White Pine Chapter - Idaho Native Plant Society

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, January 28, 2010, 7:30 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: Jack Nisbet
Title: A Most Remarkable Spring: David Douglas in Idaho and Beyond
Location: 1912 Center, Great Room
412 East Third Street, Moscow, Idaho
Co-sponsors: University of Idaho Bookstore, Friends of the Moscow Library, and White Pine Chapter

Please plan to attend this presentation on the nineteenth century botanist and explorer David Douglas, to be given by acclaimed auther Jack Nisbet. His latest book is "The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Pacific Northwest", and a book signing will follow the presentation.

In the summer of 1826, naturalist David Douglas traveled from Fort Walla Walla to the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers with a fur trade brigade intent on trading for horses with the Nez Perce. In this powerpoint presentation, author Jack Nisbet will trace Douglas’s strange trek from his native Scotland to that Nez Perce camp, and describe the plants and people he dealt with after he got there. Then we will follow the naturalist as he sets sail for more adventures throughout the New World.

More information on Nisbet and his presentation can be found at Jack Nisbet - A Most Remarkable Spring or by visiting www.jacknisbet.com.

**************************************************************************************
Sunday, February 14, 2010, 12:00 noon
Radio broadcast of the Jack Nisbet Talk.
Title: A Most Remarkable Spring: David Douglas in Idaho and Beyond
Location: KRFP, 92.5 FM or Radio Free Moscow Audio
Title: A Most Remarkable Spring: David Douglas in Idaho and Beyond

If you missed Jack Nisbet’s Moscow evening presentation of “A Most Remarkable Spring: David Douglas in Idaho and Beyond” or would like to listen again, KRFP Radio Free Moscow will be broadcasting a recording of his entire 100-minute talk this Sunday on 92.5 FM or www.radiofreemoscow.com. This recording, as well as an abbreviated, half-hour compilation of selected excerpts, will also be posted on the audio page of KRFP’s website.
Co-sponsored by the White Pine INPS and others, Nisbet gave this lecture on January 28 at the 1912 Center in Moscow, in support of his latest book, The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest. In his talk, the Spokane-based teacher, naturalist, and acclaimed author of several books on Northwest history and nature described the adventures of intrepid, Scottish botanist Douglas as he explored the native landscapes and cultures of the Northwest. In 1826, this early naturalist traveled with a fur trading brigade to the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers and all over the Columbia River basin, collecting specimens for European horticulturists and scientists, seeking knowledge of native plants, and observing tribal plant use and landscape maintenance.

For more information, please see the KRFP audio page (see above) or visit www.jacknisbet.com .

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 7:30 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: Marcus Warwell
Title: Climate Change Effects on Whitebark Pine and Other Conifer Communities
Location: 1912 Center, Great Room, 412 East Third St., Moscow, ID

Our February meeting will host Marcus Warwell, a geneticist at the Forest and Woodland Ecosystems Laboratory of the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow. His studies address the ecological genetics of conifers in the Rocky Mountains and the resistance of western white pine and whitebark pine to the introduced disease white pine blister rust. Warwell has recently been involved in research that models the contemporary climate profile of whitebark pine populations, as well as the constituent species of biotic communities across the western United States, and predicts the future geographic distribution of these species and assemblages in response to global warming. His INPS lecture will describe the interactive effects of various climate change factors on whitebark pine and other conifer communities in the northern Rockies region.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Whitebark Pine Poster (1-page color 106KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Friday, February 19, 2010, 9:00 a.m. Invitation to INPS White Pine Chapter members
Speaker: Friends of the Palouse Ranger District
Title: Upper Lochsa Land Exchange Informational Meeting
Location: Sandpiper Grill, 436 North Main Street, Moscow, Idaho
Co-sponsors: Palouse Broadband of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness and Friends of the Palouse Ranger District

The Palouse Broadband of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness (GOBW) is sponsoring a no-host breakfast and informational meeting about the proposed Upper Lochsa Land Exchange. Friends of the Palouse Ranger District will lead a presentation about the potential impacts of this land transfer on affected watersheds, wildlands, and recreation in north Idaho and western Montana. Moscow-based GOBW members are housing out-of-town participants who would like to arrive the night before this breakfast meeting. They invite you to bring a guest and join them at the Sandpiper Grill, located on Highway 95 in Moscow, across from Rosauers and next to Walgreens.

The Upper Lochsa Land Exchange would trade over 28,000 acres of scattered public lands in the Clearwater, Idaho Panhandle, and Nez Perce national forests for more than 39,000 acres of severely clear-cut, private tracts in the headwaters of the Lochsa River near Lolo Pass. In an agreement with millionaire, timberland trader Tim Blixseth and his Western Pacific Timber Company, the U.S. Forest Service would acquire his checkerboard acreage interspersed with national forest lands and formerly owned by Plum Creek Timber Company. Encompassing sections of the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark national historic trails, these heavily-logged parcels would require prolonged rehabilitation but could provide important habitat for fish and wildlife and connect wild public lands throughout the Lochsa basin. Blixseth would undertake commercial logging and tree farming on the 46 scattered tracts of relinquished federal lands, some up to 7,600 acres in size and most encircling Elk River and Elk City. Local forest officials are currently developing a draft environmental impact statement for the project, expected out this spring along with a critical public comment period.

