Clark Fork Chapter

The Clark Fork Chapter serves the greater Missoula Area and west-central Montana.

For more information contact one of our co-presidents:

Project Budburst Information is at the bottom of the page

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

• Thursday April 12, 7:30 pm. Can you remember the names of those wildflowers? You haven’t seen them for nearly a year. Get an early-season refresher when Clark Fork Chapter photographers show slides of Western Montana’s Forest Wildflowers. Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.
• Thursday May 10, 6:30 pm. Our Annual Spring Potluck will be held at the home of Sheila and Gary Morrison, 3912 Lincoln Rd. in the Upper Rattlesnake. Bring your own plate, utensils, a dish to share and a lawn chair if you have one. There will surely be something blooming in Sheila’s rock garden. Call Sheila if you need directions (721-1398). 
  

Field Trips and Events  For updates check below or call Kelly @ 258-5439. Events could be canceled due to weather. Hikes typically proceed at a leisurely pace. Please bring adequate food, water, sunscreen, a hat, and be prepared for Montana’s unpredictable, inclement weather. No pets please!

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)

May 3, Thursday 6:30 pm Mt. Sentinel Budburst    Botanist Michael Krebs will show us which flowers and leaves appear first on Mt Sentinel this year. Hiking up the Evans Street Trail to the fire road, we’ll see as many as 130 different species of plants. If there is interest, we’ll hike a loop that goes up to the forest patch within 500' of the summit. We’ll document the progress of spring as part of a long-term study which is incorporated into Project Budburst. Meet on the south side of the UM campus, at the corner of Beckwith Ave. and Madeline Ave. at the picnic table east of the Forest Service research lab. Call Kelly @ 258-5439 for details.

May 15, Tuesday 6:30 pm Dyer’s Woad Pull 1 Help control Dyer’s Woad, a noxious weed in the mustard family, along with helping restore the native grasslands during Wildflower Week. Twenty-one years ago the Dyer’s Woad infestation on Mt. Sentinel was 7000 plants; we now rarely find more than 100 plants. Enjoy the view and the beautiful grasslands during this two hour weed pull. Wear sturdy shoes and bring rain gear. Meet at the Mt. Sentinel trailhead. Call Marilyn @ 544-7189 for more information.

*May 16, Wednesday 6:30 pm Spring Gulch Wildflower Mosey Annie Garde and Madeline Mazurski will take us on an easy stroll up Spring Gulch in the Rattlesnake Wilderness to see wildflowers during Wildflower Week. We hope to see glacier lilies blooming in profusion. Meet at the Rattlesnake trailhead. Call Kelly @ 258-5439 for more info.

May 24, Thursday 6:30 pm Plant Labeling Party Nosh on hors d’oeuvers and sweets while preparing this year’s plants for sale at the Missoula Farmers’ Market. Bring your labeling fingers and a savory or sweet dish to share. 2 September Dr., in the Upper Rattlesnake. Call Clare @ 728-0189 for details.

May 26, Saturday 8:00-12:00 am Annual Montana Native Plant Society Plant Sale at the Missoula Farmers’ Market More than 50 species of Montana native plants from arnica to willow herb will be for sale this one day at the Market. Come early for the best selection.

May 29, Tuesday 6:30 pm Dyer’s Woad Pull 2 Control Dyer’s Woad. Meet at the Mt. Sentinel Trailhead. See May 15th Dyer’s Woad Pull for details. Call Marilyn for more information @ 544-7189.

May 31, Thursday 6:30 pm Exotic Plant Field Trip Revisited Many admire a well-kept lawn of perfectly trimmed grass free of dandelions, however a lawn suffering benign neglect can be a repository of biological diversity. Join us as we return to Peter Lesica’s yard to inventory the biological diversity. Ten years ago we cataloged 34 species of naturalized plants in the bluegrass and smooth brome lawn. Come see what ten more years of the same, consistent “care” produces. Meet in the Lower Rattlesnake at 929 Locust, the yellow house on the SW corner. Call 728-8740 for more details.

June 5, Tuesday 6:30 pm John Toole Park Weed Pull Help John Pierce and other volunteers restore Missoula Valley’s native grasslands. Bring a friend, a weeding tool, and enjoy an evening near the Clark Fork River doing good for the community and environment. Meet just northeast of the Waterwise Garden and east of the Missoulian, near the Kim Williams Trail in John Toole Park. Call John at 542-2640 for more information.

