This internship has proven to be full of adventures so far – it seems like there is always a story to tell about our days in the field! We have been very busy this past month and a half, which is why this blog post is a bit delayed. The good thing is that I have been feeling very much at home in Northern California, even though it hasn’t even been two months yet! Heres a summary: work-wise, Jocelyn, Alia and I have been helping with many different tasks around the field office. I am really enjoying this because rarely are we out in the field doing the same thing two days in a row, so I have gotten to know and explore many different parts of the field office. Along with SOS and SSP monitoring, we have been helping with the water rights inventory that our office is working on, a juniper tree mapping project, AIM/Upland health monitioring, marking trees with the forester, monitoring forbs for sage grouse habitat and other tasks that come up. With all of these tasks we get to work with lots of different people and it has given me a good idea of what it is like working in a government agency and all the different perspectives that go into managing land – it’s quite a lot! As a result, I have been learning about the importance of multi-use land management and the difficulties that arise, especially with the large size of our field office and the fact that there tends to be a lack of funding and staffing to get everything done.
Some cows at a reservoir we visited while doing the water rights inventory
There have been a few days and experiences that have stuck out to me so far. The top of that list was definitely seeing a mountain lion for the first time! I was out early in the morning driving to a water right (it was a stock pond that actually had water!) and my field partner spotted it as we came over a hill. We saw the mountain lion leave the pond and then walk through a stand of juniper trees. It was really exciting! Last week we collected Limulus guttatus (common yellow monkey flower) at a beautiful location in the field office, called Hole in the Ground. It is a riparian forb, so we wandered along the creek as we collected seed pods and even got stuck in the water a few times. I guess my waterproof hiking boots that I got on the east coast actually came in handy for once! This creek was easily my favorite place we have been so far. This past week Jocelyn, Alia and I helped with a GIS mapping project with some researchers from Chico State. We got to hike around with them to different plots in the Skedaddle Mountains and saw some great views at the peaks.
Views while hiking down from one of peaks in the Skedaddle Mountains
Along with the brutal heat we have, field work definitely comes with difficulties. Navigating the extremely rocky two track roads in our jeep can be stressful, but with more experience I am getting better with it. This past week we got a flat tire, but luckily we discovered it while we were still in the parking lot before we left for the day. We are hoping that we will be able to get all new tires soon! I also got a flat on my bike tire yesterday so I guess this is the week of flats…
Nonwork-wise, we are definitely taking advantage of our three day weekends! So far we have explored some areas near Lake Tahoe, took a long drive to Fort Bragg and Mendicino on the Northern coast, hiked Lassen Peak in Lassen National Park and I visited some family and friends in San Fransisco. These weekend trips have kept me busy and have already surpassed my desires for adventures out here. Can’t wait to see where the remaining weekends take us. I am feeling lucky to have the opportunity to get to see so many wonderful places. I am sure next weekend will be incredible as Jocelyn and I are off to Yosemite!
we found some snow on Lassen Peak!
Golden Gate Bridge
It’s been cooling down a bit this past week and it is making me look forward to the fall temperatures that will hopefully be coming in the near future 🙂
Till next time!
Jillian
BLM Eagle Lake
Susanville, CA