For detailed descriptions of this scheme to privatize and degrade more public lands, including maps of the exchange parcels, see Upper Lochsa LEX .

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, February 27, 2010, 9:30 a.m. Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society Panel Presentation
Speakers: Gail Bolin, John Hastings, Carol Jenkins, Clare Marley and Molly McCahon
Title: Native Plant Community Demonstration Gardens: Two Practical Examples
Location: Sandpoint Community Hall, First Avenue, Sandpoint ID
Co-sponsors: Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society and the City of Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department

The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society and the City of Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department will jointly sponsor a panel presentation about two recent, collaborative, native landscaping projects in northern Idaho. Ongoing work on both the west garden at the Bonner County Administration Building in Sandpoint and lakeshore revegetation at Dover Bay seeks to display the beauty and practical applications of native plants. If you are in the area, please join speakers Gail Bolin (a White Pine member), John Hastings, Carol Jenkins, Clare Marley, and Molly McCahon at the Sandpoint Community Hall, the log building on First Avenue across from the county courthouse in Sandpoint.

The native demonstration garden at the Administration Building resulted from the county’s new codes for waterfront vegetative buffers and from the Grow Native program that advocates planting native species. Numerous individuals and organizations, such as local schools, plant nurseries, scout troops, and professional and employee associations contributed to this effort. Similarly, the Native Plant Riparian Buffer Demonstration Site, on the Pend Oreille River adjacent to City Hall in Sandpoint, began as Gail Bolin’s graduate project and grew into a collaborative community endeavor. With help from the Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District, area specialists, a horticulture instructor and his students, and native plant society volunteers, Bolin recreated natural lakeshore vegetation to promote the appreciation, knowledge, conservation, and landscape use of northern Idaho native plants.

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: Bill Rember
Title: Clarkia Paleobotany
Location: 1912 Center, Fiske Room, 412 East Third Street, Moscow, Idaho
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter and Palouse Prairie Foundation

Dr. Bill Rember, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho and Director of the Tertiary Research Center, has been unearthing and studying the Clarkia fossil flora of northern Idaho for decades. These exquisitely preserved plant remains illustrate the diverse biota that thrived in this region when it was warmer about 15 million years ago. Many of the fossil leaves display their original autumn colors, while some still contain green chloroplasts and foster biochemical correlations with similar fossil species elsewhere in the world and with contemporary local plants.

This presentation by noted paleobotanist Rember will include numerous photographs of the Clarkia fossils as well as a history of their formation and preservation. First discovered in 1972 during construction of a snowmobile racetrack, the fossils were initially deposited in the sediments of a dammed Miocene lake formed in a drainage similar to the present St. Maries River basin. The cold, anoxic conditions and rapid sedimentation at the 100- to 150-meter depths of this narrow lake, as well as ensuing tectonic stability, have graced northern Idaho with a unique, world-class collection of Miocene plant fossils. More information about the flora of the Clarkia fossil beds can be found at Tertiary Research Center

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Clarkia poster (1-page color 463KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Tuesday and Wednesday, March 23 - 24, 2010. Native Flora Workshop sponsored by INPS Sah-Wah-Be chapter
Location: Wood River Room, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho
Co-hosts: Idaho Museum of Natural History, Ray J. Davis Herbarium, Idaho State University Department of Biological Sciences, and INPS Sah-Wah-Be Chapter

Planned for alternate years between the Idaho Rare Plant Conferences, the theme of this first ever Native Flora Workshop is “Back to Basics in Field Identification.” Professional botanists from southeastern Idaho and surrounding states will lead the workshops at this conference that provides opportunities for members and the public to learn more about local native flora, improve field identification skills, and network with fellow native plant enthusiasts.

The many botany professionals who will give presentations are listed in the Workshop Registration and Conference Schedule
H. Wayne Phillips, author of “Plants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition” and “Central Rocky Mountain Wildflowers”, will give the keynote address “Wild Orchids of Idaho and Montana” Tuesday night 8 pm.

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7:00 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: David Tank
Title: The Paintbrushes (Castilleja) and Their Relatives in the Orobanchaceae
Location: UI College of Natural Resources Building (CNR), Room 108
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter and Palouse Prairie Foundation

Dave Tank, Assistant Professor of Forest Resources and Director of the UI Stillinger Herbarium, will talk about the paintbrushes and related species, their morphology, and identifying characteristics. Dr. Tank will also address plant systematics and the use of phylogenetics for classification and to understand patterns of evolution and diversity in native plants like paintbrushes. During his lecture, Dave will also show plenty of photographs of paintbrushes in Idaho, the western United States, Mexico, and Andean South America.

More information about Dave Tank's research can be found at Tank Lab .

