Field Trips
July 3, Sunday. 1-5 p.m. Salmon Pass Trail in Headwaters Forest Reserve. Docent Susan Halpin will tell us history and natural history as she guides us through recovering forest and stately old growth in this famous forest of the Bureau of Land Management. Expect to see Candyflower, Star Flower, Redwood Sorrel, Andrew’s Clintonia, and Kellogg’s Lily. The trail is a 3-mile loop, moderately strenuous. Dress in layers; bring water and snacks. Meet at 12:30 pm at Herrick Ave. Park and Ride, Eureka, or at 1:00 pm at Newburg Park in Fortuna. Reserve your space with Susan at squeegy091487@hotmail.com or 707.798.2419.
July 9, Saturday, 10 am-12 noon. Trinidad Head Plant Walk. A diverse blanket of shrubs and herbs, mostly native, covers this scenic, wind-battered, rocky bluff. Botanist and extraordinary instructor Robin Bencie will introduce the species, so the green blur will become a company of friends. The loop trail is 1.7 mile with uphill and downhill and includes spectacular views. Meet at the foot of the head, in the parking lot by the beach at Trinidad State Beach.
Evening Programs
will resume in September.
Who Invited That Invasive Plant?
by Carol Ralph
“Nearly 40% of the invasive plants now in the US were originally introduced as ornamentals,” and “imports of new exotic plants into the US continue to rise.” These statements in a recent article in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a publication of the Ecological Society of America, stunned me. The invasive plants we spend so much time battling spread into our wildlands from gardeners, from people like me! Gardeners may ignore how their plants spread, or share them with friends, or dispose of them carelessly, and their plant can soon be in the wild. Government regulations and prohibited species lists are respected by most growers and consumers that find them, but the information is often hard to find or unclear. And governments can’t be expected to know which will be the next invasive species. It’s up to us to stop them before they become invasive, preferably by not planting them! Removing a beautiful, vigorous plant from your garden can be heart-wrenching, but compared to the legacy of letting it spread to our wildlands, the pain is small. Planting locally native species is a sure way to avoid this problem.
Native Plants for Sale
The Farmstand at Freshwater Farms Reserve is open! (5851 Myrtle Ave., Eureka.) A selection of our chapter’s nursery-grown shrubs, diverse perennials, and grasses is for sale at our plant stand there. Check our website for the farmstand schedule and a list of plants available.
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- CNPS welcomes everyone. No expertise required.