Flagstaff Chapter Contact Person— Dorothy Lamm: email; Treasurer—Tina Ayers, email or (928) 523-7242 Programs and Field Trips- Barbara Phillips, email or (928) 527-3421 All talks begin at 7:00 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in Room 328 of the Biology Building on the NAU campus (unless a room change comes about, which we will alert you to). Field trips normally are held the Sunday following the evening talks. Meet at 8:30 am at the Arizona State Credit Union parking lot, southwest corner of Beaver and Butler. Come prepared with sun protection, water, food, and a car or gas money for carpooling. EVERYONE IS ENCOURAGED TO INITIATE A FIELD TRIP TO A FAVORITE PLACE. ANNOUNCE IT AT A CHAPTER MEETING AND/OR SEND DETAILS TO: Barbara Phillips, email or (928) 527-3421

JOIN OUR CHAPTER E-LIST:  To keep up with the latest, join the chapter e-list. You will be contacted about events, conferences, outings, workshops, and volunteer opportunities in our area. Don't forget to keep us updated on email address changes, as well as postal address changes. It will save AZNPS money! Send your request to Dorothy Lamm, email.

2011/12 Winter Program

There are no meetings during the winter months. Chapter meetings and evening programs will resume in March, and are held at 7:00 pm on the 3rd Tuesday of each month in Room 328 of the Biology Building, Northern Arizona University. Everyone is encouraged to suggest a field trip to a favorite place. Send your ideas to Barbara Phillips at bagphillips@yahoo.com or give her a call at (928) 527-3421.

 

Weed Warrior Past Activities

Saturday, June 25 Weed Pull–North Flagstaff Weed Warriors Collaborative

This past summer the AZNPS Flagstaff Chapter joined forces with the Grand Canyon Trust, Master Gardeners, and other local organizations to tackle the enormous weed problem along Fort Valley Road between the Fire Station, Trust's headquarters, Pioneer Museum and the Museum of Northern Arizona.  Invasive species, such as Diffuse Knapweed, Kochia, Bull Thistle (below), and Cheatgrass, are present throughout our project focus area.  Together we worked to remove them and increase the chances for native grasses and flowers to flourish.  These projects are announced on the Grand Canyon Trust's website:  www.gcvolunteers.org. Please contact Dorothy Lamm with questions.

                          

         

                 Bull Thistle in fruit––beautiful but BAD. (Photo/Caption submitted by Dorothy Lamm)

Flagstaff Past Events

The Flagstaff Chapter held its 2011 Native Plant Garden Contest and Public Tour in August.  Our annual Extravaganza Awards Ceremony was August 10.  The public tour of all the gardens on Sunday, August 14, was the highlight of the event:  a chance to share the gardens, tell stories, and exchange advice with other gardeners from the community.

 Visitors tour Tom and Susan Bean’s garden during Arizona Native Plant Society Garden Tour on a rainy summer afternoon in Flagstaff.

 Susie Bailey, gardener and organizer at Hozhoni during the Arizona Native Plant Society Garden Contest. Hozhoni has been developed as a labor of love dedicated to the clients. Flourishing , yet water-wise,  gardens are tucked into every outdoor space and offer beauty, color, and scent and comforting reminders of home.

Sandra and Marty Martinez in their backyard garden, Arizona Native Plant Society Garden Contest. Marty Martinez had a beautifully designed edible landscape with amazingly-productive containers and raised beds producing vegetables, herbs, and flowers throughout the growing season. Conservation features included raised beds with water-retaining soil, hardscaping, and rainwater barrels, densely planted according to square-foot gardening principles.

 

Plant Atlas Project of AZ IN FLAGSTAFF

     The Budding Botanist Herbarium Training Session held at the Northern Arizona University Deaver Herbarium was an incredible experience for all involved. Wendy Hodgson of the Desert Botanical Garden led an informative workshop on voucher specimen mounting techniques, while Keri Stiverson of the Museum of Northern Arizona introduced Budding Botanists to the data entry system and searchable online database SEINet utilized by many Southwest herbaria.

     PAPAZ organizers encourage all AZNPS members to become involved in this statewide project. To organize a Budding Botanist program in your chapter please contact Keri Stiverson (keri.stiverson@hotmail.com) or phone at (928) 774-5211 x 216.

For more information, go to: http://www.gcvolunteers.org/trainings_botanists.html   For the Budding Botanist's Schedule, click here.

Northern Arizona Native Plant Materials Program

The Arboretum at Flagstaff and the Museum of Northern Arizona will have many volunteer opportunities for AZNPS members to become involved in various aspects of the Northern Arizona Native Plant Materials Program at each institution. The Museum and The Arboretum will be working in conjunction with the Forest Service over the next several years to accomplish the main objectives of this FS funded project: to locally collect, process and store seed; to construct six 10 ft X 30 ft seed beds to cultivate and increase native forbs; to establish 5 acres as increaser field plots; to acquire equipment to collect and process native seeds; to provide training on seed collection, processing and storage; and to work cooperatively to develop local native species lists targeting early seral stage species that will become "restoration workhorses."

US Forest Service Volunteer Opportunities: During the winter months, the Coconino NF botanists could use help with plant identification, mounting specimens, and databasing our small FS herbarium. Please contact Debbie Crisp.

Northern Arizona Native Seed Alliance (NANSA)

In conjunction with the aforementioned Museum, Arboretum, and Forest Service effort, a new working group has formed to address the need for seeds for restoration projects. The Northern Arizona Native Seed Alliance (NANSA) meets bi-monthly. The group is comprised of more than 20 people from just as many national, state, educational, and non-profit organizations. NANSA was inspired by and is being modeled after a more regional group with a similar mission, the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Initiative (CPNPI). If you would like more information on NANSA, or would like to get involved, please contact Patty West (Patty.West@nau.edu) of the NAU Landsward Institute (formerly the Ecological Monitoring & Assessment Program).

Coconino National Forest Webpage

Find information on recent projects, native plants, noxious weeds and useful links to other websites. Visit their website to learn more.