Well, I’m now two months into my position in the Lander, Wyoming field office and I love it!  This place is amazing and the people are great.  So far most of what I have been doing is monitoring riparian areas by taking photo points, stubble height measurements of two key species, and conducting bank trampling surveys.  These riparian areas are in a very remote location in the field office, and I hardly ever see other people out and about.  Recently, I have also started doing droop height measurements around wells and reservoirs to make sure that those aren’t being overgrazed as well.  The next two weeks I will be working for another lady in the office doing a few different sampling methods that I haven’t done since college.  It will be nice to refresh myself on how to conduct the surveys.

I’m continually amazed at how beautiful the landscape is that I’m working on.  Most of the flowers are done blooming and the grasses are seeding out.  But, that doesn’t take away from the beauty of the land one single bit.  It’s such a diverse landscape!  There are areas that are sandy and have natural lakes, rocky areas with seeps, clayey areas that will get you stuck in a heartbeat, and everything in between.  The antelope are uncountable, the elk are a wonderful sight, the birds are singing beautifully, and the one coyote I have seen had a nice lunch of sage grouse.  Probably the most surprising thing I have seen in the past two months was a six-legged sheep.  Yes, a six-legged sheep.  A picture should be attached to this post.  I have always heard of that happening, but never thought I would see it myself.  I have also attached a picture of a field of Wild Irises.  They were at one of the riparian areas we are monitoring for bank trampling, stubble height, and photo points.  The bugs were about to carry me away, but I couldn’t resist stopping for just a few seconds to snap a picture on my phone of the beautiful irises.

I look forward to continuing my internship for the next four months and learning so much more than I thought I ever would.  BLM Wyoming has captured my heart and I hope to stay here for the rest of my life.  I hope everyone else’s internships are going well and that you are as happy as I am.  🙂