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Castilleja - Stateline Wetlands poster (1-page color 212KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, March 27, 2010, 10:00 a.m. White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Gail Bolin
Topics: Tour and botanical consultation on native species appropriate for the living roof of the bird observation deck
Location: Idaho-Washington Stateline Wetlands Community Wildlife Park, Moscow, Idaho

Gail Bolin, the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Environmental Science Program at the University of Idaho, will lead this two-hour foray through an eight-acre constructed wetland just west of the Moscow wastewater treatment plant. With a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, the Palouse Audubon Society partnered with Idaho Fish and Game, the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute, and University of Idaho Women in Science to help transform the field into a place for migratory and resident birds and wildlife and an environmental education and research site for schoolchildren, community members, and university faculty. These organizations have been working together on habitat restoration activities that include planting native species and creating a quarter-mile trail system with interpretive signs. Last fall, with the assistance of local elementary, junior, high school, and college students and 4-H and community volunteers, the groups planted 1100 native trees and shrubs. Besides continuing to enhance ecological diversity, participants are also constructing a bird observation deck with a living roof.

During this tour, Gail and the other Stateline Wetlands organizers are seeking INPS White Pine member advice on which native plants could survive the hot and dry conditions of this living roof. As a previous member of the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society in the Sandpoint area, Bolin is looking forward to meeting her fellow members in the White Pine Chapter.

Until Stateline Wetlands volunteers complete their own website, check out TogetherGreen at Stateline Wetlands Community Wildlife Park

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Castilleja - Stateline Wetlands poster (1-page color 212KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, April 10, 2010, 8:00 a.m. White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leaders: Fred Rabe, Pam Brunsfeld, Emily Poor, David Mildrexler
Topics: Diverse spring flora in a scenic river canyon with bighorn sheep
Location: Wenaha River Canyon, northeastern Oregon
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter, Friends of the Clearwater and
Hells Canyon Preservation Council

We will travel about two hours to the trailhead near Troy, Oregon. Please bring sun- and water-resistant clothing, sturdy walking shoes or hiking boots, lunch, water, and (optional but recommended) hand lenses, botanical keys or field guides, binoculars, and a camera. This field trip is always a late-March or early-April favorite among native plant enthusiasts seeking early blooms in a warm and remote, low-elevation canyon. Our leisurely round-trip walk will cover about five miles and 500 feet of elevation gain, with many pauses to identify and photograph native plants with botanists Pam Brunsfeld and Emily Poor and aquatic ecologist Fred Rabe and to learn about wildland issues with conservationist David Mildrexler. Some of the main attractions along the way include scenic river canyon views, a high diversity of spring flora, and the possibility of seeing bighorn sheep. After the hike, we may also stop at a cafe along the Grande Ronde River, to taste some of the best milkshakes in the region, and plan to return to Moscow by 5 p.m.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Wenaha Canyon Flyer (1-page color 237KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, April 15, 2010, 7:00 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: Kathy Hutton, of Plants of the Wild, Tekoa, Washington
Title: Native Grasses and Forbs in the Landscape
Location: 1912 Center, Great Room, 412 East Third Street, Moscow, Idaho
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter and Palouse Prairie Foundation

Kathy Hutton of Plants of the Wild will present a PowerPoint slide-show program about the native forbs, wildflowers, and grasses that are most readily available and easiest to grow successfully in home landscapes. She will focus on how these species behave in the landscape, bringing wildness and natural beauty to overly-tame environments, and will share some of her knowledge about nurturing native plants. Kathy will offer similar insights during an optional field visit of the Plants of the Wild facilities by Friday arrivals to the annual statewide INPS meeting on June 11 through 13, hosted this year by the White Pine chapter at Heyburn State Park near Plummer.

Plants of the Wild has been providing quality native plant material for restoration and reclamation projects since 1979. Outside of the town of Tekoa in eastern Washington, nestled deep in the heart of the inland northwest Palouse Prairie, the nursery specializes in growing many varieties of native grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees that the company ships all over the world. Plants of the Wild propagates and cultivates species that are difficult to produce and provides both large quantities of plants for reclamation projects as well as container-grown native seedlings to meet recent increases in demand for low-maintenance, water-conserving, naturalized home landscapes.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Landscaping with Natives poster (1-page color 249KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, April 24, 2010, 1 p.m. INPS White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Christine Nauman, of Cricket's Garden, Moscow, Idaho
Topic: Native Plant Garden Tour
Location: Moscow Idaho
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter and Palouse Prairie Foundation

Upon our arrival at her home, Christine “Cricket” Nauman of Cricket’s Garden Native Wildflower Nursery will give a presentation about the native wildflowers of the inland Northwest that are most suitable for home landscaping. She will also provide a site map, plant list, and brochure describing various plants of interest. Christine will then lead a tour of her backyard nursery, explaining how to grow certain wildflowers, and showing how she has integrated native plants into her yard. Native wildflower seedlings listed on the Cricket’s Garden website and nature photographs will also be available for order or purchase during our visit.

Nauman’s passion for learning about wildflowers emerged during childhood walks in the eastern Washington woods. She consequently earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource Management at Washington State University and a Master of Science in Forest Resources at the University of Idaho, where she studied germination of native plants and nursery management. Cricket’s Garden developed from Christine’s desire to share her knowledge of area native plants and her experience in collecting wildflowers for native plant gardening. The business specializes in cultivating and providing high-quality, local, native plants for use in gardening, landscaping, and restoration endeavors.

