Hello Bighorn Enthusiasts!
To kick off weed season in the Dubois Area, WGFD and The National Bighorn Sheep Center are offering an in person training for anyone interested in learning how to enter invasive species observations into iNaturalist. The training will be held starting at the Sheep Center at 9:00 am, and then moving to Pete's Pond for a practice session in Dubois on June 25th. We are going to practice entering observations into the Dubois Invasive Species Watch Project, and also learn early season weed identification characteristics- pre-flowering vegetative characteristics- to help get our eyes tuned in to identifying invasive species. We hope having another training will help reinvigorate our Citizen Science Project and get people out into the hills surrounding Dubois with invasive species officially on their radar!

We hope to see you on Saturday!

Hello Bighorn Enthusiasts!
To kick off weed season in the Dubois Area, WGFD and The National Bighorn Sheep Center are offering an in person training for anyone interested in learning how to enter invasive species observations into iNaturalist. The training will be held at Pete's Pond in Dubois on MAY 15th, 2021 from 9:00- 11:00 a.m. We are going to practice entering observations into the Dubois Invasive Species Watch Project, and also learn early season weed identification characteristics- pre-flowering vegetative characteristics- to help get our eyes tuned in to identifying invasive species. We hope having an in person training will help reinvigorate our Citizen Science Project and get people out into the hills surrounding Dubois with invasive species officially on their radar!

We hope to see you on Saturday!

Greetings Fellow Weed Warriors!
As you are all venturing afield for your fall hunts, or just enjoying the wonderful cooler temperatures of a Dubois autumn hike, please don't forget to log invasive species observations. Many invasives will have their flower heads (like Russian or spotted knapweed, or musk thistle) and are beginning to shed seeds, so it is important to report those things, or better yet pull them (!) before they spread their evil seeds! Cheatgrass has already cured out and likely spread its seed, but please be on the lookout for any cheatgrass patches, as well. We have plans to aerially treat some areas for cheatgrass next summer, so if we get observations, there may be the possibility of adding new infestations to our treatment area. The proposed treatments are a product of the Whiskey Bighorn Sheep Management Plan, the Torrey Rim Invasive Species walk you all helped us with this spring, and also observations made by caring Dubois citizens who have reported cheatgrass in areas within our Project! Please keep those observations coming, and have a safe and happy hunting season!

The cool winter is beginning to feel like a distant memory as temperatures rise, rain tumbles down, and green sprouts speckle our mountains and meadows. Alongside our fellow wildflowers lurk emerging cheatgrass among the dried growth of last year. Whitetop and leafy spurge begin their ruinous ascent into the crisp spring air after months of dormancy. Now is the time to begin observing these spring changes. Together, we can begin to track and locate where these (and many more) invasive species are beginning to make their appearance.

Left: Early emergent leafy spurge. Right: Cheatgrass sprouting from last year's growth.

Though we are unable to host an in-person formal training for this project due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, we hope you are able to get out and submit invasive species observations. We are currently working with the Dubois Bighorn Sheep Center to facilitate an online training, stay posted for more details! If you have any questions, please feel free to message us any time!

Thank you to everyone who showed up and expressed interest in our iNaturalist project and training. Check in with the Bighorn Sheep Center in March for training dates, we look forward to working with our community to improve bighorn sheep habitat.

Check out these articles about our project!
County10
WGFD News
Wyo Today News

Stay tuned for volunteer days this spring as we begin to map potential cheatgrass invasion on our Torrey Rim Slope project area.