The Idaho Native Plant Society is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting interest in native plants and plant communities, and collecting and sharing information on all phases of the botany of native plants in Idaho. We seek to foster an understanding and appreciation of our native flora and to preserve this rich heritage for future generations.
Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/)
Did you know that if you shop at Amazon that you can designate a non-profit or charity of your choice to donate to? If you choose the Idaho Native Plant Society, then INPS receives a small percentage of each of your online orders. Every donation, no matter how small, helps INPS with its mission to conserve, promote interest in, and educate others about Idaho’s native plants and habitats. To go directly to the Amazon INPS unique link click here.
Botany Field Camp
This is an amazing opportunity that you don’t want to miss. This camp is offered through Idaho State University (ISU) and taught by Michael Mancuso and Janet Bala. You will learn how to:
- acquire or upgrade field plant identification skills
- learn to collect and prepare botanical specimens
- learn to identify unknown plants using keys and regional floras
- increase your appreciation of the Idaho flora
Please view the BotanyFieldCamp_2019 flier_final and Botany Field Camp course description 2019 for all of the details and how to register.
WEEK 1: June 17 – 21 ISU Campus in Pocatello
Week 2: June 22 – 30 Field Camp – Mackay, Idaho
Idaho Botanical Foray
The Idaho Botanical Foray is a plant collecting trip that meets annually during the summer. Hosting rotates among the state’s 4 largest academic herbaria. You can learn more by visiting this Facebook page.
Announcing the 12th Annual Idaho Botanical Foray!
Selkirk and Purcell ranges, Kaniksu National Forest and Priest Lake State Forest, June 27-July 1, 2019, Thursday-Monday
For those unfamiliar with the Idaho Botanical Foray project, Jim Smith (BSU) started the Idaho Botanical Forays in 2008 with the goal of establishing collaborations between the four institutions in Idaho that have large active herbaria – Boise State University, the College of Idaho, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho. This concerted effort among Pacific Northwest Herbaria has contributed significantly to ongoing regional projects, such as the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria (
www.pnwherbaria.org). Importantly, the annual foray projects enhance local participation in herbarium activities and promote a sense of community among botanical enthusiasts. The research goals of the foray projects center on conducting general botanical surveys to document the diversity and distribution of vascular plants in particular regions. Specifically, we have used the forays to survey public lands because of the important diversity contained within these holdings, the relative ease of access to these lands, the public benefit created by providing public land managers with species lists for their respective areas, and the opportunity to build professional contacts with federal agency botanists.
The responsibility for leading the annual foray rotates between our four institutions; with the 8th Annual Foray to the Selway River region of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in 2015 being the last time it was hosted by the University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium. This year the Stillinger Herbarium is hosting again!
We will explore the slopes of the Selkirk and Purcell ranges on the Kaniksu National Forest and Priest Lake State Forest. These landscapes have been profoundly shaped by past continental glaciation and are today dotted with small lakes and wetlands among moist conifer forests and ice-sculpted mountains.
From our campground base of operations, Brush Lake campground, we will collect in small groups in an organized fashion to sample the region’s flora as systematically as possible, in order to return with a representative collection of the flora of the region. We will collect a minimum of 3 replicates to have material for exchange with other herbaria that will help in the development of the important collections at the UI Stillinger Herbarium, as well as our partner institutions. We will bring a couple UI vehicles to transport collecting supplies. Participants will need to take their own vehicles or carpool (for a variety of reasons, we discourage driving alone). Access is mostly via paved roads to the campground, although many of the roads in the surrounding areas will be unpaved and likely to require high-clearance vehicles.
All participants will be responsible for their own food and camping equipment. We will supply presses, paper, etc. but if you have collecting materials (clippers, diggers, etc.) please bring them to facilitate the process. We will have our traditional potluck dinner on Saturday evening so please bring something to share! Finally, we will continue the cathartic Idaho Botanical Foray tradition of “Bring something from home/work to burn.” I’m sure that Jim Smith already has his materials picked out, and we would like to remind everyone to not bring things that generate toxic fumes when burned!
As with past Forays, there will be a series of work parties during the fall and winter to identify the specimens we collect. These get-togethers are an important part of curation and go a long way towards our goals of education and community-building.
Sage Notes
Click to view the latest issue of our statewide newsletter, Sage Notes.
Photo Contest
We are pleased to announce the return of the INPS photo contest! The rules and format have been simplified. Show us your best and win the recognition of your peers! For contest rules, click here:
INPS Contest 4.docx
Mapping Milkweeds and Monarchs
Idaho Fish and Game has teamed up with the Xerces Society to engage citizen scientists (like you perhaps!) in a project to collect data on populations of native Milkweeds and sightings of Monarch Butterflies. Here is a link to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper and and article explaining the project, https://idfg.idaho.gov/blog/2017/02/idahos-monarch-connection.
Botany Bill (update as of March 6, 2019)
March 6
th, Representative Quigley (D-IL) and co-sponsor Representative Rooney (R-FL) reintroduced the “Botany Bill” in the House of Representatives (full name: The Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration, and Promotion Act). See this website for more details,
www.botanybill.weebly.com
“The bill is similar to the version from the 115th Congress. It supports plant research, the placement of botanists in the land management agencies, the plant conservation programs, the plant conservation alliance, and NFWF grants for plant-related projects. The creation of a native plant “preference policy” for federal land restoration has been slightly modified — under the new bill, the Departments of Interior and Agriculture will create a policy and disseminate it to other agencies. This modification dramatically cuts the number of committees required to review the bill and improves chances for action. “
