Native Plant Society programs highlight small groups with big impacts

By Reader Staff

The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society will host a pair of presentations Saturday, Jan. 18 and Saturday, Feb. 15 featuring speakers representing grassroots efforts in small communities that have resulted in effective conservation, restoration and education projects with both local and global impacts.

Hosted at the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library (1407 Cedar St.), the presentations begin at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month, preceded by a half hour of coffee, tea, cookies and socializing. The public is welcome to attend or may stream the events on Zoom by preregistering at nativeplantsociety.org.

The Jan. 18 event is titled “Jacksonville’s Emerald Necklace: From Goldmines to Woodlands Trails” featuring Larry Smith, who serves as development director of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association in Oregon. 

Smith’s presentation will explain how southern Oregon’s historic village of Jacksonville created the most successful citizen-based, volunteer-driven conservation group in that state. 

Founded in 1989, Jacksonville Woodlands Association has protected 320 acres, established the Beekman Native Plant Arboretum, and constructed miles of hiking and interpretive trails — preserving and maintaining area woodland habitats for present and future generations.

In February, KNPS members and friends will hear from Chris Duke, Ph.D., who is executive director of The Phoenix Conservancy in Pullman, Wash. 

Duke will speak about the Palouse Prairie Restoration project, which addresses one of the most endangered ecosystems in the continental United States. 

While agriculture and settlement have destroyed 99% of the native Palouse Prairie’s dominant flowering plants, by reintroducing native species into small, neglected, urban weedlots in eastern Washington and northwestern Idaho, The Phoenix Conservancy creates “pocket prairies” that inhibit the growth of non-native invasive species, attract native pollinators, birds and wildlife, recharge aquifers and provide a riot of bloom color from spring to fall.

Other Phoenix restoration projects have benefited local communities in the American Great Plains and Madagascar.

“These two exciting speakers will clearly show that small communities can have a big impact on a local level, and can export their successful projects to other endangered areas around the country and the world,” KNPS organizers stated in a news release. 

KNPS programs are co-sponsored by the East Bonner County Library District and Sandpoint Parks and Recreation, and are free and open to the public. 

For more information about KNPS and upcoming events, visit nativeplantsociety.org.