William Cusick Chapter, Native Plant Society of Oregon


William Cusick Chapter Native Plant Society of Oregon

The William Cusick Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon is headquartered in La Grande, with members in Baker, Malheur, Union, and Wallowa counties.

Jenifer Ferriel is President of the chapter, and Laurie Allen is Secretary.

Contact for the chapter is Jenifer Ferriel: 541-523-5040 or, email her at jenifer "dot" ferriel "at" gmail.com (replace "dot" with a period and "at" with an @ symbol and remove spaces.)

Subscribe to William Cusick Chapter Group Forum

Email:

If you previously subscribed to the forum, then click here Visit the Forum

Note: Karen Antell will separately establish the "listserve" notification for official announcements of meetings and activities.

NEXT MEETING:

Our first chapter meeting of 2010 will be held on Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m at the Baker County Library.

See our "Meetings" page for additional information.

NEW SITE FEATURE - File Access Page-- PDF files give access to news articles, information and video links. Also, see the OPB video on Dielman's Monarch, ancient tree and champion limber pine.

COMMUNICATION: In general, meeting notices will be sent through the chapter list serve Cusick-List@lists.eou.edu. Other discussion will occur through the google group (subscribe above right). All information will be posted on the chapter website, so be sure to check the other page links above and left. Meeting and field trip information will be published in the NPSO Bulletin as well.

Meeting notes for October, 2009 have been posted.

Doug Fir -- Poetry by Richard W. Mack

David Douglas, botanist, explorer
years ago you lived life as an adventure
always by sea you traveled
to the harbor in Rio
to the rocky reach of Galapagos
to America’s timbered coast
then seeking your final curiosity
in the Sandwich Islands
a misguided love triangle
trampled your life into history

today you live in my barn
your name whispers in the rafters
the beams, the walls, all are calling
Doug fir is the wood of choice
in the wood butcher’s trade

two hundred year old trees
they were here when you paddled
the Columbia and the Walla Walla
maybe you saw them
lofty branches now erased from the skyline
ripped into prescribed dimensions
monarchs reduced to board feet

today you live in my barn
your genus planed to rippled grains of satin
rafters like the ribs of whales
architected by the geometry of angles
escorted by sunlight and shadow

David Douglas, years ago
you lived life as an adventure
was it a life divined by a compass blessed
or conflicted by a misguided magnet
either way
it doesn’t matter to the wood
in the barn
that whispers your name

Doug Fir was published in Reflections In A Western River, Poems & Essays by Richard W. Mack and is reprinted by permission of the author. Rick Mack's books are listed with the Writers Guild of Eastern Oregon, www.wgeo.org