For more information, visit Cricket's Garden.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Landscaping with Natives poster (1-page color 249KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 7:00 p.m. White Pine Chapter Meeting and Presentation
Speaker: Fred Rabe
Title: Idaho Peat Lands
Location: 1912 Center, Fiske Room, 412 East Third Street, Moscow, Idaho
Co-sponsors: INPS White Pine Chapter and Friends of the Clearwater

At our monthly meeting, retired aquatic ecologist from the University of Idaho Fred Rabe will talk about Idaho peatland ecosystems to increase awareness of their outstanding educational and resource values. In the 1980s and 90s, Dr. Rabe, a hydrologist, and several botanists studied over 50 wetland sites in 12 national forests across Idaho and western Montana. They subsequently co-authored publications about northern Rocky Mountain peatlands, their formation, hydrology, vascular and non-vascular flora, invertebrates, and the hierarchical classification of aquatic and semi-aquatic zones in peatland systems. Offering slides and descriptions of regional peatlands, Fred’s presentation also serves as a primer for summer field workshops at 49 Meadows on June 26 and 27 and at Hager Lake on July 10 and 11.

In northern Idaho and northwestern Montana, the relatively mild and wet winters of a maritime climate and less intense solar radiation produce several unique environments that favor peatland growth and distribution. Without disturbances, the anaerobic, acidic, and nutrient-poor conditions of peatlands limit the decay of great masses of water-holding organic matter, which influences plant succession and enables stable and self-perpetuating peatlands to exist for centuries. A common type of peatland, fens rise above their surroundings and receive nutrients from water percolating through substrate soil or upland runoff. Although they occupy a small percentage of the regional landscape, fens host high plant diversity, with hydrophytic plant species such as sphagnum moss occurring as scattered individuals or in a dense cover. Valley peatlands in northern Idaho provide habitat for 12 percent of the rare vascular flora in the state.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Idaho Peatlands (1-page color 153KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, May 22, 2010, 8:00 a.m. White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Mike Rule, Refuge Biologist
Topic: Rare native plants of the scablands
Location: Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, near Cheney, Washington

We will explore the floral diversity of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge with Mike Rule, Refuge Biologist. Highlights of our guided tour include a visit to mima mound prairies and vernal pools at the peak of the spring bloom, where we will observe rare orchids and a federally listed threatened species, water howellia. Later throughout the day, we will explore the limited public use area of this 16,000-acre preserved wildlife sanctuary. Abundant native plant and wildlife viewing opportunities exist among five short walking trails along a motorized touring route. We could examine plants near the Blackhorse Lake boardwalk, on the Pine Lake loop, at Kepple Lake on the overlook trail or the interpretive trail that meanders among a variety of floral and faunal species in riparian areas, wetlands, grasslands, and ponderosa pine forests, the four habitats found at Turnbull. The Columbia Plateau Trail traverses the vaster, closed area of the refuge, where off-trail access is prohibited.

On the eastern edge of the Columbia Basin, the Channeled Scablands that comprise the predominate ecosystem of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge are unique among the characteristics of natural reserves worldwide. Formed by volcanism, glaciation, and the largest-ever floods at the close of the last ice age, the distinct combination of basalt outcrops, channeled canyons, and a mosaic of over 130 wetlands provides important, high-quality habitat. Situated in an ecological transition zone between dry, sagebrush-covered grasslands to the west and forested mountain ranges to the east, the seasonal and permanent sloughs, potholes, and marshes as well as the upland forests, meadows, and shrub steppes of the refuge support productive breeding and nesting grounds for waterfowl, migratory birds, mammals, and other wildlife.

To reach Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge from the south, travel on Highway 195 to the Plaza exit. Then turn west under the highway to continue on the Cheney Plaza Road to Rock Lake Road. Turn right at this intersection and proceed north to Smith Road, opposite the refuge entrance sign. Take Smith Road approximately two miles to Refuge Headquarters at 26010 S. Smith Road. Please come prepared with water-resistant clothing and boots, lunch, water, and (optional but recommended) binoculars, hand lenses, botanical keys or field guides, and a camera. At the refuge, there are plenty of restrooms and a $3 per day vehicle fee that can be paid at the entrance kiosk.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Turnbull NWR Flyer (1-page color 128KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, May 27, 2010, 8:00 a.m. White Pine Chapter Field Trip - cancelled
Topic: Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm Trip

Jacie and Wayne Jensen invite the INPS White Pine Chapter to walk some of their 100 acres of ancient Palouse prairie and to tour their seed production plots and fields at their Paradise Ridge farm. The Jensens and their family have recognized both the rarity and beauty of their remnant native prairie with its highly diverse plant species and profusion of wildflowers. They have also realized that conservation and restoration of prairie patches depend on the availability of native seeds. So in 2004, they started their native seed and plant operation, where they collect their original grass and wildflower seeds from wild, on-site sources, plant them into one-acre seed production plots, and harvest the resulting seeds in June through October to either sell, plant i! n tall pots, or sow into single-species fields. Twenty-five of the most common Palouse prairie plant species currently thrive in their plots.

