Current issues | Past issues
Volume 37 4, Summer 2024. Small grant report “Preparing their Home on the Range: Baseline Surveys for Bison Restoration” by Nicolas Matallana-Mejia; “It’s Official: Montana is Huckleberry Country” by ‘Asta Bowen; “Invasive Exotic Perennial Grasses in Montana: Ecology & Weediness/Desirability” by Tad Weaver; Gardener’s notebook “Do-It-Yourself, Homegrown National Park” by ‘Asta Bowen; short articles “The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria Database: Improving Data Quality” by Matt Lavin; a field trip report of the “Shannon Lake Area” by Jon Reny; the “President’s Platform” by Dave Hanna; and chapter news.
Volume 37 3, Spring 2024. “Leaves are Thirsty, Too” by Peter Lesica, relates how not just epiphytes absorb water from the air, but that trees, broadleaf shrubs, ferns, and even grasses can absorb water through their leaves as well. In the “Herbalist’s Notebook,” Robyn Klein describes medicinal uses of Montana’s only native figwort, the hare figwort, Scrophularia lanceolata. Klein also reviewed the 2006 publication of Alma Hogan Snell’s book, A Taste of Heritage – Crow Indian Recipes & Herbal Medicines.
Small Grant Reports – First, the Missoula ‘Leave No Weeds’ program reached 737 area 5th graders, who learned to identify some native plants and traditional plant uses; second, the Rivers Edge Trail next to the Missouri River in Great Falls transformed an overgrown neglected area into a beautiful riverside garden; and third, the MT Natural History Center program taught basic botany and seed-collection to 75 middle school students in Missoula. A budget note updated on the progress of the Grants & Giving fund, which is undergoing major changes we hope will be finalized this fall.
Society news includes the 2024 Plant Conservation Conference is coming up April 11 & 12 on MSU campus. Presentations will be about restoration. We’ll spend time updating the MT Species of Concern, and considering proposing new IPAs. Annual meeting registration opens soon for the June 28-30 meeting at Camp Utmost, Greenough, in the Blackfoot valley. MNPS Board Elections are open with three incumbents as candidates, for Vice president, Kenda Herman; for secretary, Camie Westfall; and for Eastern at-large representative, Kelsey Molloy. Write-ins are encouraged.
Longtime member Scott Miles, who passed away in July 2022, was honored with with a tribute tree (an Englemann spruce) in the Montana State Arboretum on the UM campus. Miles was instrumental in ensuring the sustainability of the Lackschewitz – Preece Montana Native Botanic Garden on that campus. He also made sure a MNPS representative would be on Montana’s arboretum committee.
Volume 37 2, Winter 2024. In “Celebrating the Life of Peter Stickney,” Jen Guse described Stickney’s six decades of work as a botanist in Montana, teaching, collecting, learning, preserving, when she said, “Like most botanists, he continued working with plants … long after retirement.” In the “Conservation Corner,” Elizabeth Bergstrom talks about Jennifer Lynam’s work to protect alpine natives near the Beartooth, and about the 2024 Conservation Conference to be held in Bozeman in April with the theme of restoration. Rachel Potter received Aububon’s “Lifetime Conservation Achievement Recognition” in October for her work in conservation and restoration, much of it in Glacier National Park.
The “Small Grant Report” describes how the nonprofit “Grow Wild” uses an interactive trailer, built in part with a grant from MNPS, to educate people about noxious weeds and native plants. This year, there will be no request for proposals for small grants, as the program is being revamped to include scholarships, along with other changes.
There’s an invasive plant alert for Lyssimachia vulgaris; a plea from Audubon for help with their Plants for Birds program; and an introduction to our first-ever employee, administrative assistant Leah Grunzke. Dave Hanna used the “President’s Platform” to recount his observation of the crystalline magic wrought by frost, and to encourage us to attend the Annual Meeting at the end of June in the Blackfoot Valley. Chapter events are detailed. It’s time to renew your MNPS membership!
Volume 37 1, Fall 2023. Two small grant reports: “Restoring intact native plant communities post-herbicide treatment in the Centennial Valley of southwest Montana” by Kara Maplethorpe & Clare Ols, describes reseeding success; “A tale of two trees: Drought response strategies of Whitebark and Limber pine seedlings” by Sean Hoy-Skubikr, describes how seedlings of these high-elevation trees respond to severe drought.
Short articles announce the next biennial Conservation Conference to be held April 11 & 12, 2024, at MSU Bozeman; recap the MNPS annual meeting in Bannack state park June 23-25, 2023; and introduce Giovanna Bishop, the new curator of the UM herbarium. The 4th year of MNPS Presents! Zoom programs is announced; in The Conservation Corner, Andrea Pipp, Kenda Herman and Elizabeth Bergstrom write about the Citizen Botany pilot study, winding up its 2nd & final year; in The Gardener’s Notebook, Kathy Settevendemie talks about how seeds germinate in the wild.
In “Field trips are at the Heart of MNPS!,” Paul Buck describe two recent trips, one to the Peterson Ranch south of Drummond, and the other exploring the Bitterroot River; Rosemary McKinnon & Pat Jaquith describe “Lubec Ridge Hike” a few miles from Marias Pass; and Jon Reny talks about one field trip to TeePee Mountain north of Troy, and another to Lindy Peak north of Libby.