Clark Fork Chapter

 PO Box 8783, Missoula, MT 5980-8783

 

Programs and Events

Programs: Held 2nd Thursday of the month (with exceptions).

  • Thursday December 10, 6:30 pm. Our annual Christmas potluck will be held in the Del Brown Room in Turner Hall on the UM Campus on the northwest side of the Oval. Parking will hopefully be available west of the Gallagher Bldg. in lots or on the streets off of Arthur and Connell. You will be emailed a map in early December. Bring plates, utensils and a dish to share. Alcoholic beverages are okay! Don’t forget to bring a few of your favorite slides or digital pictures from the summer. Call Peter (728-8740) or Kelly (258-5439) if you have questions.
  • Thursday January 14, 7:30 pm. Biologist Kristi Dubois and her husband Bert Lindler went to see what Africa was all about and now they’re going to tell us about Natural history of The Gambia in West Africa. Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.
  • Tuesday January 26, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Make some new friends; join Peter Stickney for Hydrophyllaceae- An Acquaintance with Montana’s Waterleaf Family. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Thursday February 11, 7:30 pm. Jennifer Palladini received a grant from MNPS to study how alien weeds affect the lives of native bees and their plants. Hear what she has found out, The Bee Stands Alone: Montana's Solitary Bees and their Relationships with Native and Introduced Plants. Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.
  • Tuesday February 23, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Be sure to rush over for this one! Scott Mincemoyer, Heritage Program Botanist, will introduce us to Montana’s Rushes, the Genus Juncus. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Monday, March 8, 7:30 pm. Forest Service Ecologist Dean Pearson has been looking at our grasslands for years, and now he knows that What Birds and Spiders and Mice Tell Us About the Natural History of Exotic Plant Invasions. Rm L14 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus. This will be a joint meeting with Montana Audubon (note the different day and place).
  • Tuesday March 30, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Find out what cinquefoil means when Peter Lesica presents The Genus Potentilla in Montana Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Thursday April 8, 7:30 pm. After being in Glacier Park for last summer’s annual meeting, Clark Fork Chapter photographers will have a new stock of Montana’s High Mountain Wildflowers to help you bone up for the summer. Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.

Field Trips No pets please!

Clark Fork Chapter mushroom hike
 Clark ForkChapter members enjoy a robust schedule of hikes every year.
Here a few members relax in the midst of searching for mushrooms.
(Peter Lesica photo)

Next summer - TBA

Project Budburst

A nationwide initiative by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, The U of M., and others, Project Budburst allows citizen scientists (e.g., students, gardeners) to enter observations of the timing of flowers and foliage into an online database to help create a picture of our warming climate. The project operates year-round so early and late-blooming species around the country can be monitored throughout their lifecycles. UM researchers Carol Brewer and Paul Alaback are collaborators on the project; MNPS member Paul is the project's lead scientist nationally. Project Budburst is looking for Native Plant Society members and others to volunteer in monitoring when plants come out in the spring. This involves selecting one or more plants near your house-in a park or somewhere you walk regularly--then noting the day leaves and flowers first appear and leaves first change color in the fall. Observations on Mt. Sentinel would be particularly valuable. Last year over 4,000 volunteers participated nationwide! You can register to collect data at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/ or contact Paul Alaback (palaback@gmail.com); phone: 406-728-4696.

 

For native plant restoration activities in Missoula, visit www.umt.edu/sentinel/volunteer.htm