Halting an Invader
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elseyaNewsletter of the Montana Native Plant Society Kelseya uniflora K ill. by Bonnie Heidel Halting an Invader Russian Olive Finally is Regulated in Montana on physical disturbance to create bare, moist patches By Peter Lesica and Kathy Lloyd for seedling establishment. These pioneering natives form temporary woody Finally! After more than two communities that are years of ups and downs and succeeded by non-forested ons and offs, the Montana communities, such as prairie Native Plant Society and or sagebrush steppe. Some Montana Audubon’s efforts to ecologists interpret the issue list Russian olive as a Priority of cottonwood decline as one 3 regulated plant in Montana that has more to do with such were successful. As of factors as water flow rates September 10, 2010, Russian and the resulting scarification olive can no longer be sold or and seedbed creation, as well transported legally into the as herbivory from beavers, state. Priority 3 is a new tier of rather than competition with the Montana Noxious Weed list Russian olive. Nonetheless maintained by the Montana Elaeagnus angustifolia. Photo by J.S. Peterson @ USDA-NRCS it is apparent that Russian PLANTS Database Department of Agriculture olive stands form a self- that stipulates species so designated may not be sold or perpetuating climax state. transported into the state, but does not require that areas Russian olive is shade tolerant and capable of already containing the regulated species be treated or reproducing beneath a cottonwood canopy or in other the plant, in this case the tree, be removed. In the case of shaded sites. In Montana, Russian olive is found on high Russian olive, the state recommends research, education continued, page 5 and prevention to minimize the spread of this exotic tree. The impacts associated with Russian olive are many. Negative impacts are a consequence of Russian olive displacing native herbaceous and woody species on active MNPS is Going Digital! floodplains, but more clearly along regulated rivers. Starting in February, you can renew Invasion also is occurring in low and intermittent-flow your membership online at www. mtnativeplants.org/Becoming_a_ riparian zones and gullies, and there is a potential for Member. You will also be able choose interference with agricultural water conveyance. Once to receive Kelseya as a PDF email established, Russian olive may hinder recruitment of attachment instead of a hard copy. Visit native cottonwood and willow on some sites. The native soon to let us know your preference! pioneer species (primarily Populus and Salix spp.) rely VOLUME 24 NO. 2 I WINTER 2011 Tuesday, January 25, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Join retired Forest Service botanist Peter Stickney for a look at some woody Chapter Events plants in Montana’s Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae). Calypso Chapter Thursday February 10, 7:30 pm. Providing seeds of native plants for restoration is becoming a big business. Bryce Christiaens and Again, thanks to everyone who participated in the Annual Rebecca Shoemaker talk about “The Successes and Challenges Meeting last summer. Special thanks to all the volunteers of Establishing a Xeric Forb Seed Increase Farm.” who made it possible and to those who donated or bought silent auction items. Tuesday, February 22, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Join Natural February and March, dates and time TBA. Saturday Heritage Program Botanist Scott Mincemoyer to learn about presentations. Info: Catherine Cain at nativeplants@ asters and how to identify them when he presents “Montana’s montana.com or 498-6198. Assortment of Asters.” Saturday, April 2, 9:30 am - 2:00 pm. The fourth annual Thursday, March 10, 7:30 pm. MNPS Small Grant recipient Eva “Gardening With Natives” workshop will be held at the Divide Masin will present results from her research project, “Can Sheep Grange Hall. This workshop is open to all MNPS members Control Leafy Spurge without Compromising Efforts to Restore and the general public. Native Plants?” June, date and time TBA. Paul Sawyer will be leading another Tuesday March 29, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Find out some field trip to Rochester Basin, so anyone who missed his tips for “Learning the Common Plant Families” from botanist great trip last July will have another chance to visit this little- Peter Lesica. travelled area of Southwestern Montana. Thursday April 14, 7:30 pm. Can you remember the names of Saturday, July 16. All MNPS members are invited for a wildflowers you haven’t seen for nearly a year? Get an early- weekend of botany and canoeing with Thomas J. Elpel, author season refresher from Chapter photographers during a slide of Botany in a Day and founder of the Jefferson River Canoe presentation of “Western Montana’s Grassland Wildflowers.” Trail. JRCT is sponsoring a public canoe float on the Jefferson River on Saturday, followed by a potluck and optional Flathead Chapter overnight campout. You can join or continue