Photo: Devil's Tower, Wyoming. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull
These notes were taken while driving between Montana and Texas.
Summarized and prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita, University of Montana Western.
[Note: all the road logs were recorded by myself or my traveling companions, Laura Tull or Debra Noble, as we drove. We occasionally stopped to verify species or collect specimens for later identification. Thus, we only recorded what we could see from the road, and could readily identify at driving speeds. Thus this evaluation is not thorough, but provides the impressions of what we observed.]
(This is part of the trip north from Texas to Montana. This segment follows the Colorado Road log for Oct. 2017)
October 25, 2017, Cheyenne to Pinedale
I-80 - Cheyenne to Laramie
Email notes from JOHN SAMSON, agronomist at the Wyoming DOT:
“Once you dropped off Elk Mtn. foot slopes on I-80 at ~ MP. 235 (Walcott Jct) you entered the "Wyoming Basin" (a.k.a. Red Desert). Dominant native species here: Thickspike wheatrass, Streambank wheatgrass, Great Basin wildrye, Indian ricegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Bottlebrush squirreltail, Sand dropseed, Rocky Mtn. beeplant, Western yarrow, Rubber rabbitbrush and Gardner's saltbush. They continue north of Rock Springs along US 191 to just about Boulder, WY at ~ MP. 88 and upper Green River plain where you meet up with Wind River Range foot hills (e.g, "Rky Mtns.-West & Foothills"). From here into Jackson conversion to: Bluebunch wheatgrass, Mtn. bromegrass, Blue wildrye, Idaho fescue, Indian ricegrass, Big bluegrass, Blue flax, Rky. Mtn. penstemon, Mtn. snowberry, Mtn. Big sagebrush as dominants.
“I attempt to make it a journey through ecology with a few native plant species thrown in. Helps keep me awake under the wide western vista and vast horizon and hopefully a few other travelers. Slade actually compiles annual State report on invasive plant data per County Weed & Pest Districts. I've been looking for my Field notes from Sweetwater Co. R/W weed inspection I did back in July 2017 for Maintenance Div. I'm thinking I have them at home yet in another briefcase. From memory, noxious & undesirable weeds were < 10% total plant cover, most road section shoulders, I-80 & US 191 surrounding Rock Springs. Bottlebrush squirreltail and Sandberg bluerass both early Spring emergers for heads-on competition with annual winter annuals like halogeton and downy brome (a.k.a. cheatgrass).”
SECOND SAMSON EMAIL LATER:
“The light bulb came on and realized I had taken my raw weed data sheets to Nat Right-of Way Veg Mgt. meeting in Missouri, last month. My guesstimate a bit strong as to noxious & undesirable weeds. Starting at Superior Interchange east of Rock Springs, MP.122.3 and taking old US Hwy 30 adjacent to I-80 EBL's (I-80 Service Rd.) for shoulder safety. Cheatgrass & halogeton shldr. rated 1.0 each (from scale 1-5,v. low - high), I won't bore you with bare ground kills around delineator posts. Then skipping heavy truck traffic on I-80 Urban, west of Green River, starting Labarge Interchange, MP. 83. Halogeton & kochia rated 2.0, cheatgrass & gumweed at a trace on shoulder. Then turning back Northeast along WYO 28, MP. 100, paralleling Oregon trail. Cheatgrass & halogeton & sweetclover rated 1.0, gumweed at trace to Farson.
“The following day, started on your route North of Rock Springs, MP. 20. Cheatgrass rated 2.0, flixweed & Russian thistle at 1.0, sweetclover at trace. South of Eden (i.e., desert irrigated farming) I picked up kochia escapes and yellow sweetclover all way into Farson, MP. 40.4. As you may know, kochia has a number of weed biotypes resistant to ALS inhibitors, glyphosate, and some growth regulators like dicamba. Interesting I hadn't seen much kochia in desert rangeland up to this point.
"Slade's WY County weed reports may pick this up since Sweetwater Co. Weed & Pest office is located in Farson. Again, my observations only visual ratings at random mileposts ~ 150 ft. long transect X 10-12 ft. wide highway shoulders.
“Glad I found my mis-placed data.”
Delena’s NOTES:
I-80: Cheyenne to Laramie
Grasses in roadsides
Pronghorn antelope in the distance
I am now in full-on sagebrush habitat.
