Life Out West: Pine Nut Mountains (Williams Combleaf surveying)

Williams Combleaf (Polyctenium williamsiae)

The purpose of our first visit to the Pine Nut Mountains was to do an intensive survey of the endangered species Polyctenium williamsiae commonly known as Williams Combleaf. Williams Combleaf is only found in two counties of California and a few counties of Nevada. It has been reported in Oregon but it is unknown if these populations still exist. In Nevada, Williams Combleaf is fully protected meaning it may not be collected or destroyed without the permission of the state forester fire-warden. Being fully protected also protects the destruction of the said species habitat. The main objective of our survey was to get the total number of individuals at two locations and GPS their total area. The information gained is going to be used for fencing in its habitat to allow ranching to continue to occur on the BLM land. Other objectives for our survey were updating other species in the habitat, invasive species survey, photo plots (helps to determine the habitat change and/or the change in species abundance) and plant collection.

What to say about the Pine Nut Mts? Well they are beautiful but getting around in a truck is horrible. For now, it is the bumpiest road I have ever been on. Apparently, there are worse we will travel and the Pine Nuts are considered a medium rocky road. O man, I wish I would've taken a video of us driving. Next time I will. The first day was the worst. In total, we spent 7hrs driving to the first site and then to our campsite. It was brutal day of driving, but the work was worth it. When we got to our campsite we were greeted by cattle. Some of us spent the night in a trench to block the wind, in truck bed, or on the ground next to the truck. As for me, I slept in the truck cab. I guess during the night one of the interns (Bonnie) almost got run over by a cow. That would have been a bad wake up call.

After we woke, we traveled to our next site which was only a 30-45min drive away. We then hiked about 1.5miles from the road to site 2. There we set up the boarder for a fence-line so the archeologist who would be joining us could determine if it would impede on any cultural sites. Most of the interns, including I, got done rather fast with our work so we headed off to the "3rd" site which was nearby. I have the site in quotations because the BLM has never found any Williams Combleaf there but it is suitable habitat so each survey we have to look. Scott M. was also on a mission to find an arrowhead. Of course, we did not find any Williams Combleaf but Scott B. found a spearhead! We also got stared down by a wild horse which was kind of intimidating since they have tendency to charge.

Overall, the surveys were a success and we gained excellent experience on plant surveys, cultural artifacts, GPSing, plant collection, and the area itself.