Annual meeting registration is now open
Our Annual Meeting will be held this year from June 28-30 at Camp Utmost in the Blackfoot Valley. Go to the Annual Meetings page -- or directly to the registration form to sign up!
Elections are open!
Vote for your board officers ... here's a link to info about who's running & here's a link to the ballot. Results announced in late June, at the Annual Meeting.
Volunteers needed May 6-10 in Columbia Falls from the Flathead chapter
For the Forestry Expo, M-F, May 6-10, on Trumble Canyon Road - Help share the joy of plant identification and an appreciation of the outdoors with 5th graders from the Flathead Valley. Volunteers will spend a half-day guiding students in an already prepared, activity-based lesson. You'll be partnered with an experienced presenter. For information and to sign up, contact Teresa Wenum with Flathead National Forest at teresa.wenum@usda.gov.
An early-bird workshop in SW Montana from Calypso chapter
Native plants workshop April 27 in Divide, just south of Butte, about landscaping, dyeing with natives and planting for dye colors
We're NOT taking grant applications in 2024
MNPS Small Grants Program is changing and it's taking some time to work out the details. We're revamping the program, adding funds, and making it easier to administer and apply. We're also adding a scholarship fund for students seeking to increase their knowledge of native plants. All this will fall under the new heading of Grants & Giving. Look for our new grant and scholarship opportunities on this website under Grants & Giving, and in future issues of the Kelseya.
What happened in 2023?
The Montana Native Plant Society has been busy! In 2023, the Society:
- Conducted more than 70 field trips, from one end of the state to the other;
- Sponsored twenty in-person workshops or presentations concerning native plants, all free and open to the public;
- Distributed educational materials at five events;
- Sponsored a slate of Earth Day events in Bozeman;
- Co-hosted a weeklong plant identification “station” for all Flathead Valley 5th graders;
- Conducted two weed-pull events;
- Commented on plans or projects of two public land management agencies;
- Convened at Bannack State Park for presentations, field trips and fellowship among 100 members;
- Designed or maintained five native plant demonstration gardens;
- Awarded four small grants for community gardens, research or education projects;
- Published an up-to-date guide to sources of Montana native plant material, and detailed guidance for landscaping in south-central Montana;
- Grew native plants from seed and conducted a plant sale in Missoula;
- Published the Kelseya, a quarterly compendium of plant biology and education essays;
- Began a collaboration with the Forest Service and the Wyoming Native Plant Society to protect fragile landscapes jeopardized by off-road vehicles atop the Beartooth Plateau;
- In 2022-2023, trained as Citizen Scientists, then visited more than ninety previously reported locations of rare plants, documenting their presence and coverage -- some of the previous reports were more than 50 years old;
- Led the development of the Montana Plant Conservation Strategy, a collaboration of more than 20 organizations that will shape the actions of land-management agencies for decades to come;
- Hosted six online programs through the MNPS Presents! series, attended by more than 600 members and non-members.