Clark Fork Chapter

 PO Box 8783, Missoula, MT 5980-8783

 

Programs and Events

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

Field Trips No pets please!

June 9-Tuesday-6:30pm "John Toole Park Weed Pull"

Join John Pierce and other volunteers restoring old Missoula Valley's native grasslands. Bring a friend and a tool for weeding, have a seat in the meadow, and enjoy an evening near the Clark Fork River while doing something good for the community and environment. Meet just north 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-Tuesday-6:30pm "Dyers Woad Pull 3"

This is the last Dyers Woad pull for the season. Meet at the Mount Sentinel Trailhead. See May 19th Dyers Woad Pull for details. For more information call Marilyn at 243-6642.

June 17 -Wednesday-6:30pm "Mt. Sentinel Fire Ecology/Wildflower Hike 3"

See what happens when children play with matches at the base of Mt. Sentinel in mid-summer. Paul Alaback, forest ecologist, and Peter Stickney, fire ecologist and botanist, will shed light on what is happening with the plants on the Evans Street Trail on this 3rd and final phenology trip of the season. They will talk about which plants survive and their post-fire dynamics. We should see mock-orange, Woods rose, and many other early summer flowers. Meet on the south side of the UM campus, at the corner of Beckwith Ave. and Madeline Ave. just east of the Forest Service research lab. Call Paul at 728-4696 for details.

June 28th- Sunday-10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. "The Biennial Native Plant Garden Tour"

Visit some of the Bitterroot's finest native plant gardens and meet the gardeners who created them. Five private gardens will be open and shared for your enjoyment. Each garden has its own character and reveals ways to create habitats for insects and birds and conserve water. These gardens will inspire and educate toward developing your own native plant garden. You are invited to a reception following the tour to mingle with fellow plant enthusiasts and enjoy local food.

9:45-10:00 a.m. : Missoulians meet at the southwest corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot on Hwy 93 south; southern Bitterrooters meet at Sam's Spade 111 S. 4th Street. We will carpool from there.

10:30-11:00 a.m.: Maps with directions and a description of each garden on the tour will be available at the river access approximately 1/3 mile east of Hwy 93 on the Stevensville Cutoff Road 269. Turn left immediately after you cross the Bitterroot River.

Bring water, lunch and snacks for sustenance as you travel from garden to garden.

During the tour, we will stop at Sam's Spade (111 South 4th Street) a wonderful gardening/birding store in Hamilton. Samantha will open her VERY SPECIAL shop for us and offer her organic espresso beverages and tea for sale along with providing free baked goods to patrons of the tour.

Call Kelly @ 258-5439 for more details. Poster with details and schedule.

July 5-Sunday-9:30am "Stark Mountain Botanical and Birding Excursion"

Virginia Vincent will share her 38 years of observation and acquired knowledge of the plants and over 100 bird species she has seen at her 7352' summer home, Stark Mountain Lookout. We should see some of the earliest and hardiest flowers, spring beauties and glacier lilies still blooming at the base of snowdrifts and the progression to ‘mid-summer' flowers (paintbrush, delphinium). This is a 2-2 ½ hour drive from Missoula. Some portions of the road have sharp rocks. Standard-transmission, low-geared vehicles with strong tires and 7+ clearance preferred. Bring lunch, water, rain/wind gear, and hiking boots. Meet at the west end of the Providence Center parking lot to carpool. Call Kelly @ 258-5439.

July 17-19 "Montana Native Plant Society State Meeting" - See info at Annual Meeting link on this site.

August 8- Saturday-9:30am "Sheep Mountain Bog Research Natural Area"

Join Steve Shelly, U.S.F.S. Botanist, for a 3-mile round trip cross-country hike in the Rattlesnake Mountains to see the Sheep Mountain fen. This fen is an example of a peatland that developed in a subalpine lake basin and is now in an advanced stage of succession. It is dominated by sphagnum moss, and the unusually deep peat deposits have been used in pollen studies to understand 11,000 years of vegetation change in the area. This will be an opportunity to assist the Forest Service in monitoring the condition of the RNA. Meet in the northwest corner of the Adams Center parking lot, on the UM Campus, at 9:30 a.m. to set up carpooling. Bring lunch, water, rain gear, hiking boots; as well as your favorite wetland footwear (sandals, old shoes, waders, etc.). Expect to be out all day (returning to Missoula by about 6:00 p.m.). The trip will be limited to 15 due to the sensitivity of the floating mat habitat. Please call Steve with questions or to reserve a spot at 329-3041.

September-10-Thursday-6pm "Sleven's Island Ramble"

Learn some of Montana's common riparian plants in this spectacular old growth cottonwood gallery. This is a late summer plant ramble and bird watching along the Bitterroot River, led by Marilyn Marler. Meet at the Nature Adventure Garden at Fort Missoula at the white garden shed near the base of the giant water tower. Call Marilyn @ 243-6642.

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