But the survival and expansion of the unique, arid, and undulating short-grass prairie ecosystem in the inland Northwest rely on more than just this modest third-generation farm. As native prairie habitat becomes smaller and more isolated, urban and rural gardens and landscapes become crucial to connecting wild fragmented lands. Please join us next Thursday for opportunities to learn from each other’s experience, knowledge, and insights and to share our collective interest and concern for our regional landscape. To foster discussion, space is limited on this tour to only 20 INPS members and their guests, without dogs and children.

**************************************************************************************
Announcing the INPS State Annual Meeting for 2010
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 11, 12, and 13, 2010
Hawley's Landing Campground, Heyburn State Park, near Plummer, Idaho, on Hwy 5, 5 miles east of Hwy 95
(Plummer is approximately 35 miles south of Coeur d'Alene)

White Pine chapter is the host chapter for this Annual Meeting so we are hoping to have many White Pine members attending and helping with the events. INPS members from around the state will be attending. We are especially pleased that Pam Brunsfeld and Bill Rember have agreed to lead field trips - Pam to McCroskey Park and Big Creek on the St. Joe and Bill to the fossil site at his place in Clarkia.

2010 Annual Meeting Announcement (pdf)
2010 Annual Meeting Registration Form (pdf).

The announcement contains both additional and revised information from what appeared in the most recent Sage Notes. Please plan to return your registration form as soon as possible.

The following are links for maps, documents, and field trip destinations which you may find helpful.

Heyburn State Park
Heyburn and McCroskey Parks Regional Map (pdf)
McCroskey Park Map (pdf)
Heyburn State Park Trails Description (pdf)
Heyburn State Park Trails Map (pdf)
Clarkia - Hobo Creek Cedar Grove Loop
Tertiary Research - Clarkia Fossils
Biking Trail Map, Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes (pdf)
Plants of the Wild

**************************************************************************************
Thursday, June 17, 2010 INPS White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Jacie Jensen
Topics: Native Palouse Prairie lands and seed production
Location: Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm, Genesee, Idaho

Jacie and Wayne Jensen invite the INPS White Pine Chapter and our guests to walk some of their 100 acres of ancient Palouse prairie and to tour their seed production plots and fields at their Paradise Ridge farm. The Jensens and their family recognize both the rarity and beauty of their remnant native prairie, with its highly diverse plant species and profusion of wildflowers, and realize that conservation and restoration of prairie patches depend on the availability of native seeds. In 2004, they started their native seed and plant operation, where they collect their original grass and wildflower seeds from on-site sources, plant them into one-acre seed production plots, and harvest the resulting seeds in June through October to either sell, plant in tall pots, or sow into single-species fields. Twenty-five of the most common Palouse prairie plant species currently thrive in their plots.

But the survival and expansion of the unique, arid, and undulating short-grass prairie ecosystem in the inland Northwest rely on more than just this modest third-generation farm. As native prairie habitat becomes smaller, more isolated, and more inundated with exotic species, urban and rural gardens and landscapes become crucial to connecting wild, fragmented lands. Please join us this Thursday for opportunities to learn from the Jensens' experience and knowledge and to share our collective interest and concern for our regional landscape. To foster discussion and minimize disturbance of bird nesting season, space is limited on this tour to only 20 participants without dogs and children.

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, Sunday, July 10-11, 2010. White Pine Chapter Overnight Field Trip and Workshop
Leaders: Fred Rabe, Archie George, Juanita Lichthardt
Topics: Peatland and fen plant communities
Location: Hager Lake near Priest Lake, Idaho

A short distance north of Priest Lake, the Hager Lake peatland encompasses one of the most extensive floating mats of vegetation in Idaho. The exceptional fen community thriving on the mat supports 75 vascular and bryophyte species, including five that are considered rare in the state. With a local plant list in hand, we will observe and collect native plants growing on the mat and along the lake edge. We may also use rubber rafts to further investigate area plants and to sample macroinvertebrates and zooplankton.

Some participants may choose to return to Moscow after visiting Hager Lake. Those who are staying overnight will journey to the Priest River Experimental Forest Station, where we will stay for the night. Administrated by the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, facilities include a lodge with a kitchen and laboratory, cabins, showers, bedding, and towels, all provided for a $20-per-person charge. In the evening, we will socialize and discuss our previous afternoon activities at Hager Lake. On the following day, we have the options of either identifying collected plant and invertebrate specimens or hiking around the station grounds. On our way home, we may stop briefly at another peatland, to further our understanding of these biotic communities.

