31st Idaho Rare Plant Conference
Idaho Native Plant Society
Held at Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game
15950 N. Gate Blvd
Nampa, Idaho 83687
February 28 – March 2, 2023
The Idaho Native Plant Society’s Rare Plant Conference is usually conducted every other year as a three day, in-person conference where issues related to Idaho’s flora are discussed and Idaho’s rare plants are ranked to determine their protection requirements.
View the Final Agenda HERE! 2023_RPC_Agenda_FINAL
TUESDAY (start @ 11am) -THURSDAY (end @ 1pm, plus field trip 1-5pm) General Schedule of Events
Includes scientific presentations, agency updates, plant ranks, conference materials, all snacks and hot beverages during the conference, poster display, a tentative field trip and SWAG!
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TUESDAY, FEB.28th
11am-1pm- Registration and lunch social opportunity
1pm-2:15pm- Opening remarks, keynote address, logistics, and herbarium update
2:15pm-4:25pm- Agency updates
5:30pm -8pm- NO HOST dinner at Fiesta Guadalajara, Nampa
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1st
8:30am- 8:50am- Opening remarks and announcements
8:50am-10:40am- Plant Community Conservation
10:40am-4:30pm- Rare Plant Species Conservation Ranking
4:30pm-6pm- Poster Session and Social
6pm-7pm- Banquet Dinner provided by Kanak Attack Catering will be held at Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game (Nampa).
7pm-8:30pm- Banquet speaker, Dr. Cathy Cripps, PhD , Mycologist Montana State University. Her talk will be “A tour of high elevation fungi and mycorrhizal associations with whitebark pine and other high elevation species.”
_______________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, MARCH 2nd
8:30am-8:35am- Opening remarks and announcements
8:35am- 10:25am- Plant and Plant Community Conservation
10:25am-12:45pm- Rare Plant Species Conservation Ranking, Logistics, and Closing Remarks
1pm-5pm- Field Trip (weather permitting) Led by Barbara Ertter. Getting a Jump on Spring. Location TBD.
5:30pm- 8pm- Attend a NO HOST, casual dinner on Thursday evening at the Brick 29, Nampa
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If you would like to become an INPS member join online at www.idahonativeplants.org
Our last conference, in 2022, was online Monday, February 28, – Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The agenda along with handouts and species accounts can be found below for RPC 2022.
Botrychium hesperium Species Account NIRPWG 2020-01-12 Calliergonella cuspidata Species Account 2022-01-18 Carex lacustris Species Acct 2022-01-18 Carex limosa Species Account 2021-12-14 Carex sychnocephala Species Acct 2022-01-18 Carex tenera Species Account 2022-02-18 Carex_podocarpa_Species_Account_2021-01-12 Cryptogramma stelleri Species Account 2021-01-12 Eleocharis mamillata ssp. mamillata Species Acct 2021-02-10 Elymus hirsutus Species Acct 2021-01-12 Mitella trifida Species Acct 2022-02-10 Monarda fistulosa var. menthifolia Species Acct Muhlenbergia racemosa Species Account 2022-02-16 Porotrichum bigelovii Species Acct 2021-02-10 Silene spaldingii Species Account 2022-01-18 Sphagnum platyphyllum Species Acct 2021-02-10
Southern Idaho Rare Plant Working Group Species Accounts:
Aliciella_triodon_update_20211230
Ammannia robusta_Species_Account_20201209
Astragalus mollissimus var. thompsoniae_Sp_Accnt_20220217
Carex_fuliginosa_Species_Account_20210205
Carex_holmgreniorum_Sp_Acnt_2022_02_24
Carex_vernacula_Species_Account_20210116
Montia_parvifolia_v_batholithica_Sp_Acct_20220217
Orthocarpus holmgreniorum_Sp_Accnt_2022_02_23
Phacelia scopulina Sp_Accnt 2022_02_17
Pogogyne serpylloides-Sp Acnt 2022_02_17
Pyrrocoma_racemosa_paniculata_Sp_Account_20220201
Solidago nana_Sp_Accnt_2022_02_21
Townsendia_scapigera_Sp_Account_20220201
The Idaho Rare Plant Conference (RPC) is generally held every other year, and is organized by INPS along with various agencies (such as Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, etc.), academics, consultants, and others interested in Idaho’s rare plants.
It is an opportunity to learn about rare plants, share information, and network with others of similar interests.
Updating the INPS Rare Plant List, based on new information, is a substantial portion of the RPC. In addition, there are usually a number of talks/presentations on rare plants, conservation issues, or related topics. Dinners (either banquet or informal gatherings) along with conference breaks and poster session offer opportunities to renew or make new botanical acquaintances. Sometimes a field trip has been part of the RPC.
Rare Plant List and INPS Rare Plant Working Groups
Updating the
Idaho Rare Plant List
begins with the
Rare Plant Working Groups.
Past Conferences and Keynote Speakers
- 2018—Salmon R. Mountains penstemon, Penstemon salmonensis
- 2016—Packard’s milkvetch, Astragalus cusickii var. packardiae, was our highlighted species.
- 2014—Barbara Ertter, Consumers’ Guide to On-line Floristic Data—2014_RPC_Agenda
- 2011—No Keynote Speaker, Focus on Rare Plant List Update—RPC2011_Agenda
- 2009 — Del Wiens, Plant Associations of Africa
- 2007 — George Wuerthner, WILDFIRE A Century of Failed Forest Policy
- 2006 — Bob Moseley, Plant Conservation in the Tibetan Borderlands
- 2005 — Bruce Welch, Countering Misinformation Concerning Big Sagebrush