When\u00a0I moved\u00a0from the mountains of Wyoming to the desert of Southeastern Arizona it was obvious things were going to be different. \u00a0The landscape, the culture, the flora\/fauna, and especially the climate all greeted me with a stark contrast with what I had been used to. \u00a0With all that being different, one thing never wavered, and that was my love for the outdoors and biology. \u00a0I work with the BLM field office in Safford Arizona monitoring native fish and controlling invasive fish populations, which means getting down and dirty in the water and muck on a daily basis. \u00a0It’s awesome. \u00a0Recently, our field team went on our annual monitoring trip on the Gila River to assess the populations of the fish in there. \u00a0The section of the river we were in falls into the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, which restricts motor vehicle access, meaning that our typical protocol of driving to each site would not fly. \u00a0This restriction meant that in order to do the job we needed to travel the old school way: via water. \u00a0Roughly twenty\u00a0miles of river and four monitoring sites greeted us over the course of three days. \u00a0At these sites we delineated areas based on habitat, electro-shocked to census various fish species, and used a device called a gravelometer to measure the size of the rocks on the river bottom. \u00a0The whole time I was in awe of how beautiful the landscape was and the fact that it was an incredible thought that this was ACTUALLY my job. \u00a0I mean, there’s not many jobs out there where one can say they get to be outside in gorgeous scenery doing a fulfilling job like conserving life on earth. \u00a0Although I am only a month into this job, \u00a0it has already taught me invaluable life lessons, such as the fact that no matter where you are there is a beauty in being outside and away from everything. \u00a0I can’t wait to see what the next four months have in store and where this opportunity takes me. \u00a0Until then though, cheers.<\/p>\n
When\u00a0I moved\u00a0from the mountains of Wyoming to the desert of Southeastern Arizona it was obvious things were going to be different. \u00a0The landscape, the culture, the flora\/fauna, and especially the climate all greeted me with a stark contrast with what … Continue reading ![\"IMG_6693\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_6693-e1466364590840.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"IMG_6676](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_6676-1-e1466364700828.jpg\")
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