More information on meals, items to bring, etc will be available later on this website or in emails.
For more information, view Hager Lake Fen or Priest River Experimental Forest. To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Hager Lake Flyer (1-page color 169KB 8.5x11" PDF)

**************************************************************************************
Saturday, July 31, 2010, 7 a.m. INPS White Pine Chapter Field Trip Square Mountain
Leader: Mike Hays
Topics: Subalpine, meadow, and grassland native plant communities with endemics
Location: Square Mountain Research Natural Area, Nez Perce National Forest, Idaho

Mike Hays, a Nez Perce National Forest botanist and INPS White Pine chapter member, will lead a daylong field trip to the Square Mountain Research Natural Area, a geologically interesting area that forms the contact point between sedimentary Belt quartzite rocks and the igneous, granitic rocks of the Idaho Batholith. Near the center of the Gospel Hump Wilderness, Square Mountain crowns the divide between the Clearwater and Salmon basins. On much of the 8,000-foot mountain, its high elevation, severe fire history, and lack of soil development have yielded sparse, subalpine vegetation and habitats dominated by whitebark pine and subalpine fir. Its north and east aspects lack significant tree cover on the thin, coarse soils derived from decomposition of the exposed, rocky substrate. The meager forb communities that occupy these mountainsides produce brilliant summer blooms of penstemon, fleece flower, arnica, phlox, yellow buckwheat, daisies, and the spectacular Idaho Douglasia (Douglasia idahoensis), a species endemic to relatively few central Idaho summits.

On the narrow and steep Forest Service road to Square Mountain, where we may require vehicles with high clearance, four-wheel drive, or good suspension, we will stop to observe a variety of forbs, grasses, and sedges in the subalpine parklands high in the wilderness. Along the paved route between the mountains and Grangeville, we could also explore several moist to wet meadows and small, seasonally moist grasslands on thin basalt soils. These diverse habitats host numerous, tall, forb species, such as globe penstemon, camas, and meadow senecio, in dense water sedge communities as well as marsh marigolds, boggy mosses, and wet sedges in more saturated communities. In the grasslands and forests along the road, we could also find mountain lady-slipper orchids and the endemic broadfruit mariposa near its peak bloom.

Please bring appropriate outdoor apparel, lunch, water, and optional items such as field guides, plant keys, hand lenses, binoculars, or cameras. We will meet Mike Hays and other participants at 9 a.m. at the former Nez Perce National Forest offices on the east edge of Grangeville. Located at 1005 Highway 13, on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main Street (Highway 13) and the Grangeville-Salmon Road, the offices are about a mile east of a left turn onto Highway 13 from southbound Highway 95 in Grangeville.

For further information, see the Nez Perce National Forest website or the Summit Post web page at Gospel Hump.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Square Mountain Poster (1-page color 149KB 8.5x11" PDF)

****************************************************************************************
Saturday, August 28, 2010, 10:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, & 2:00 p.m.
Herb Walk & Moscow Mountain Cedar Grove & Proposed Tower Site
Leaders: Linda Kingsbury, Juanita Lichthardt, & Mark Solomon
Topics: Wild, edible & medicinal plants, Ancient, high-elevation cedar/larch forest
Location: Robinson Park (lower pavilion) & Moscow Mountain near Moscow, Idaho

10:00 a.m. Herb Walk with Linda Kingsbury

Local herbalist Linda Kingsbury will guide an herb walk focusing on how to identify, gather, and use edible and medicinal plants growing at Robinson Park near Moscow. Although Dr. Kingsbury usually leads similar classes for a fee in June and July, when most plants are at their peak, she is generously contributing her expertise to INPS White Pine members and guests free of charge, as a community service through this hour-long program. In the coolness of the morning, we will explore the lower fields of the park for wild, naturalized, and native plants and should find at least ten species with medicinal and edible values. Herb walk organizers are requesting RSVPs and limiting attendance to 20 participants for this part of the field trip, to better foster discussion and learning.

As an author, educator, and consultant in the fields of herbal medicine and holistic health, Linda has been leading herb walks in Idaho since 1994 and at Robinson Park for 16 years. She has shared her herbal wisdom with students at Washington State University, University of Idaho, Moscow School of Massage, and Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society in Sandpoint and as the host of Ask the Herbalist radio show on KRFP Radio Free Moscow. Dr. Kingsbury has worked as the Women’s Wellness Educator with the Nez Perce Tribe, where she facilitated a Horticulture Therapy project involving medicinal herb gardens. Linda also formulates herbal products made with organic and wild-crafted herbs for her company Idaho Herbs. She has created a blog that she updates weekly with text, pictures, and videos that show how to forage for wild, edible plants. Linda would love to hear about your foraging experiences and favorite recipes and to answer your questions about herbs. m

Visit Linda Kingsbury’s blog at Edible Weeds Blog or her website at www.IdahoHerbs.com or .

12:00 noon Moscow Mountain Cedar Grove with Juanita Lichthardt

As the farthest northwestern reach of the granitic, central Idaho batholith, Moscow Mountain harbors dense forests, lush vegetation, and numerous water sources that provide rich habitat for the 250 wild species that inhabit the Palouse Range, including a high diversity of birds. This landmark mountain is surrounded by fertile, wind-borne Palouse loess, dried and blown in after the Lake Missoula floods eroded central Washington scabland soils from underlying Columbia basin basalt flows. A vertical, quartz-filled fault splits the granite on the mountain and, along with 50 to 60 inches of annual precipitation, fosters clear, perennial springs that emerge from the ridge tops. In this relatively moist ecosystem, engulfed by bright Palouse light on top of the mountain, cedar trees have lived for over 1000 years, some spreading to ten feet in diameter, mostly spared from logging and other disturbances by their remote location.