downriver with Monthly meetings are held the third Wednesday of the month Tom on Sunday, July 17th for additional paddling, botanizing at 540 Nucleus Ave., Columbia Falls. Programs start at 7:00 and foraging. Bring your own canoe if you can. Otherwise, pm unless otherwise noted. Members are invited to attend the Tom may have extra canoes to loan at no charge. Info: Tom at 5:30 general meetings beforehand to discuss and plan chapter [email protected] activities and business. Feel free to bring a sack supper. Jessie Salix announced that the Beaverhead-Deerlodge January 19 Work Meeting to Revise and Update the Flathead USFS has been awarded a grant to establish a “Pollinator Native Plant Landscaping Packet. We’ll start with our regular Garden” at the UMW Birch Creek Center, where Calypso business meeting at 5:30 and finish up with revising the hosted the Annual Meeting last July. Chapter members will landscape packet. Bring your editing and writing skills, laptop (if be volunteering their assistance on this project. Info: Jessie at you have one) and a sack supper. Info: Jen Hintz at jhintz2004@ [email protected]. yahoo.com or 270-7028. July and August, dates and time TBA. Field trips. Info: February 19 “Conservation Gardening: Landscaping with Catherine Cain at [email protected] or 498-6198. Montana Native Plants for Montana Native Wildlife in Your Own Backyard.” David Schmetterling shows us how to use Montana Clark Fork Chapter native plants to create habitat for native wildlife and to create a sustainable garden for people to enjoy. David chronicles his Meetings are held in Room L09, Gallagher Business Building, Missoula home garden at montanawildlifegardener.blogspot. University of Montana campus unless otherwise noted. com. Info: Terry Divoky at [email protected] or 387-5527. Herbarium Night presentations are held in Room 303, Botany Building, UM campus. March 16 “Celebrating Glacier’s Centennial: A Backcountry Botanical Journey.” Glacier Park Magazine editor Chris Monday, January 10, 7:30 pm. Take a trip to the Sonoran Peterson’s stunning photographs illustrate Glacier’s diverse and Desert with ornithologist Paul Hendricks as he presents spectacular flora, along with scenery, birds and bears. See also “Home is Where You Make It: Woodpeckers and Giant Chris’ “100 days in Glacier” blog at www.glacierparkmagazine. Columnar Cacti.” Rm 123, Gallagher Business Bldg, UM com. Info: Rachel Potter at [email protected] or 892- Campus. This will be a joint meeting with Montana Audubon 2446. (note different day and place). April 20 “Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) in Glacier National Park.” Lindsey 2 Bengtson, a biological research technician for the USGS’s Valley of Flowers Chapter Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, For information about upcoming Chapter events, call Joanne will discuss this effort to establish and maintain a world-wide Jennings at 586-9585 network of long-term observation sites documenting alpine vegetation. The data will be used to assess and predict losses January 11 “White Bark Pine in the Greater Yellowstone,” in biodiversity and other threats to fragile alpine ecosystems, presented by Cathie Jean, National Park Service management which are under accelerating climate change pressures. Info: assistant and vegetation project leader. Jen Asebrook at [email protected] or 863-9630. Kelsey Chapter February 8 “Wildflowers of the Northern Mojave,” presented For information about Kelsey Chapter programs and events by Tom Forwood, park naturalist at Lewis & Clark Caverns State call Kathy at 449-6586. Park. Tuesday, January 25, 7:00 pm. Matt Lavin from MSU will March 8 “Phytoremediation in Montana,” presented by Robert present “Plant Diversity in the Sagebrush Steppe: An Dunn and Laura Smith, Westscape Nursery in Belgrade. Overlooked Aspect of this Important Western North American Biome.” The program will focus on plant biodiversity in April 12 “Native Grasses, Forbs and Shrubs for Conservation on sagebrush steppe when it’s protected from all but moderate the Northern Plains,” presented by Susan Winslow, agronomist ungulate grazing and occasional fire. Free, Lewis and Clark at Bridger Plant Materials Center. Library in Helena. Thursday, February 17, 7:00 p.m. Dean Pearson from the Rocky Mountain Research Station will present “Birds, Spiders Welcome New Members and the Natural History of Exotic Plant Invasions.” Free, The Montana Native Plant Society welcomes the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena. following new members: Maka Flora Chapter Clark Fork Chapter: The Maka Flora Chapter will host next year’s Annual Meeting Great Bear Restoration/Great Bear Natives June 17-19, 2011 at Camp Needmore near Ekalaka in the Valley of Flowers Chapter: April M. Hale Custer National Forest. For information about upcoming Chapter events, call Calypso Chapter: Kelly Urresti and Kenda Herman Beth Madden at 789-7266. President’s Platform Sometimes, in the midst of the ongoing hustle of life, I wish I could be more like one of our native plants and spend the winter in dormancy.