I served as President of Shasta Chapter CNPS 40 years ago, and now, once again, that honor has been foisted upon me. In 1984, our fledgling Chapter, founded with only some 25 members, had boundless enthusiasm and great plans to promote our native plant landscapes. And, indeed, we have achieved incredible accomplishments over the past 40 years! I won’t even attempt to highlight all of our accomplishments, but, in April of this year alone(!), we have:
- Prepared for and held our annual spring native-plant sale at Shasta College.
- Offered an on-line native plant sale to serve those who couldn’t attend the Shasta College event.
- Hosted a Chapter membership meeting featuring a spectacular slideshow of the plants of Hog Lake and environs – with a casual dinner beforehand at Final Draft!
- Led a field trip to Hog Lake for an in-person examination of some of the incredible plants featured at the Chapter meeting.
- Co-sponsored (with Shasta Environmental Alliance) two other field trips: a native plant walk along the Sacramento River and a driving tour of some spectacular wildflower displays in the Millville Plains, Stillwater Plains, and Dersch Road areas.
- Submitted a letter to the City of Redding regarding the illegal removal of trees from the site of a proposed subdivision (which resulted in City staff recommending severe penalties to the offender – but no decisions yet from City Council).
- Staffed a booth at the Earth Day Festival in Caldwell Park, where we sold native plants and promoted the Chapter and CNPS in general.
- Participated in the CNPS rare plant science program by collecting mousetails (Myosurus sp.) for DNA analysis to identify taxonomic relationships within the genus and determine whether M. minimus ssp. apus warrants designation as a rare plant.
- Checked two previously reported populations of the rare silky cryptantha in support of the rare plant seedbank program. (No plants yet – more fieldwork is need to secure seeds of this rare plant to help protect this species from climate change and catastrophic events.)
- Notified some 75 high schools and community colleges in Shasta Chapter territory of our annual $2,000 scholarship for students entering a four-year university studying plant biology.
- Held a Chapter Board meeting where seven Board members and one guest ate pizza while reviewing Chapter activities and providing guidance for future endeavors.
- Continued to explore the opportunity to participate in the Shasta College Horticultural Study Credit program, in which we would supervise a college student in native-plant nursery practices for some 50+ hours – we’d get some free labor and the student would receive a college credit.
- And, of course, did all the behind-the-scenes stuff that takes so much time – blog postings, email and social media notifications, inquiry responses, meeting/event arrangements, volunteer coordination, Zoom meetings with the State organization, pick-ups, drop-offs, pay the bills, monitor memberships, and myriad other housekeeping duties.
- Oh, and we started preparing the dreaded annual report we need to submit to the state organization. Last year’s report showed that Shasta Chapter members donated some 5,700 hours of time to promote native plants and their landscapes!
I continue to be amazed at how much our Chapter has accomplished in terms of native-plant education, protection, propagation, and enjoyment! However, if we are to maintain our current level of activity in the native-plant world, we absolutely need to have more volunteers. Please sign up for one of our volunteer opportunities! (See article, Shasta Chapter Volunteer Opportunities.)
~Don Burk, President
