Conservation Conference

The 14th Montana Plant Conservation Conference brings together leading voices in botany, ecology and land stewardship for two days of learning and collaboration. The conference is open to the public, but particularly relevant for people in federal, state, Tribal and local governments, as well as nonprofits, academia, private industry and members of MNPS.

This event will be held on the 3rd floor of the University Center (UC) on the University of Montana campus in Missoula. You can attend in person or online via Zoom.

Register below, or you can register in-person at the event.  A credit card or PayPal credentials will be required to pay at the event – sorry, we just aren’t set up to handle cash or checks.  Zoom links will be provided to everyone who registers, and Zoom breakout rooms will be available during lunch and breaks to give people a chance to interact.

Conference schedule

Tuesday, April 14

The first day spotlights the intersection of native plant conservation and fire, featuring ten western Montana experts who will share insights on fire behavior, post-fire recovery and using fire as a tool to support diversity. At the end of the afternoon, we’ll host a panel discussion about careers in conservation aimed at students and early-career professionals.

In the evening, come back to the University Theater for a free screening of of The Little Things that Run the World, a new documentary that highlights the vital role insects play—and the challenges they face—in a changing world.  

Registration is required to attend the first day, both in person & online.

Schedule – Tuesday, April 14 – UC Theater

when	title	who
9:30-9:40	INTRODUCTION	Ashley Mattson & Teagan Hayes, MNPS, & moderator Robert Keane
9:40-10:10	Learning from millennia of fire to help navigate our fiery future	Phillip Higuera, UM College of Forestry
10:10-10:40	The influence of burn severity & climate on post-fire regeneration	Kimberly Davis, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab
10:40-11:00	BREAK
11:00-11:30	Integrating prescribed fire with silviculture to sustain dry conifer ecosystems	Andrew Larson, UM College of Forestry
11:30-12:00	Fire & insect interactions under climate change	Sharon Hood, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab
12:00-12:30	A lumper’s viewpoint of prescription fire & managed herbivory	Matt Reeves, USFS Missoula
12:30-1:30	LUNCH (on your own)
1:30-2:00	Using the Fire Effects Info System to understand the effects of fire on plants, animals & ecosystems	Ilana Abrahamson, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab
2:00-2:30	Using fire to maintain sagebrush steppe in southwest Montana	Sean Claffey, The Nature Conservancy
2:30-3:00	Managing whitebark pineecosystems in the face of climate change	Robert Keane, USFS retired
3:00-3:20	BREAK
3:20-3:50	Vegetation sampling methods for monitoring fire effects	Duncan Lute, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab
3:50-4:20	Lessons learned from short-interval wildfires offer insight to past & future fire regimes in dry conifer forests	Sean Parks, UM College of Forestry affiliate
4:20-4:45	BREAK
4:45-6:00	Careers in Conservation panel discussion	Student-focused careers panel
6:00-7:00	DINNER (on your own)
7:00-8:30	The Little Things that Run the World	Free film screening

Wednesday, April 15

The second day focuses on Montana’s Potential/Species of Concern (P/SOC) vascular plants and how we identify, track and manage them. Participants will get an overview of how plant conservation status is determined, followed by discussions using examples from recent efforts to update state rankings.

A highlight will be discussing how modern tools—like iNaturalist, Citizen Botany, Survey123, and herbarium databases—are improving how we collect and share information on rare and invasive plants to support conservation decisions.

Registration is not required to attend in person on the second day.
If you need Zoom credentials, you’ll need to register but won’t have to pay.

Schedule – Wednesday, April 15 – UC room 330/331

when	what	more info
8:00-8:15	WELCOME & UPDATES	MNPS botanist Elizabeth Bergstrom will update Important Plant Areas & MTNHP botanist Andrea Pipp will bring us up-to-date about the Montana Native Plant Conservation Strategy.
8:15-10:00	Revising vascular plant state ranks	Former MTNHP botanist Scott Mincemoyer will walk us through the NatureServe state ranking process that determines a Montana State Conservation Status Rank (S-Rank).
10:00-10:15	BREAK
10:15-10:40	Montana P/SOC	Andrea will help us understand the species, process & designations, with time for discussion. She’ll present the MTNHP’s current process for designating Montana P/SOC and show how other states’ programs are designating status. Building on Scott’s presentation, we hope to generate discussion to provide direction for MTNHP.
10:40-12:00	MNPS Threat rank process	Andrea and Scott will lead a discussion on the MNPS Threat Rank process and how it was used to inform the MTNHP State Threat Score. Participants will be asked to provide feedback.
12:00-1:00	LUNCH (on your own)
1:00-2:30	Collecting, submitting & sharing observation data	Andrea will lead discussion about how well the many formats for collecting & sharing plant data work for centralizing & sharing the data needed to manage rare and noxious/invasive species. Participating agencies should be prepared to explain their processes & limitations.
2:30-3:00	WRAP-UP

How to get there:

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Lunch options: Besides the places to get food in the UC, Tandem Bakery and Liquid Planet Grille both offer lunches just west of campus, along with restaurants north of campus across the Van Buren Street footbridge.

Parking on campus: We’ll have a block of parking permits available for $10/day for the lots on the north & east sides of the UC. You’ll need to pick up the permit, then take it back down & put it on the car’s dashboard. You can pay for parking permits online along with your registration, or buy them at the conference. Again, we’re not set up to handle cash, so plan to bring a credit card or PayPal credentials. Here’s a link to the UM parking app. And a link to the University of Montana map.

Where to stay: Here’s a link to “Destination Missoula” with listings for lodging places in Missoula. If you stay in a place north of the river, you can use the Van Buren Street footbridge just west of the shopping center. People staying near campus will enjoy walking to the UC. These are the closest, most walkable lodging choices: