Russian Knapweed, Foxtail Barley, Western Snowberry, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Scouring Rush, Povertyweed, Lambsquarter and Alkali Sacaton.


No, this is not a list of new Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavors. These are some of the plant species that can be found in the Yellowtail Habitat Area east of Lovell and the plants that a Lovell High School science class is keeping tabs on.


Mike Greenlee’s CRM and GIS (coordinated resource management and geographic information system) class took a field trip to Yellowtail last Thursday, Sept. 18, to check off which plants they found and where they found them in the habitat in an effort to help catalog the movement of plants and identify invasive species.


A Northwest College program began the practice of studying several plots of land within the habitat in 2003. LHS students in Greenlee’s class took over the job in 2005 and have taken samples from the same locations once per year since.


“We observe the plant community changing and ask if it’s changing in a positive direction or a negative direction, from a wildlife standpoint,” Greenlee said.


The students don’t “count” the plants within the plot, but take samples, based off points from permanent stakes to see which species increased or decreased in numbers.


After compiling their findings, Greenlee’s class will present the data to the Yellowtail Area Coordinated Resource Management (CRM) group, which meets periodically in Lovell. 


In this way, students work with the existing CRM group, which is made up private landowners and representatives from the National Park Service, Wyoming Game and Fish Dept., Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bighorn County Weed and Pest and others.


Greenlee said the class gives students an opportunity to go through the entire sequence of science – collecting, organizing, displaying and interpreting data. He said the projects motivate students because the data will actually be put to use by the CRM group.


“It encourages them to do a good job and really take it seriously,” he said.


The class worked with Big Horn County Weed and Pest Supervisor Ruth Richards, who talked to students about plant families and species and their benefits to wildlife. Students have also been studying plant identification and practicing the sampling method in class to prepare for the project, Greenlee said.

To ensure samples were taken from the same locations as in previous years, each group of students first ran a measuring tape between two permanent stakes, and then examined the plants present at measured intervals down the line. The students use PVC guides and check for plants present inside the guide. They take note of what plants are actually growing and rooted in the sample area, as well as what lies beneath the surface, usually basal vegetation or litter (dead leaves and other materials).


Greenlee worked alongside the groups Thursday to help them to distinguish between some similar looking species, pointing out distinguishing features that help to differentiate each plant.


During sampling of two plots Thursday, the class noted some invasive White Top that wasn’t there before, Greenlee said. They also discovered two unidentified grass species that weren’t previously present at the locations.


Greenlee said most of the grass species are beneficial to wildlife, but some of the invasive species that can spread and take over areas of land include Russian Knapweed, Russian thistle and Tamarisk.


Along with Greenlee, fellow science teacher McKay Checketts and special education paraprofessional Robin Asay came along on the trip. Asay has attended the field trip for the past three years and said there were four special education students in the class this year.


Asay said one challenge of being in the field is that when they studied the plant species, they were in full foliage. Because the trip was in the fall, the plants look a little different, she said.


The group finished sampling at two plots Thursday and plan to finish the final two plots by next week, Greenlee said. After the data is compiled and recorded, the class will make a graph using data collected in previous years and look for trends in plant life.

The class is involved in CRM activities throughout the year, Greenlee said. After finishing the plant-sampling project, students will begin another project: a study of the viability of seeds transported in goat droppings. The study is designed to determine if goats that are meant to eat and eliminate invasive plants could actually be transplanting the seeds to other locations in their droppings.


Greenlee said the class did a seed viability study last year and found that many of the seeds swallowed would still grow after they were left by the goats. Greenlee said he and several students presented their findings at a CRM meeting last year, which impelled the group to change their course of action slightly, leaving goats in a pen for a while before taking them out to another plot to feed on invasive plants.


Greenlee said this year’s seed experiment would be an improved study. Students will feed seeds to a group of control goats and then compare the viability of seeds collected after they were eaten versus uneaten seeds from the same batch, he said.


The class also gathers data on which herbicides are working to keep invasive trees dead. Students visit sites of trees that were chopped down and treated with herbicide and store GPS data about the health or re-growth of each tree. The data is then plotted on a map using geographic information system (GIS) technology in the classroom.


In addition to CRM projects, the class works on GIS projects throughout the year, Greenlee said.


Mike Greenlee and former LHS teacher Sondra Nelson started the CRM and GIS class after attending a University of Wyoming summer workshop in Douglas in 2005. The class started as an addition to other science classes at LHS before becoming a course of its own, Greenlee said.