Landlines: My Last Day

I arrived at the office early. After three months it was the last day of my summer internship with the Land Conservancy, and I wanted to make the most of it.

Conservation Director Bob Hill, Restoration Ecologist Daniel Bohlman and I headed out for the Irish Hills in a small caravan, our truck leading two other cars full of conservationists and scientists from Cal Poly and The Nature Conservancy.

Our objective for the day was to host representatives from The Nature Conservancy as they conducted an easement monitoring on the Hibbert Preserve, a gorgeous piece of land that is destined to become part of Montana de Oro State Park. The Cal Poly team was there to check for sudden oak death, a fungal pathogen that attacks oak trees.

We rumbled up the rugged access road, taking in the views of San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay and the peaks and ridges that make this place so spectacular. We parted ways with the Cal Poly team, and then headed deeper into the preserve for the monitoring.

We pulled up next to a transmission tower on a ridge with a commanding view, the air literally buzzing with electricity from Diablo Canyon. The day was amazingly clear, and the whole of San Luis Bay opened up in front of us: the cliffs of Shell Beach, the sands of Pismo, and the great big blue Pacific.

The coast curved around to Point Sal, and I spent some time looking at the white streaks of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. I’d spent much of my summer working out in the dunes, hiking to remote corners, learning about the plants and how to survey them.

After a few more stops with equally stunning views it was time to turn back. We met up with the Cal Poly group, which thankfully had found no sign of sudden oak death, and headed down to Avila Beach for lunch. We ate at the end of Harford Pier, less than an hour after viewing it from above. Then it was back to the new Land Conservancy office in San Luis Obispo.

I said goodbye to everybody at the office and set off for home on my bike. The ride took me past the Octagon Barn on South Higuera Street, a century old landmark that has become the focal point of a communal restoration project.

Today a group of Cal Poly freshmen was busy tearing down fences and painting walls as part of their Week of Welcome. I decided to stop and check it out. I found Land Conservancy Community Connections Liaison David Rau, and he asked if I would like to help out. A few minutes later I was moving wooden planks with two-dozen brand new Land Conservancy volunteers. It’s amazing how a special place like this can continue to bring people together.

In a region that’s undergoing increasing development, protecting places like the Octagon Barn is critical to preserving our shared identity. And in the face of newly emerging threats like global warming, conserving biodiversity in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes is critical to maintaining a resilient ecosystem that can adapt to stress. It’s important work, and I am honored to have been a part of it.

And there’s a special thing about this type of work—anybody can pitch in. From the newly-arrived WOWie to the long-time central coast resident, everybody has something to offer. It doesn’t take any special skill, just the common desire to see our special places protected.

Landlines: Learning on the Job

This article was published in the July/August issue of Landlines, the newsletter of the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.

It was a bright Tuesday morning as we drove down Oso Flaco Lake Road towards the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes. Having grown up in Nipomo with an interest in nature, this was a familiar drive for me. But this Tuesday was different. I wasn’t going into the dunes as a wandering explorer. I was going on official business, as an official Land Conservancy field intern.

This summer I’m helping out ecologist Daniel Bohlman in sites throughout the county. It’s got to be the best summer job around.

Our destination on this particular Tuesday was a site near Surprise Lake, one of many wetland communities in the dunes where willows, poison oak, and other wetland plants take root. As we readied our gear at the trailhead we chatted with a group of dune scientists and representatives from various government agencies that hold a stake in the dunes. They were prepping their vehicles for their own workday in the dunes.

Then it was off to Surprise Lake. We ambled through the dune vegetation, identifying plants as we went by their scientific names: Lupinus chamissonis (silver dune lupin), Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy), Ericameria ericoides (mock heather), and many others. We spent the rest of the morning collecting data. During our lunch break we made our way towards Surprise Lake to search for La Graciosa Thistle, an endangered plant rumored to be in the area.

After lunch we returned to collecting data. Soon after our fellow dune trekkers passed by on their way out. They were in a hurry and couldn’t stop to talk, so we went back to work. Moments later we heard a shout and looked up to see that the group had stopped. Evidently they’d almost run over something.

We ran over to see what it was, and learned that a snake had blocked their path. It had been millimeters away from being squashed! One of the scientists picked up the snake, held it for a while, and offered it to the group. “I bet David would like to hold it,” Daniel said. I’d never held a snake before, but I couldn’t say no. So on my first official workday in the dunes I found myself letting a wild snake slither through my hands. “They like it when you put them around your neck.” And so I had a snake around my neck. Best summer job ever. As we made our way back out of the dunes I named the plants with more confidence.

On the job.

I’m sure anyone who’s ever hiked with Daniel will agree—he’s an amazing teacher. And learning is an important part of what I’m doing this summer. I’m not just learning about plants, field research techniques, and the local environmental scene. I’m learning about myself, my interests, and my goals.

This is an especially important time to be thinking these thoughts. I’ll be starting my second year as a student of the environment at UC Davis in the fall. I’ll admit, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re sitting in a crowded college lecture hall frantically taking notes about isotopes and integrals. When I return to UC Davis this fall I’ll have a better understanding of what I’m getting myself into, and plenty of fodder for a good outdoors-daydream escape from the lecture hall. For the time being at least, SLO County is my classroom.