Native Plant Society of Oregon

Location:

Purpose: Chapter Meeting

Description: Summer is here, so we are taking a break from meetings in order to spend our time and efforts on field trips.

The March 20 meeting was at the La Grande Forestry Sciences Lab. There were 17 attendees. Donna Patterson made a presentation on William Cusick, the pioneering botanist after which our chapter was named. Following the presentation, field trips, communication and other chapter business were discussed.

PRESENTATION: William Cusick was a pioneer that traveled to Oregon in 1853 and become one of the first settlers in the Powder River Valley. His homestead is thought to be located under the current day Thief Valley Reservoir. He was one of the first botanists to collect plants in eastern Oregon and there are 4,500 specimens that he collected in the University of Oregon herbarium alone. Twenty-seven Oregon plants are named after him. He is buried in the Union Victorian Cemetery. Additional details about him can be found in the NPSO journal, Kalmiopsis 2007. Volume 14: 8-16.

The Union Victorian Cemetery allows native vegetation and planted flowers on graves, but there are no native plants honoring William Cusick at his grave site. The group discussed appropriate plants that could be planted.

Following the presentation, Donna sent this message to the chapter:

“To the members of the William Cusick Society:

Thank you for allowing me to share what I know of William Cusick with you. I am very excited about the prospect of you doing something with the Willliam Cucsick grave AND plants along the walking path. This could take several years to accomplish. I also have a good contact with our new young reporter who would love doing a feature story on this – that may just bring new members to your group.

I also thought of another project that you might be interested in and that is some information preserved and presented in the Union County Museum. Some samples of plants named after him?, etc. Just an idea. Sharon Hohstadt is the current president. Blanche Kohler is pretty much in charge of displays.

And Carolyn Davis Young quite possibly could tell you more about the intermarriages of the Busicks and the Cusicks. Carolyn’s mother was a real historian and saved a lot of information that is now used in the museum. She passed her love of history down to Carolyn.”

FIELD TRIPS This the revised field trip schedule. For additional details, check the chapter website http://williamcusick.npsoregon.org, or watch for announcements on the listserve.

May:

Owlsley Hogback. May 18 (tentative, depending on plant phenology and smowmelt) 12:00-4:00. This is a gentle hike along a dry, rocky ridge with the potential to also explore Fox Prairie. Lots of Lomatium and Penstemons among the many plants to see. Led by Susan Geer. Contact her at susanmgeer@yahoo.com for additional information, or leave a message at 963-0477.

Strickler RNA. May 31, the weekend after Memorial Day. The RNA is located just north of Starkey Experimental Forest near LaGrande It is an old growth ponderosa pine-larch habitat, with some trespass grazing issues. Led by Jenifer Ferriel.

June: No current field trips planned.

July:

Lookout Mountain July 12-13, Apologies from Clair Button, but he has to cancel this field trip due to family-needs commitments. The up-side is he gets to visit his mother again.

Cypripedium fasciculatum in the Wallowas led by Gene Yates. This trip will also look at Botrychium and Ophioglossum. Details to be determined.

August:

Cougar Meadows RNA. August 16. Cougar Meadow is located near Anthony Lakes and was recently dedicated to the memory of Charlie Johnson. It has a large sedge and tufted hairgrass component, and contains one or more species of moonworts/grapeferns. There is a small aspen stand that is not regenerating, with young conifers establishing in the understory. The lack of aspen regeneration may be related to wild ungulate grazing, but the cause is unknown.

Led by Jenifer Ferriel to look at the aspen regeneration issue and also try out the new sedge key.

Other Business

Jenifer Ferriel will have the mailing lists and other chapter mailings sent to her instead of Sandy Roth.

Cathy Nowak, ODFW, requested money last year for interpretative signs at Ladd Marsh. The sign project was delayed but she anticipates completing later this year. The chapter agreed to provide the $250 it had allocated for plant signs. Cathy will come back to solicit ideas for specific information to go on the signs.

A sedge workshop would cost approx $200 each attendee which the group thought cost-prohibitive for the chapter to sponsor.

