Jeanne and I have also been doing some monitoring of Peniocereus greggii var. greggii<\/em> (PEGRG), one of a handful of rare plants of concern to the BLM in this area. \u00a0Very little is known about the plant, which is a problem given that the BLM here in New Mexico enacts a policy of herbiciding large swaths of land to herbicide the shrubbery with the hoped effect of increasing carrying capacity of grass forage; which, of course, make the cows happy; which makes the ranchers happy. \u00a0That’s the logic anyway. \u00a0However, this may be problematic for PEGRG, because it likes to live in nurse shrubs. \u00a0 So we are studying the effects of how dead nurseplants or reduced canopy affect the survival of these odd but cute little cacti. \u00a0As if all this weren’t enough, occasionally the field office sends us out to perform veg surveys for salvageable plants wherever construction projects are impending, such as power line or road widening projects.\u00a0I enjoy these tasks because we get to save plants from annihilation. The salvaged plants get sent to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Preserve or some other responsible party that will give them a new and loving home.<\/p>\n Over the course of our adventures, the three of us have gotten the chance to see some extremely remote and extremely cool areas. Of these, so far, my favorite is the Florida Mountains. \u00a0These mountains are not all that accessible that I know of and are located very near to the Mexican border. \u00a0Ecologically, the area is fascinating because they are intermediate between Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts in terms of plant species present. \u00a0My mentor always takes a moment to play with any random herps we come upon. \u00a0I will look, but I do not touch! \u00a0\u00a0Anyway. happy trails fellow CLMers!\u00a0 May the force save us from getting the truck stuck!……again.<\/p>\n Best wishes,<\/p>\n Dave M.<\/p>\n Las Cruces District Office of the BLM<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Haplophyton, a cool and rare Apocynacid from the Florida Mts.<\/p>\n Future collection site for Black\/Blue grama in the Floridas. \u00a0With barrel cactus, ocotillo and a Jeanne…<\/p>\n Jeanne collecting Thymophylla acerosa seeds with enthusiasm…<\/p>\n Patrick with coachwhip…<\/p>\n Phacelia sp. in the Floridas<\/p>\n Dutchmans Pipe (Aristolochia) in the Florida. \u00a0Too weird! \u00a0Too cool!<\/p>\n Evolvulus sp, Florida Mts… Small, but beautiful<\/p>\n My mentor, Patrick in standard mode. \u00a0Sometimes writing, always looking down!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Howdy gang! It has been a busy few weeks here in southern New Mexico. \u00a0Although it has been uncharacteristically wet this year, this is the Chihuahuan Desert.\u00a0 It’s still hot and still dry. \u00a0We are still waiting for the climax … Continue reading ![\"DSCF4539\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/DSCF4539.jpg\")
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