In addition to a social Winter Twig ID review, with Michael Deckert, we invite you to meet and greet.  It’s also a great time to tell stories from the year/lifetime behind us.  Especially if you have botanized in some place special, we hope that you’ll bring slides, e-files, photos, books, maps, recipes, etc. to share with others.  Slide and laptop projectors will be available for your use. Bring a “dish” of food to share, plus plates and silver ware for you and yours. Family members, including kids are all invited!


Monday, January 14, 2008 (Olympia)  7pm to 9pm
Chapter Show and Tell + Winter Twig ID

In addition to a fun Winter Twig ID challenge, with Erica Guttman, we invite you to meet and greet.  It’s also a great time to taste and exchange your favorite recipe, and to tell stories from the year/lifetime behind us.  Especially if you have botanized in some place special, we hope that you’ll bring slides, e-files, photos, books, maps, recipes, etc. to share with others.  Slide and laptop projectors will be available for your use.  Family members, including kids are all invited!

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is found in the subalpine zone throughout the Coastal, Olympic, Cascade, and Klamath Mountains, extending well into California at high elevations along the Sierra Nevada.  White pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) is common throughout the Pacific Northwest, generally causing widespread mortality of 5-needle pines, and has devastated large areas of whitebark pine.  A demographic study of whitebark pine in Mt. Rainier National Park suggests a rapid decline in whitebark pine in the park, with the population falling below 100 individuals in 148 years.  Management options for blister rust infected stands will be discussed.  Greg Ettl is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Forestry at Pack Forest and an Associate Professor at the University of Washington.

Presentation [PDF - 4.04 MB]
 

Wildlife relies on native plants for food and shelter. Non-native plants that we plant in our yards or that have taken over natural areas don’t always provide what various birds and other animals need.  This talk will focus on how you can use native plants to attract wildlife to your yard.  It will also touch on how native plant restoration projects can benefit wildlife.  Our speaker, Marcia Rivers Smith has been a King County Native Plant Steward since 1996, focusing on educating others about gardening with native plants.  A wide variety of wildlife visits her property in Preston.
 

The Pacific Northwest is home to thousands of species of plants in a broad palette of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures.  Join photographer Mark Turner for an evening of discovering new ways to see the flowers, techniques for creative composition, separating subjects from distracting backgrounds, and controlling natural light to improve your wildflower photographs.  Mark Turner is the photographer and co-author of Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, winner of an American Horticultural Society book award in 2007.  He photographs extensively for books and magazines both in gardens and in a wide range of native plant environments.  He is an avid member of the native plant societies of Washington and Oregon and has more than 25 years of experience exploring for and photographing native plants.  Mark lives in Bellingham, Washington.
 

The likelihood of human-induced changes in future climates is forcing conservationists to examine how the potential impacts to biodiversity can best be mitigated.  Large uncertainties, novel threats, and a rapid rate of change combine to make this a difficult issue to address.  This talk will examine various strategies being considered or that are already finding their way into practice that anticipate conservation practice in the 21st century.  Peter Dunwiddie is the Director of Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Washington, and has been working on plant and animal conservation issues for over thirty years.

Presentation [PDF - 1.26 MB]