June 16, Saturday 8:30 am MPG Ranch Grasslands Excursion Botanist Mel Waggy will introduce us to the MPG conservation ranch (www.mpgranch.com) in Florence, MT. Encompassing 8790 acres, the ranch contains a mix of grassland, upland forest, and riparian communities. Explore the native wildflowers and bunchgrasses of the early season grassland communities and learn about MPG’s efforts to protect and restore native plant communities on the ranch. Bring water and sturdy hiking boots as we will be traveling over uneven terrain. This will be approximately a three hour trip. Meet at 9:00 am behind the IGA grocery story in Florence. Missoulians meet at the SW corner of the old Wal-Mart off HWY 93 South at 8:30 am to carpool. Call Mel @ 273-6140 or Kelly @ 258-5439 for more details.

June 12, Tuesday 6:30 pm Dyer’s Woad Pull 3 This is the last Dyer’s Woad Pull of the season. Meet at the Mount Sentinel Trailhead. See May 15th Dyer’s Woad Pull for details. Call Marilyn for more information @ 544-7189.

June 29-July 1 Montana Native Plant Society’s State Meeting For more information about the meeting, visit our website.

* July 28, Saturday 7:00 am Trapper Peak Ascent Climb the highest peak in the Bitterroot Range with botanist Wayne Philips. See what alpine endemic plants we discover on this high elevation peak. This will be a slow but strenuous hike, which climbs 3800’ vertical in four miles to the summit at 10,157’. The trailhead is at 6400’ elevation so we will be traversing upper sub-alpine, timberline and alpine vegetation zones. We will stop to explore a lower elevation meadow and have lunch 1 ½ miles up for those who do not want to continue to the summit. Otherwise, PLAN ON A FULL DAY FROM 7AM-9PM. To carpool, Missoulians meet at the SW corner of the old WAL-MART off HWY 93 South at 7:00 am; Bitterrooters meet at Sam’s Spade (111 S. 4th St.), a superb gardening/birding store, in Hamilton at 8:00 am. We will all meet and leave from Sam’s. Call Kelly (258-5439) or Wayne (453-0648) for details.

*August 25, Saturday 9:00 am Storm Lake to Goat Flat Venture Botanist John Joy will lead a trip in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness from Storm Lake to Goat Flat. This is a moderate, seven mile roundtrip hike with a series of switchbacks that climb a 1000’ elevation gain through white bark pine and alpine larch to a vast alpine meadow. Goat Flat is a Research Natural Area with at least 190 species of vascular plants, 10 of which are considered species of special concern. We should see a striking display of flowering alpine plants, including three species of gentian. Forest Service Rd. 675 leaves HWY 1 (Pintler Scenic Loop) after passing Georgetown Lake approximately ½ mile east of Silver Lake. Turn right at the Storm lake sign on USFS Rd. 675 and travel about nine miles to Storm Lake, with the last mile being extremely rough and suitable for high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles. A two-wheel drive vehicle can make it if it has good clearance. Meet to carpool at 9:00 am about ¼ - ½ miles up USFS 675 at a widening in the road. There is a 12 person limit for this trip. Call Kelly @ 258-5439 to sign up and for info.

* Camera Geek trips are designed with ample time for photography and exchanging camera tips and techniques.

Thinking about Spring? Preparations are underway for the 2012 Clark Fork Chapter's Annual Native Plant Sale. Seeds will be germinated and seedlings will potted up by Clare Beelman (clare.beelman@gmail.com, 728-0189), who, alas, does not have an appropriate space for growing 30+ flats of gorgeous, native plants. If you would like to enjoy an early spring by growing seedlings indoors, starting around February, please contact Clare. Seedlings will need to be grown at typical room temperature under grow-lights with their needs closely attended. A grow light (e.g. full-spectrum fluorescent shop light) can be provided along with detailed instructions on watering, fertilizing, and hardening-off your native seedlings. You would nurture your seedlings until the Sale in late May. This is a neat opportunity to get to know a native plant species (or two!) in greater detail.

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.