We will follow botanist Juanita Lichthardt through the ancient cedar grove at 4,800 feet elevation on Moscow Mountain, where huge, usually lower-elevation western redcedar flourishes in unique stands mixed with western larch, unlike other cedar forests in the Clearwater drainage and northern Idaho. The similarly distinctive native plants in the understory of the grove thrive in loam soils layered with Mount Saint Helens ash, over a deeper, thick Mount Mazama ash cap and bedrock. For a few hours, we will investigate the wild plant community of this diverse, 270-acre, old-growth forest, documenting its abundant array of native ferns, forbs, and shrubs, and learning about the outstanding ecological features of the area.

The Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute website also features a map of the mountaintop area and summer access directions to the cedar grove parking lot at PCEI

2:00 p.m. Proposed Moscow Mountain Tower Site with Mark Solomon

From the top of the cedar grove at 2 p.m., we will hike about a half mile out to the old lookout on East Moscow Mountain, to meet with Mark Solomon. Over the last 30 years, this local conservationist and summit resident has stalwartly defended these public lands from development. Last month, Idaho Public Safety Communications (PSC) proposed constructing a 125-foot-high communication tower on one acre at the lookout that they would lease for $3,000 per year over 25 years. This school trust land falls within the 300-acre tract encompassing the cedar grove, currently leased as a Latah County park for about $5,000 per year. Even though people from around the region visit the site for spectacular Palouse views and the ancient cedar grove below, tower proponents would remove surrounding, 80-foot-tall trees, bury power lines under new road improvements to the site, and build equipment housing next to the tower. PSC claims that they need this tower to replace their West Twin tower, where their signals are weak to the north and their lease agreement is unsatisfactory.

If the state Land Board decides that permitting one tower lease at the lookout best maximizes long-term economic return to the School Endowment Fund and ultimately public schools, a tower farm could eventually arise and convert a quiet, natural place into an industrial complex. But recent meetings reflect renewed interest among a broad coalition of concerned citizens and local organizations in creating a park on this mountaintop parcel managed by the Idaho Department of Lands. Participants on this trip will consider the history of Moscow Mountain public lands preservation as well as alternative tower locations and arrangements, various pertinent permitting and land use regulations, and citizen involvement that could avert this looming threat and achieve protected status for this locally cherished place.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Moscow Mountain poster (1-page color 341KB 8.5x11" PDF)

****************************************************************************************
Saturday, September 25, 2010, 10 a.m.
INPS White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Richard Naskali
Topics: Native plants of Asia, Europe, and North America
Location: University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Moscow, Idaho

Among the early autumn colors of diverse foliage, Emeritus Professor and retired Arboretum Director Richard Naskali will lead a tour of the University of Idaho (UI) Arboretum and Botanical Garden. This 63-acre tract lies in a small valley bounded by the university golf course on the west and the University Heights neighborhood on the east, with the UI President’s Home and Nez Perce Drive at its northern head and West Palouse River Drive below. Professionally master-planned in 1980 as a “geographically-based, living museum of documented plants for study, learning, inspiration, and beauty,” the Arboretum hosts plants from around the globe. Forty-five acres are divided into sections where natives of Asia, Europe, eastern North America, and western North America grow beside smaller displays like the Xeriscape Garden. A reconstructed Palouse Prairie and other amenities are envisioned for 18 acres on the southwest hill near the 102-year-old Arboretum barn, where a local farmer still produces crops.

Since the first plantings in 1982, over 11,260 accessioned plants have thrived in the Arboretum, including 4,253 trees and shrubs and over 7,000 herbaceous plants surrounding two large ponds and a creek. Most of the woody plants bear card-sized, aluminum labels on their north sides, about four feet from the ground. These information tags describe the sources and the scientific, family, and common names of individual plants, along with the unique accession number of each specimen, which includes the date of its planting in the first four digits. Besides the Leonard Halland information kiosk and the Torii-style pergola for Asian vines, many of the trees and groves and inscribed granite benches throughout the Arboretum are dedicated to university friends and family and have been funded by tax-deductible gifts and the annual membership dues of the UI Arboretum Associates. Partially raised by the Associates’ annual plant sale, these private contributions have also supported the signage, plant record system, and much of the irrigation system and maintenance equipment of the Arboretum. UI General Education Funds provide seasonal opportunities for student employment at the site, supervised by Arboretum Horticulturist Paul Warnick.

University personnel are planning a fun equinox-time field trip, hoping that the Arboretum plants escape possible hard frosts before our visit. During the tour, Richard Naskali will discuss the natural and social history of the Arboretum, its distinctive plants and features, and how the university and generous donors have developed and sustained this significant botanical collection over the years. He invites INPS White Pine Chapter members and the interested public to visit the grounds with him between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on Saturday, September 25.

