{"id":6084,"date":"2011-08-03T11:41:24","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T18:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=6084"},"modified":"2011-08-03T11:41:24","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T18:41:24","slug":"training-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/?p=6084","title":{"rendered":"Training and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Basque sheep wagon!<\/p><\/div>\n

Relative to most other CLM interns, I got a bit of a late start on my actual work with the BLM\u2019s Buffalo, Wyoming field office. My internship began in mid-June: the first two weeks were a blur of training courses \u2013 federal computer protocol, first aid, defensive driving, ATV operation, UTV operation, office navigation (it\u2019s a labyrinth in there), and crash courses on the functions and responsibilities of the BLM, as my co-intern and I both come from states where the BLM essentially doesn\u2019t exist. Then, week three involved yet more training \u2013 the CLM training workshop at the Chicago Botanic Garden! Though I fully recognize the necessity of our almost-month of training and value all that I learned during that period, it was a bit of a relief to return to Buffalo (after an awesome side trip to the Badlands!) and finally get working.<\/p>\n

I have now been doing range monitoring for a few weeks, which basically means analyzing the health of plant life on BLM rangeland allotments. This information is used to determine the activities that lessees can undertake on BLM allotments \u2013 the number of animals that ranchers can graze, the levels of mining and drilling that are permitted, and so on. Strangely, though I\u2019m done with my official BLM training, I\u2019m still learning new things at about the same rate as during my first three weeks as an intern. Right now, it\u2019s plant stuff. I never thought I would know so much about how to tell different grasses apart. Needle-and-thread grass or green needlegrass? Crested wheatgrass versus bluebunch wheatgrass versus western wheatgrass? I\u2019ve got it covered \u2013 no seedhead needed. Usually. I get to geek out every day over ligules and clasping auricles, and it\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

But aside from grass characteristics, I\u2019ve also taken in a wide range of other useful information over the last month and a half. For instance, Buffalo is a town brimming with Basque culture that bubbles over once every four or so years in an exciting festival featuring a sheep wagon parade and wine-squirting contests. I\u2019ve found that modern cowboys generally do not ride horses, but have instead moved on to ATVs. Rattlesnakes don\u2019t always rattle (don\u2019t worry \u2013 I didn\u2019t learn this by experience, only hearsay). Laundromats are great places to make new friends. Bluegrass music is really fun to dance to. Small towns can actually be quite exciting. And pretty much every experience out here is an opportunity to learn something new \u2013 in other words, to keep training.<\/p>\n

Kate Wright
\nBuffalo, Wyoming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Relative to most other CLM interns, I got a bit of a late start on my actual work with the BLM\u2019s Buffalo, Wyoming field office. My internship began in mid-June: the first two weeks were a blur of training courses … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6084"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6251,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6084\/revisions\/6251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}