I’m Alexia Garcia and here is what I learned. We identified plants like the Musk thistles, Canada thistles and other plants. The majority of the landowners up north had a lot of thistles; the main thistles that we spotted was Canada thistles, bull thistles and musk thistles. The internship was very fun and interesting. I loved learning about different things. I did not know all of the information that I know now, so I guess I was not really paying any attention to the local weeds before!
Now that I know more about these weeds, I know that they are noxious. I am aware there is an issue not only here but all over New Mexico with noxious weeds. Now I see there are a lot of these plants. I am searching for a way as an intern to help these landowners with their property and possibly my own land. I liked seeing the soils we have on different properties. No soil was the same because of the different altitude and the different weather in this area.
I really enjoy sharing this with other people and exploring the land because we can see if the land is dry or wet. Also to see the trees or the branches on the ground and see if the dirt is erupting or if water is going more at an even pace. We purposely placed sticks to help with erosion. Sand got stuck in between the branches. It’s cool to see that and to see what happens over time. I like the part where we got to fly the drone. I thought that was really fun to do because you can see the whole field and the trees like from the air.
All that we did was fun and I like getting to meet new people and see where they live. It is fun to see what is on their land but it’s nice to see their pretty land. What I thought was cool is to put a picture post in the ground but it looks cool when you take the pictures.
When we went on the rafting trip I thought that was the best trip I’ve ever been on. You can see the mountain that you didn’t know were back there! It looked amazing and the camping spots that we went to were pretty amazing. I would do it all over again but the water was cold and the food that they cooked was amazing. But going down the water that view was awesome and going into the water was cold but then you got warmer in the water and the people were cool. I had so much fun with everyone that was there and met new people. I love camping and seeing what’s in the forests, like the water coming down the mountain and everything was so alive like the branches and the roots in the ground.