To learn more about the many aspects of the UI Arboretum, please see its web page at University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on UI Arboretum Flyer (1-page color 60KB 8.5x11" PDF)

****************************************************************************************
Saturday, October 16, 2010, 7 a.m..
INPS White Pine Chapter Field Trip
Leader: Paul Alaback
Topics: Interior rainforest and coastal disjunct species in the Clearwater basin
Location: Lochsa Research Natural Area and forests near Lowell, Idaho
Co-Sponsors: Friends of the Clearwater, Great Old Broads for Wilderness Palouse Broadband, & Palouse Group of the Sierra Club

Visiting from his new residence in Colorado, University of Montana Professor Emeritus of Forest Ecology Paul Alaback plans to lead discussions and hikes into the lush interior rainforests and surrounding habitats along the Lochsa River near Lowell. Dr. Alaback is a preeminent expert in temperate rainforest ecosystems throughout the Americas, who studied botany and forest ecology at the University of Washington and as a graduate student with Jerry Franklin at Oregon State University. For eight years, Paul worked with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, where he developed research information that helped change conservation policies and practices in the Tongass National Forest of Alaska. Over the last three decades, Dr. Alaback has investigated the ecological relationships and processes in forests across the northern Rockies, along the northern Pacific coast, and in Patagonia, South America, to better understand the global distribution and ecology of temperate rainforests and the effects of natural and human-induced disturbances and biogeographic and climatic variation on patterns of plant diversity at various scales. At the College of Forestry and Conservation in Missoula until 2009, he taught many field-oriented courses emphasizing forest and wilderness ecology and biodiversity, some for the interdisciplinary Wilderness and Civilization program. Along with studying topics such as the ecological impacts of salvage logging, forest thinning, and exotic species, Paul was also a contributing member of the Alaska-Harriman Retraced Expedition 2001, publicized by a PBS series. His current work focuses on research, consulting, and natural history education, to conserve temperate rainforests in Alaska and to promote citizen science with the nationwide phenology monitoring program, Project Budburst. With Dominick DellaSala, Dr. Alaback has recently completed an Island Press book entitled Temperate Rainforests and Less Known Rainforests of the World, which includes information about Clearwater basin interior rainforests.

On our Saturday field trip with Paul, we will explore the species and dynamics of the Lochsa Research Natural Area, during short walks up several of the trails in this small forest preserve protecting a diverse and representative array of interior rainforest and Pacific coastal disjunct species. These endemic plants occur in a narrow swath of inland, temperate, old-growth, conifer rainforest, a globally rare and threatened forest type, which stretches from the main stem Salmon River into British Columbia. Considered by many researchers to have served as an ice-age refugium for wet-climate dependent plants during continental glaciation and major climate change episodes over two million years, the low-elevation canyons and valleys of the Clearwater region support some of the largest numbers and tightest clusters of interior rainforest endemics. In fact, portions of the Clearwater and Salmon basins “may host concentrations of regional endemics equal to or exceeding those of previously noted endemism hotspots in northwest North America (i.e., the Columbia River Gorge, the Olympic Mountains, the Wenatchee Mountains, and Beringian Alaska)” (Bjork 2010, p. 414). Because most of the interior rainforest and coastal disjunct endemic plants display such a small geographic range – some growing in fewer than five populations or now extinct in the region beyond the coast – these species are more vulnerable to localized stochastic events and destructive outcomes and thus deserve high conservation priority. Several of these taxa are already monitored by the State of Idaho and the Forest Service through the Idaho Conservation Data Center, but major disturbances to ecosystem integrity, wrought by invasive plants, intense fires, and land development (not to mention proposed industrial transportation on Highway 12), continue to threaten near or complete loss of regionally endemic native plants. Many original plant habitats in lowland old-growth forests now exist only in isolated patches surrounded by young, commercially managed forests regenerated from clearcuts, which disrupt forest continuity in space and time, as on the mountains above the Lochsa Research Natural Area. To foster the migration of native plant species, which may not be able to outpace the rate of climate change, high-quality ecosystems and wild connecting corridors must be preserved. So please come along on this excursion, to learn more about these unique plant assemblages and how you can advocate for their protection. Bring your friends and family members and plenty of outdoor apparel, snacks, and water, for a day full of adventure with an experienced rainforest ecologist, which will conclude by early evening in Moscow.

For further information about Paul Alaback and his projects, see his University of Montana web page at UM Paul Alaback, Project Budburst, or the ECOS Northern Rockies Natural History Guide.

To view a poster publicizing this event please click on Lochsa Interior Rainforests (1-page color 195KB 8.5x11" PDF)

****************************************************************************************
Saturday, November 13, 2010, 12:30 p.m.
INPS White Pine Chapter Annual Meeting/Potluck
Leader: President Helen Yost
Location: Home of Reid & Nancy Miller, east of Viola ID

Nancy and Reid Miller will host the Annual Chapter Meeting and Potluck at their home, located at 1358 Four Mile Road in Viola, Idaho. White Pine members will hold our annual election of officers and discuss possible field trips and speakers for the coming year, while enjoying good food and camaraderie. Please bring a lunch dish or beverage to share and your ideas for chapter activities. We will send more detailed information about this event soon, but please save this date on your calendar.