The next meeting, and the last meeting before the summer, will be in Baker on April 24 (Baker County library 2400 Resort Street). Suzanne Fouty will make a presentation on “Restoring water to watersheds and complexity and stability of riparian ecosystems”. This presentation focuses on beavers and riparian habitats in the Burnt River watershed. Following Dr. Fouty’s presentation, the chapter will discuss how to incorporate more detailed vegetation sampling into the ongoing Burnt River monitoring.

William Cusick Chapter, February 28, 2008 Meeting Summary:

The February 28 meeting was at the Baker County Library. There were 10 attendees, including members from Baker, LaGrande, and John Day. Jenifer Ferriel, RNA Coordinator for the Blue Mountain Ecoregion made a presentation on the area Research Natural Areas (RNAs). RNAs are part of a national network of areas dedicated in perpetuity for education, research, and biodiversity (including genetic diversity) on USFS land. The BLM also maintains similar areas that are referred to as ACECs (Areas of Critical Environmental Concern). Following the presentation, field trips, communication and other chapter business were discussed. There were some changes to or need for additional discussion on field trips after the meeting. These changes are incorporated.

PRESENTATION: The Blue Mountain ecoregion includes the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur National Forests. Within this area, there are 40 RNAs, of which 10 are established RNAs and 30 are proposed RNAs. These areas are available for research and education, but are not often used. Jenifer suggested that our chapter could get involved in helping monitor or conduct other research on one or more of these areas. Other activities could include stewardship or developing establishment plans for the RNAs that are proposed but not yet established.

Jenifer presented details about 4 RNAs in the chapter area. The reason that these 4 RNAs were highlighted was that these were sites that we were looking at visiting during the summer field trips.

Vinegar Hill, located in the Greenhorn Mountains on the southern edge of the Umatilla NF. It has extensive stands of subalpine sagebrush and other subalpine species and is underlain by serpentine. Here is a photo of Eriogonum flavum at Vinegar Hill provided by Cynthia Kranich.

Cougar Meadow, located near Anthony Lakes and recently dedicated to the memory of Charlie Johnson. It has a large sedge and tufted hairgrass component, and contains one or more species of moonworts/grapeferns. There is a small aspen stand that is not regenerating, with young conifers establishing in the understory. The lack of aspen regeneration may be related to wild ungulate grazing, but the cause is unknown.

Duck Lake, located on the southeast side of the Wallowas. It is comprised of vernal lakes and bogs, with floating sedge mats and the always fascinating sundew (Drosera anglica).

Strickler, located just north of Starkey Experimental Forest near LaGrande It is an old growth ponderosa pine-larch habitat, with some trespass grazing issues.

Lots of excellent discussion on why these areas are not used more, what kind of monitoring has been done/needs to be done, and suggestions about how to address Cougar Meadow aspen regeneration.

FIELD TRIPS The following field trips are planned. Additional details are posted on the Field Trips page of this site and will be confirmed in the March meeting.

May: There are two field trips planned, with the specific dates to be determined by plant phenology and snowmelt. The two trips are:

Wildflower walk sponsored by Hells Canyon Preservation Council and led by Susan Geer and in association with the Hells Canyon Preservation Council. May 18 from 12-4 pm, probably on Owlsley Hogback.

Strickler RNA led by Jenifer Ferriel (see description above from Jenifer’s presentation).

June: No current field trips planned, but Leslie to check on the potential to look at the southernmost population of Trifolium douglasii on private land. It is also a good time to look at the End Creek restoration project. Karen suggested trying to either arrange informal trips or look at the project with her regularly scheduled classes.

July: There are two field trips planned for early July, with the exact dates to be determined. However the Lookout Mountain trip may need to be rescheduled due to conflicts with teh State NPSO meeting.

Lookout Mountain led by Clair Button to look at Botrychium simplex and other flora, and potentially repair the Botrychium exclosure fence.

Cypripedium fasciculatum in the Wallowas led by Gene Yates. This trip will also look at

Botrychium and Ophioglossum.

August: Cougar Meadows RNA led by Jenifer Ferriel to look at the aspen regeneration issue and also try out the new sedge key.

