing that we are looking for is carsonites and stickers to replace along the boundary. We also want to know the condition of our WSAs so we are on the lookout for dreaded invasive species! When monitoring, we also record any people recreating in the area as well as wildlife or wild horses.

Encampment River WSA

Prospect Mountain WSA

Another thing that we have been monitoring is the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. The trail is a 3,100 mile trail that travels between the Mexico border and the Canadian border. It runs through 5 states with Rawlins being about the halfway point on the trail. This mostly involves making sure that the trail is clearly marked so hikers know where they have headed. We have been seeing lots of hikers on the trail while doing field work.

With only 5 weeks remaining in my internship and most of our recreation duties met for the summer, I am taking this time to expand my experience and go out with others in the office. Last week I had the opportunity to go out with the fisheries biologist and his techs and remove some beaver dams for a project coming up. This week I am going to go out with the forester and learn more about what she does in preparation for a timber sale. I am also hoping to make it out with the Hydrologist at one point before the summer is over. I really enjoy that the CLM internship gives me the chance to get experience in other fields then just the one my internship is focused on.

Beaver Dam to be removed

AZ

BLM Rawlins Field Office