"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything."
- Wiliam Shakespeare
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Cooped up from COVID? Our staff has your outdoor activities!
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For 20 years, IAE's Ecological Education Program (EE) has been engaging youth outside with hands-on, participatory outdoor learning. We're here to support you in getting outdoors for safe and fun exploration! Our staff have rounded up art- and science-based backyard activities you can enjoy yourself or with your children, immersing them in the natural world and easing cabin fever.
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Adults in custody support tortoise habitat
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What do the Mojave desert tortoise (
Gopherus agassizii)
and the greater sage-grouse (
Centrocercus urophasianus
) have in common? Besides both of them being at-risk animals living in dry, arid ecosystems, they both now have native forage plants being grown for them by incarcerated people.
The Sagebrush in Prisons Project involves propagating sagebrush plugs for the greater sage-grouse at nine prisons in five states. IAE’s newest prison project, located at California City Correctional Facility (CAC), involves plant propagation to increase the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s seed bank used for restoration of plants that the desert tortoise uses for forage and cover. Threatened Mojave desert tortoises are well adapted to living in harsh desert environments, where they spend much of their lives underground in burrows. Habitat loss and invasion by non-native invasive plants and animals threaten the survival of this gentle desert denizen.
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Nursery supports the restoration cause
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Getting plants in the ground and seeing them thrive – this is a rewarding part of being a restoration ecologist at the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE). Each year, IAE plants thousands of native plants at restoration sites throughout Oregon and New Mexico. We couldn’t do this work without our many partnering native plant nurseries. For this article, I am highlighting one of these partnering nurseries
,
Sevenoaks Native Nursery
.
This wholesale nursery, located near Corvallis and owned by Mike Ridling and Scott Anderson, has been a stalwart supporter of IAE’s restoration projects over the years. They have supplied countless native prairie forbs, grasses, rushes, sedges, trees and shrubs that are now thriving in many sites across the landscape.
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Staff Spotlight: Maria Mullins
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Maria joined the IAE team as the Southwest Seed Partnership Coordinator in the fall, and is busy working on integrating 2019 seed collection data, building accessions for production, and working with stakeholders to understand future seed needs and target species. She recently earned a master’s degree in ecology, and before joining IAE worked with the New Mexico Bureau of Land Management's Native Plant Materials Development program.
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For Earth Day 50, take a (virtual) walk in a prairie
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On April 22, the 50
th
anniversary of Earth Day, take a walk with our
Executive Director Tom Kaye
on Facebook Live! Hear about our research monitoring native Willamette Valley plants as well as the bees, wasps, and other pollinators that are essential for their recovery. Tom will be out in a restored Willamette Valley prairie at
3 pm on Wednesday, April 22
. Join him on IAE’s
Facebook page
and ‘see’ natives with an ecological lens!
Visit our Calendar
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Natural Areas Association Webinar: Native Seed Selection for Ecological Restoration, 5/26/20
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Join IAE Executive Director
Tom Kaye
for a live Natural Areas Association webinar, noon-1pm EST, Tuesday May 26.
Visit our Calendar
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The IAE Southwest Office was awarded funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management to prepare guidance documents for 14 rare plant species in New Mexico. The majority of these rare species occur in Southern New Mexico in a region with substantial oil and gas development. The report will support BLM partners by providing guidance for staying in compliance with the Endangered Species Act (Section 7) when issuing permits on public lands. The BLM has to ensure that actions taken on public land do not jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened or endangered species, and having guidance specific to New Mexico plants and potential habitat will help land managers conserve these species. One is
Gypsum wild buckwheat (
Eriogonum gypsophilum
) at right, photo by Bob Sivinski.
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What are Fender's blue butterflies up to? Right now, the endangered butterfly, endemic to Oregon's Willamette Valley, is in its last larval (caterpillar) stage, feeding on the young leaves of lupine host plants before emerging as adult butterflies in 3 to 4 weeks. Larvae are currently small, purplish to greenish in color, and between 10-12 mm long. They will keep eating and grow a bit larger before they drop into the leaf litter at the base of lupine plants to pupate. Photo credit goes to IAE's
Lisa Schomaker
!
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The weeds wait for no one. IAE Habitat Restoration technician
Rolando Beorchia
took advantage of the great weather in mid-March to get ahead of the weeds in the restored prairie at the City of Corvallis's Herbert Farm and Natural Area. In addition to the City, this restoration project is supported by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde,
Bonneville Power Administration, and
countless IAE volunteers!
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IAE Board of Directors:
Ken Bierly, President; Cary Stephens, Vice President; Laurie Halsey, Treasurer; Deborah Clark, Secretary; Jason Bradford, Anne Bradley, Mak Estill, Brandy Humphreys, Debbie Johnson, Shinji Kawai, Carol Savonen, Sunia Yang
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