Category: Botany

Reconciling Landownership and Sage-Grouse Management Designation Data

Posted on by Meghanlata Gupta

This is an inter-agency project led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. Federal and State agencies frequently respond to requests for analyses of land status within the sagebrush biome, such as acres of land ownership or management designation. However, across agencies the results are inconsistent. The goal for this Read more about Reconciling Landownership and Sage-Grouse Management Designation Data[…]

A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher

Posted on by ucross-admin

Trey Davis, the Preserve Manager at The Nature Conservancy’s Tensleep Preserve, described Tensleep as “a place of superlatives.” Everything at Tensleep is the oldest, the most diverse, the most valuable to researchers, and yet in order for those superlatives to remain true the place must also remain relatively unknown and untouched. My explorations of the Read more about A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher[…]

Ranch Crew: 2018 Overview — Caleb Gray (a Uni. of WY student)

Posted on by ucross-admin

Ranch Crew was an excellent opportunity that I was able to take ahold of, but I was not entirely prepared for what all it entailed. When first glancing over the flyer for it I thought that it might be working as a ranch hand for part of the two weeks, but it was not to Read more about Ranch Crew: 2018 Overview — Caleb Gray (a Uni. of WY student)[…]

July 12 to 15: WRF Summer Retreat at Tensleep Preserve

Posted on by ucross-admin

For four sunny days, TNC’s Tensleep Preserve in Ten Sleep, WY set the scene for a gathering of researchers, land managers and students working on questions relevant to land management in the intermountain West. People came from near and far to participate in the retreat, flying in from California, North Dakota, Texas and Connecticut or Read more about July 12 to 15: WRF Summer Retreat at Tensleep Preserve[…]

Changing Perspectives: The Enemy is Everywhere — Reid Lewis

Posted on by ucross-admin

I had the pleasure of arriving to Sheridan, Wyoming via road trip. My father, recently retired, proposed to turn the drive into a camping trip, and he and I spent three great days traveling the plains and mountains of Utah and Wyoming. Passing through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the drive was extraordinary. Coming Read more about Changing Perspectives: The Enemy is Everywhere — Reid Lewis[…]

Ranch Crew 2018: An Immersive Experience in Rangeland Ecology and Management — Lexi Smith

Posted on by ucross-admin

June 2018 was Ranch Crew month for several students (including myself), Ucross members, and collaborating partners from ranch managers to plant ecologists. Ranch Crew is not necessarily what it sounds like. It is so much more than that. Ranch Crew is a two-week immersive experience in rangeland ecology, management, and last but not least…culture! Since Read more about Ranch Crew 2018: An Immersive Experience in Rangeland Ecology and Management — Lexi Smith[…]

Forensic Ecology — Sam Maher

Posted on by ucross-admin

Sometimes studying wildlife feels a bit like you’re a detective solving a mystery. You’ve got a question that no one really knows the answer to, a whole lot of information that may or may not be relevant, and probably some bureaucracy to navigate. But when solving it means that you might help a critter’s chance Read more about Forensic Ecology — Sam Maher[…]

Plant ID with the Ranch Crew — Katie Panek

Posted on by ucross-admin

During the first week of Ranch Crew, we discovered the joys of Plant ID – or should I say, what is joyful to some (looking at you, Rachel Renne), and painful to others. Our first task was to gather grass from a roadside in the Bighorn Mountains just thirty minutes northwest of Sheridan, WY. The Read more about Plant ID with the Ranch Crew — Katie Panek[…]

Sudden Aspen Decline — Jack Singer

Posted on by ucross-admin

Quaking aspen trees are important providers of ecosystem services in the west. They establish valuable wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, create opportunities for ecotourism, serve as a firebreak for wildfires, and retain soil moisture across forests. Despite their importance to and prevalence upon the western landscape, aspen trees are widely experiencing rapid die-off at the individual, stand, and landscape Read more about Sudden Aspen Decline — Jack Singer[…]

Where’s the Water in Wyoming – Jessica Swindon

Posted on by ucross-admin

It’s not until you live somewhere like Wyoming that you truly understand what Mark Twain meant when he said “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over”. As the Wyoming summer comes to an end, the grassy, green landscape changes to a crisp gold. The color change of vegetation is not due to low Read more about Where’s the Water in Wyoming – Jessica Swindon[…]

Infiltration: Summer in Sage Country – Rachel Renne

Posted on by ucross-admin

Summer has arrived on the sagebrush steppe of southwest Wyoming! Frosty mornings and spring snows feel far away in the baking, dry heat of long summer days. Soils are drying out and the spring annuals I so enjoyed only a month ago have dried up and blown away. The yellow highlights of mock goldenweed (Stenotus Read more about Infiltration: Summer in Sage Country – Rachel Renne[…]

Take the Road Less Traveled – Jessica Swindon

Posted on by ucross-admin

Hello from Bill, Wyoming! I am currently writing from within the Thunder Basin National Grassland where one of my research sites is located. This is by far the most remote place I have ever stayed, in fact Wikipedia says the total population is 11, including pets. I’ve already spent a lot of time on the Read more about Take the Road Less Traveled – Jessica Swindon[…]

The Early Botanist gets the Snow – Rachel Renne

Posted on by ucross-admin

What a thrill it is to be back in Wyoming! I arrived in Laramie two weeks ago, shyly crept my Connecticut license plates onto a side street, and dashed off into the field—that is, the sagebrush steppe of southwest Wyoming. Three hours west of Laramie, we turned off the interstate onto highway 191 north. When Read more about The Early Botanist gets the Snow – Rachel Renne[…]