EVENTS AROUND THE SOUND

Freaky Family Fun

South Sound: Fantastic Washington Endemics and Where to Find Them: An Assessment of Hotspots and Conservation Gaps

The state of Washington is home to 2,659 native vascular plant species, 386 of which are currently listed as Species of Conservation Concern by the Washington Natural Heritage Program. State endemics, which are of exceptional conservation importance due to their unique contributions to biodiversity, constitute just 15% of state listed species. Recent updates to Washington’s rare plant list have highlighted several endemics that have not been previously listed as species of concern but are under threat of extinction. In this talk, we discuss growing efforts and challenges in ensuring that all local endemics in Washington are assigned conservation status ranks at the global (G) and state (S) levels, which will guide conservation actions and determine the necessity of state listing. We will take a visual journey across Washington to highlight endemic hotspots and under-researched species, share preliminary results of an analysis identifying gaps in endemic species representation on conservation lands, and briefly discuss a developing database of threats and conservation needs.

Sienna Wessel has spent the last several years getting her boots dirty as a field botanist, restoration ecologist, and monitoring coordinator for multiple nonprofit and government agencies across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Sienna holds a M.S. in Botany from the University of Wyoming, where she researched sagebrush steppe community dynamics to improve restoration and monitoring practices at Grand Teton National Park. She has now settled into her dream position as a state botanist for the Washington Natural Heritage Program where she focuses on rare species conservation across the state. Through all her work, she aims to forge connections between observational data and strategic action to preserve plant diversity.

This meeting will be in person at the Tacoma Nature Center and also broadcast on Zoom. 

Natural Yard Care - Green Seattle Day

Central Puget Sound: Garry Oak Restoration in the Salish Sea Region with Robert Steelquist

In this program, Robert Steelquist will present an overview of Garry oak (Quercus garryana) natural history, its historic and present ranges, ecological benefits and current status. The presentation also covers Indigenous ecological management as well as progress made in oak restoration on the vestigial Sequim Prairie, where over 2,000 oak seedlings were planted in 2002 and 2003 in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.  

A photographer and writer, Robert Steelquist is a board member of the Olympic Chapter of the Washington State Native Plant Society. In this presentation he shares his long-standing commitment to oak woodland restoration at a critical turning point in climate change and habitat loss. He is author of 13 books of Pacific Northwest natural history. His most recent book is The Northwest Coastal Explorer (Timber Press, 2016). Mr. Steelquist spent his career serving in state and federal environment organizations including the National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and has served on boards of directors of many nonprofit conservation organizations. He holds a Master of Environmental Studies degree from The Evergreen State College.