Other field trips or activities discussed but either not yet confirmed or tabled for next years’ trips:

Field trip to the TNC Dunstan Preserve on the Middle Fork John Day and review the recent restoration activities.

Field trip to Vineagar Hill RNA.

Management activities on the Gangloff Preserve.

COMMUNICATION There are still a couple of glitches in the chapter communications that we are working on. 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 (post at Cusick-ONPS@googlegroups.com). All information will be posted on the chapter website, so be sure to check there http://williamcusick.npsoregon.org. Meeting and field trip information will be published in the NPSO Bulletin as well.

William Cusick Chapter, November 29, 2007 Meeting Summary

The William Cusick chapter met on 11/29 in LaGrande. There were 16 members attending, including folks from Baker, LaGrande and John Day. Karen Antell started with a presentation about Trifolium douglasii that at least in Oregon has a distribution centered about Union County. It is not listed either federally or by Oregon, but it is known from only a few populations (6-20). Karen noted that the species is very distinctive in flower, but the flowering period is quite short perhaps hindering positive survey results outside of the flowering period and that there may be more populations on private land. Karen also talked about the End Creek restoration and the potential to reintroduce Douglas clover there.

The rest of the meeting centered around chapter organization issues such as frequency of meeting, where and when, communication and election of officers. After much discussion, the following decisions were made:

ADVANCE MEETING SCHEDULE

We will have regular meetings in Sept, Oct, Feb, March, and April. Meetings will on the 4th Thursday of the month, except as modified in the yearly schedule to avoid holidays or vacation periods. Meetings would begin at 7:00 pm and alternate between Baker and LaGrande. We plan to meet at the respective county libraries (tentative right now until we can confirm availability). The meeting schedule for the next year is:

February 28, 2008: Baker City

: Jenifer Ferriel to talk about RNA's; agenda also to include field trip and sedge workshop planning

March 20, 2008: LaGrande (NOTE changed to 3rd Thur to avoid spring break conflict)

Speaker currently open

April 24, 2008 : Baker City

: Speaker currently open

September 25: 2008

: LaGrande Speaker currently open

October 23, 2008:

Baker:Speaker currently open

There were lots of ideas about speakers and field trips. This is a short list:

Field review of the End Creek restoration (Trifolium douglasii) site

Maybe-get landowner permission to search for Douglas clover on Clover Creek in Baker county downstream from the Union County site

Visit one or more of the Blue MT RNA's to help develop a species list (both plant and birds)

Camp-out on Lookout Mt at a Botrychium site and help repair the exclosure

Wetland assessments

Take a tour and also help with species id at Zumwalt Prairie

After Jenifer's February talk on RNA's we will look at setting up our field trip schedule for this next spring/summer. Both Jennifer and Karen expressed an interest in moving the field trips beyond just plant id to more functional or service type field trips. For example, we would go out to look at a Blue Mt RNA and help develop a species list, or go to Zumwalt Prairie for a tour and then help on their species list or on a seasonal targeted search. There seemed to be a strong group interest in that direction.

COMMUNICATION

Communication will be consolidated into a single listserve for notification/reminders about meetings or other pertinent information. A group forum will also be set-up to allow more in-depth discussion or photo posting. Karen Antell will set up the list serve and develop a consolidated email list from the 11/29 list, the existing and somewhat varied email lists currently being used and NPSO list of members. Clair Button will develop the group forum. Karen and Clair will coordinate on the most current list to use and contact members with the information necessary to sign up. Clair will continue to maintain the web site.

OFFICERS/COMMITTEES

Jenifer Ferriel and Sandy Roth will remain as the chapter presidents. Kent Coe will remain as the chapter treasurer. Leslie Gecy will serve as chapter secretary. Clair and Karen will head up communications and maintain the group e-lists and list servers, with help from Courtney Loomis when needed. Chris Christy will take care of meeting room arrangements in Baker and Karen will take care of meeting room arrangements in LaGrande.

There was some informal discussion after the meeting about having refreshments at meetings.

Leslie Gecy -- contact : lesliegecy at aol.com (replace "at" with symbol and remove spaces to email.)