![\"Seed](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_1614.jpg\")
<\/a>Seed collecting trip in the backyard of Yosemite!<\/p><\/div>\n
Speaking of things not to miss, I recently (as in a couple months ago now) went up to Virginia\u00a0City for the Annual International Camel and Ostrich Races.\u00a0 That was quite the site!\u00a0 Watching grown men try and jump on the back of an ostrich while it circles around a dirt track was not only entertaining, but also hysterical.\u00a0 The camels were a bit calmer, but the ostrich wanted nothing to do with a person on\u00a0its back.\u00a0 I finished up the day of races with some homemade ice cream and fudge from “Grandma’s Shoppe”, and headed back down the sandy hills of Virginia City….successful (and culturally filled) day!<\/p>\n
On another fun note, I’ve recently learned first hand that parts of Nevada and California are quite geologically active.\u00a0 Prior to coming out here, I made it a small mission of mine to find as many hot springs as possible.\u00a0 So with that in mind, I\u00a0took a day trip to drive a bit south and check out some hidden\u00a0tubs; this turned out to be one of the experiences I surely won’t forget about my time in Carson City.\u00a0 Relaxing in a pool of water at about 100 degrees overlooking an expanse of meadowland and mountains was actually incredible.\u00a0 The east coast may have beautiful Autumn colors, but we certainly don’t have much in the way of these awesome hot spots.<\/p>\n Hidden gem!<\/p><\/div>\n As for work goes out here, we have finished up all of our fire monitoring for the season, writing our summarizing reports on the data we collected, and are working on some other projects.\u00a0 Seed collecting has been a main focus for us these days, and along that vein, this week we are taking a trip south to the Mono Lake region for some major collections.\u00a0 Looking into collecting various chenopods including Krascheninnikovia lanata, <\/em>a species we haven’t seen at this point.\u00a0 It’s going to be a very exciting week up in the mountains and valleys of the more southern Sierras.\u00a0 We are hoping to explore several mountain passes and make some collections along various elevation gradients.\u00a0 And best yet, it looks like we will be staying on a former BLM worker’s property who has natural hot springs on her land.\u00a0 Looking forward to some more hot spring rejuvenation!<\/p>\n A few of us on the team<\/p><\/div>\n In other news from Carson City, we are investigating doing a salt grass, Distichlis spicata\u00a0<\/em>conservation project.\u00a0 Once a cultural assessment has been completed by our office archeologists, we are hoping to transplant a portion of a healthy population of salt grass to an area inundated with the invasive tall white top.\u00a0 This will help establish new areas of native plants and in future years we hope to\u00a0increase the diversity of the area with other natives, too.\u00a0 I am personally excited about this new project because it is an experiment in something that we have not really worked on before.\u00a0 Sort of a direct action at (hopefully) eradicating an invasive population and reestablishing a native population.\u00a0\u00a0Fingers crossed on that!<\/p>\n Well, it seems it is just about time to take off\u00a0for our seed collecting journey down south, so I must end this post.\u00a0 Hope everyone is enjoying the\u00a0approaching conclusion of this internship program.\u00a0 We\u00a0have about another month here in Carson City,\u00a0it’s going to be a good one.<\/p>\n Sunny wishes,<\/p>\n Andrew<\/p>\n Carson City\u00a0BLM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey There Humble Readers, Greetings again from a sunny week in Nevada!\u00a0 It’s been a while since I posted to this blog, and time here is continuing to roll by as summer\u00a0has faded and autumn\u00a0is just about in full swing.\u00a0 … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n