Second annual National Botanists Day!

Members of Northern Calfironai Botanists will be leading three events in northern California to honor National Botanists Day. The events are free but the hike leaders request that you RSVP.

1. May 21, 2009. Concow area serpentine and wildfire.

Chris Christofferson, botanist on the Feather River Ranger District, Plumas National Forest, will be leading a moderately arduous 3 mile round-trip hike through mixed conifer forest and a serpentine outcrop near Concow, California. The area experienced a high intensity crown fire in the summer of 2008. Chris will discuss his experiences as a resource advisor on the fires of 2008 and challenges that exist for resource managers when integrating with fire suppression actions. Participants will observe plant community responses to fire and examine a newly discovered occurrence of the rare McNab cypress. The cypress burned in a mosaic and it will be interesting to see how it is regenerating. The hike will be along a dozer line thqt was conwtructed durtin fire suppression activities.
TIME: 9:00 am.
MEETING LOCATION: Feather River RD office, 875 Mitchell Ave., Oroville, CA.
WHAT TO BRING: a bag lunch, water, sun hat, sunscreen.
RSVP TO: Chris Christofferson, cchristofferson@fs.fed.us
PRINTABLE POSTER: click here.

2. May 23, 2009. Waters Gulch and Shasta snow-wreath.

Jim Nelson and Julie Nelson will lead a CNPS field trip to Waters Gulch to see Neviusia cliftonii (Shasta snow-wreath) etc. We will meet at 9:00 at the Shasta Lake visitor center, just off I-5 at the Mountain Gate exit. From there it's about 20 min. to the Waters Gulch trailhead. The guided part of the hike will be from 9:30 to noon, from the trailhead down to the creek and back up. Others may complete the several-mile loop on their own if they wish to. The trail decends down a shady canyon with a diverse fern flora and many flowering herbs and shrubs.
TIME: 9:00 am.
MEETING LOCATION: Shasta Lake Visitor Center, just off I-5 at the Mountain Gate exit.
WHAT TO BRING: water and a snak; wear long sleeves and long pants if you are sensitive to poison oak.
RSVP TO: Jim or Julie Nelson, (530) 275-1590.

3. June 4, 2009. Saddle Gulch Fen.

Susan Erwin will lead a field trip to Saddle Gulch Fen near Wildwood, California. The fen is an excellent example of a serpentine wetland situated within a large undisturbed serpentine woodland. Participants will see classic examples of high quality serpentine hapitats and several rare serpentine species endemic to the Rattlesnake Creek Terrane, including Minuartia rosei, Helianthus exilis, Ericameria ophitidis, Epilobium oreganum, and Cypripedium californicum. It will take 10-30 minutes of walking on a gently inclined trail to get to the fen, or longer depending on how often we stop to look at plants.
TIME: 10:00 am.
MEETING LOCATION: Wildwood Store on Hwy 36, about 4 miles west of Platina and 55 miles west of Red Bluff.
WHAT TO BRING: water and a snack; wear sturdy boots or shoes.
RSVP TO: Susan Erwin at (530) 778-9884 to sign up.