In early February, 2011, CNPS Vegetation Program staff conducted a field-based workshop in the Sonoran Desert of eastern Riverside County. This workshop focused on identifying, surveying, and mapping of rare vegetation. The workshop’s main goals were to learn about the desert’s diversity of vegetation types, highlight areas containing rare plant communities, and discuss ways for CNPS Chapters and others to contribute surveys/mapping in priority areas.

Approximately 20 participants gathered for this workshop around Palen Lake near Desert Center. Palen Lake is an alkali playa surrounded by series of active, semi-stabilized, and stabilized dunes and areas of desert pavement. It includes a myriad of vegetation patterns including creosote shrublands, mesquite bosques, desert wash woodlands, saltbush scrubs, and groundwater-dependent sink scrubs in addition to the dune and desert pavement habitats. Participants included individuals from the Kern, Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains, San Diego, and San Gabriel Chapters of CNPS, as well as college students and biological consultants. Also in attendance were representatives from the Bureau of Land Management’s Palm Springs/South Coast Field Office.

During the workshop, we sampled 15 vegetation stands and made several additional observation points. CNPS staff person, Deborah Stout, remained on site for a couple additional days of sampling and mapping. Rare communities included Parkinsonia florida (blue palo verde), Olneya tesota (ironwood), Propopis glandulosa (mesquite), and Psorothamnus spinosus (smoke tree) woodland alliances; and Suaeda moquinii shrubland (bush seepweed) alliance.  Stand locations have been plotted in GIS, and we entered the survey data into our ever-expanding Access database for future classification and mapping efforts.

Several participants are interested in leading follow-up trips to survey rare vegetation in their local areas, and CNPS staff is thrilled to receive correspondence from participants asking for additional information and support. This workshop provided a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with Southern California chapter members, and to continue developing our rare plant communities initiative. CNPS extends special thanks to BLM staff for use of their 4WD vehicles. This workshop was supported in part by a private bequest to CNPS, and we are looking for additional funds to continue this important work.

Vegetation Mapping in the Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills

CNPS has been working with the Department of Fish and Game and Aerial Information Systems to produce a detailed vegetation map of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills, an area of approximately 2.6 million acres.  The entire map has been completed and will be posted online along with a vegetation mapping report by March, 2011.  For more information, please click on this link. 

Updated Natural Community List Now Available

CNPS 2012 Conference Needs Volunteers!

CNPS 2012 Conference committees are already hard at work but we still need volunteers for the following positions:

Audio visual Chair (San Diego local)
Local Information Chair (San Diego local)
Outreach Chair
Botanical Arts Chair
Students Committee (Student Activities, Poster and Paper contests, and Student Funding)
Exhibitors chair
Silent Auction Chair
Chapter Student support
Chapter CNPS Store Chair

Please contact Josie Crawford if you are even mildly interested in volunteering on one of these committees!

CNPS Training Workshops

Contact Josie Crawford for more information. Further details are available at http://cnps.org/cnps/education/workshops/index.php.

Instructors: Julie Evens, Deborah Stout
One evening lecture and two field days
Fees: CNPS members $325; Non-members $350
Fees include camping for two nights at gorgeous location and use of facility.

Sept 22-24
Legends of the Fall: Exploring the Clandestine Flora of Early Fall in the Eastern Mojave Desert
UC Granite Mountains Desert Research Station