Dense stands of sagebrush, with abundant rabbitbrush, and some pines
There are some tumbleweeds and/or kochia
Wetland valleys have a lot of shrubby dogwoods (red twigs) and broadleaf native trees.
There are a lot of Wyoming wooden snowfences, and some living fences (with pine, spruce?)
The areas along the interstate look healthy.
I saw a large windmill farm in this very windy area.
I-80, Laramie to Rock Springs
The environment continues to look much healthier than in either New Mexico or Colorado. This is a high elevation desert, ranging from 5000-7000 feet. Although it is not historically designated as any specific western US desert, it has the indicator species for the Great Basin Desert. You pass through what is known as the Red Desert in this area. I crossed the Continental Divide three times on this drive.
Grasses (native ?); sagebrush, rabbitbrush.
Another large windmill farm.
Lots of wooden snow fences in this very windy area.
I see diverse habitats with native species, all along the interstate and the surrounding hills and valleys. This is a beautiful desert habitat. I see no yuccas or cholla from my vantage-point.
More antelope.
Horses and oil rigs. In two areas, I saw black soil with little vegetation – is this an oil spill, or an area that is being reclaimed??
Colorado Highway 191, Rock Springs north to Pinedale
I pass through a number of farms and ranches. I see cattle, horses, and antelope, and one golden eagle.
The right-of-way and non-farmed areas remain in excellent shape, with rabbitbrush and sagebrush abundant.
October 26, 2017, Pinedale to Jackson, Highway 191
There are numerous cattle ranches with densely packed sagebrush. Cattle are browsing within the sagebrush. The area again looks healthy.
Many grasses, particularly along right-of-ways. Rabbitbrush is very prominent in right-of-ways also.
Low wetland valleys appear to have a healthy mix of native shrubs, with lots of willows and dogwoods.
Sagebrush habitat continues to dominate the landscape as I drive higher and closer to the Tetons. Aspens and high elevation conifers gradually become more dominant at the higher elevations, but I never completely lose sight of sagebrush.
THIS ROADLOG CONTINUES INTO IDAHO, Oct. 2017.
Links to additional Road Logs:
These notes were taken while driving between Montana and Texas.
Summarized and prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita, University of Montana Western.
[Note: all the road logs were recorded by myself or my traveling companions, Laura Tull or Debra Noble, as we drove. We occasionally stopped to verify species or collect specimens for later identification. Thus, we only recorded what we could see from the road, and could readily identify at driving speeds. Thus this evaluation is not thorough, but provides the impressions of what we observed.]
(This is part of the trip north from Texas to Montana. This segment follows the Colorado Road log for Oct. 2017)
October 25, 2017, Cheyenne to Pinedale
I-80 - Cheyenne to Laramie
Email notes from JOHN SAMSON, agronomist at the Wyoming DOT:
“Once you dropped off Elk Mtn. foot slopes on I-80 at ~ MP. 235 (Walcott Jct) you entered the "Wyoming Basin" (a.k.a. Red Desert). Dominant native species here: Thickspike wheatrass, Streambank wheatgrass, Great Basin wildrye, Indian ricegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Bottlebrush squirreltail, Sand dropseed, Rocky Mtn. beeplant, Western yarrow, Rubber rabbitbrush and Gardner's saltbush. They continue north of Rock Springs along US 191 to just about Boulder, WY at ~ MP. 88 and upper Green River plain where you meet up with Wind River Range foot hills (e.g, "Rky Mtns.-West & Foothills"). From here into Jackson conversion to: Bluebunch wheatgrass, Mtn. bromegrass, Blue wildrye, Idaho fescue, Indian ricegrass, Big bluegrass, Blue flax, Rky. Mtn. penstemon, Mtn. snowberry, Mtn. Big sagebrush as dominants.
“I attempt to make it a journey through ecology with a few native plant species thrown in. Helps keep me awake under the wide western vista and vast horizon and hopefully a few other travelers. Slade actually compiles annual State report on invasive plant data per County Weed & Pest Districts. I've been looking for my Field notes from Sweetwater Co. R/W weed inspection I did back in July 2017 for Maintenance Div. I'm thinking I have them at home yet in another briefcase. From memory, noxious & undesirable weeds were < 10% total plant cover, most road section shoulders, I-80 & US 191 surrounding Rock Springs. Bottlebrush squirreltail and Sandberg bluerass both early Spring emergers for heads-on competition with annual winter annuals like halogeton and downy brome (a.k.a. cheatgrass).”
SECOND SAMSON EMAIL LATER:
“The light bulb came on and realized I had taken my raw weed data sheets to Nat Right-of Way Veg Mgt. meeting in Missouri, last month. My guesstimate a bit strong as to noxious & undesirable weeds. Starting at Superior Interchange east of Rock Springs, MP.122.3 and taking old US Hwy 30 adjacent to I-80 EBL's (I-80 Service Rd.) for shoulder safety. Cheatgrass & halogeton shldr. rated 1.0 each (from scale 1-5,v. low - high), I won't bore you with bare ground kills around delineator posts. Then skipping heavy truck traffic on I-80 Urban, west of Green River, starting Labarge Interchange, MP. 83. Halogeton & kochia rated 2.0, cheatgrass & gumweed at a trace on shoulder. Then turning back Northeast along WYO 28, MP. 100, paralleling Oregon trail. Cheatgrass & halogeton & sweetclover rated 1.0, gumweed at trace to Farson.
“The following day, started on your route North of Rock Springs, MP. 20. Cheatgrass rated 2.0, flixweed & Russian thistle at 1.0, sweetclover at trace. South of Eden (i.e., desert irrigated farming) I picked up kochia escapes and yellow sweetclover all way into Farson, MP. 40.4. As you may know, kochia has a number of weed biotypes resistant to ALS inhibitors, glyphosate, and some growth regulators like dicamba. Interesting I hadn't seen much kochia in desert rangeland up to this point.
"Slade's WY County weed reports may pick this up since Sweetwater Co. Weed & Pest office is located in Farson. Again, my observations only visual ratings at random mileposts ~ 150 ft. long transect X 10-12 ft. wide highway shoulders.
“Glad I found my mis-placed data.”
Delena’s NOTES:
I-80: Cheyenne to Laramie
Grasses in roadsides
Pronghorn antelope in the distance
I am now in full-on sagebrush habitat.
Dense stands of sagebrush, with abundant rabbitbrush, and some pines
There are some tumbleweeds and/or kochia
Wetland valleys have a lot of shrubby dogwoods (red twigs) and broadleaf native trees.
There are a lot of Wyoming wooden snowfences, and some living fences (with pine, spruce?)
The areas along the interstate look healthy.
I saw a large windmill farm in this very windy area.
I-80, Laramie to Rock Springs
The environment continues to look much healthier than in either New Mexico or Colorado. This is a high elevation desert, ranging from 5000-7000 feet. Although it is not historically designated as any specific western US desert, it has the indicator species for the Great Basin Desert. You pass through what is known as the Red Desert in this area. I crossed the Continental Divide three times on this drive.
Grasses (native ?); sagebrush, rabbitbrush.
Another large windmill farm.
Lots of wooden snow fences in this very windy area.
I see diverse habitats with native species, all along the interstate and the surrounding hills and valleys. This is a beautiful desert habitat. I see no yuccas or cholla from my vantage-point.
More antelope.
Horses and oil rigs. In two areas, I saw black soil with little vegetation – is this an oil spill, or an area that is being reclaimed??
Colorado Highway 191, Rock Springs north to Pinedale
I pass through a number of farms and ranches. I see cattle, horses, and antelope, and one golden eagle.
The right-of-way and non-farmed areas remain in excellent shape, with rabbitbrush and sagebrush abundant.
October 26, 2017, Pinedale to Jackson, Highway 191
There are numerous cattle ranches with densely packed sagebrush. Cattle are browsing within the sagebrush. The area again looks healthy.
Many grasses, particularly along right-of-ways. Rabbitbrush is very prominent in right-of-ways also.
Low wetland valleys appear to have a healthy mix of native shrubs, with lots of willows and dogwoods.
Sagebrush habitat continues to dominate the landscape as I drive higher and closer to the Tetons. Aspens and high elevation conifers gradually become more dominant at the higher elevations, but I never completely lose sight of sagebrush.
THIS ROADLOG CONTINUES INTO IDAHO, Oct. 2017.
Links to additional Road Logs: