Note: As I've drafted this email over the last week it has grown long, but please try to wade through at least the part before the conference announcements, as lots of exciting things have come up that I'd like you to know about. I will attach the same message as a WORD file too in case that makes it more readable.

Thank you to everyone that attended the January meeting. A lot of great ideas were sprouted. Our challenge now is to put ideas into action. A brief summary of some of the projects and ideas that we discussed is shown below in addition to some announcements on upcoming conferences. I will send another message soon with the schedule of events for the next 8 or so months.

NEXT MEETING

At our next gathering on February 15, beginning at 6:30 PM in Room 119 at the UMD Sports and Health Center, Paul Hlina of Leaning Pine Native Landscapes will give a slide show. For more information on Leaning Pine Native Landscapes see http://www.restoreshore.com. Please MARK YOUR CALENDAR and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS - it would be fun to have a big turnout. Let me know if you would like copies of a 8.5"x11" poster announcement for the meeting to post at your office/work/store/etc.

URGENT: PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITY - HELP NEEDED

I received an invitation from Craig Minowa for Wild Ones to have a table at Duluth's Living Green Conference. This year marks the 9th anniversary for this gathering, and organizers say they're expecting a record turn-out. The conference is free and open to the general public and will be held in Duluth on February 17 (12-4pm) at Peace Church (1015 E. 11th St.). It would be great if we could take advantage of this. Even if it's too soon to pull together the poster boards promoting natural landscaping that we discussed at the last meeting, I think it would be useful to person a table with the Wild Ones hand outs, some sample journals, and maybe an eye-catching picture or poster. IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN DOING THIS? I will be out of town and unable to be there myself. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are, as we need to let the organizers know if we'll be there.

FYI - ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH A SCHOOL

On January 29 I spoke with Glen Merrick, an instructor at Lake Superior College (LSC) in Duluth, regarding the possibility of our Wild Ones group assisting with LSC's existing project restoring the native hardwood forest around Miller Creek. They have done some great work already, but there is much left to do. In addition to addressing exotics control and planting native trees, plants and shrubs, this may be a good location for re-planting rescued native plants, especially given that a lot of the new development in the Duluth area occurs in the Miller Hill area near the LSC campus (e.g., Home Depot). We can discuss this more at our February meeting after Paul's presentation.

A FEW NOTES FROM THE JANUARY 18 MEETING

Exotic plant control: we discussed two goals: 1) to help coordinate at least two exotics removal projects in 2001 (most likely buckthorn), including replanting with native plants, trees or shrubs as appropriate, and 2) getting the word out about the problem of invasive exotic plants to as many people as possible.

Ideas for providing information on invasive exotics as well as promoting landscaping with Native Plants and Wild Ones include creating poster board displays that can be set up at events such as the Extension Spring Gardening Fest, the environmental fair, Harvest Fest, etc. The poster board re: exotics could include photo documentation of buckthorn, snow on the mountain and other exotics that have escaped to natural areas in NE MN. We also discussed coordinating a meeting with the City Tree Commission members and others to provide information and coordinate actions.

The group supports the idea of hosting workshops this Spring on the "how and why: of landscaping with native plants through the Duluth Community Ed program. To prepare for the workshops, we'll need to continue our work on identifying appropriate sources of native plants in the area. Carol A. will send a letter to local plant nurseries and growers asking whether they carry native plants or intend to do so, and if so, ask how and in what area they obtain their seeds or plants for propagating.

A number of ideas for chapter meetings and outings were also discussed. These include a day trip to the Steele's to tour the orchid operation in June, a Saturday trip to Sugar Loaf Cove with a stop at Temperance River, a seed collecting trip and seed exchange, plant rescues, reviewing and working on our Chapter slide show, and group trip(s) to buy native plants/seeds/trees/shrubs.

ANNOUNCEMENTS REGARDING CONFERENCES, ETC. (most of these come from the Wild Ones national office)

March 1-3: There is a conference on control of exotics and a WI Prairie Enthusiasts meeting in Eau Claire, WI. Deb P. is planning to attend, and I (CAA) might go too. Unfortunately I left my info brochure at home, so please contact me or Deb for more information. Related note that I rec'd from WO National office: Pat Armstrong says: I am planning to go to the am looking for someone to share the motel with me to save money. I will be staying in EauClaire Thurs and Fri, March 1 and 2. We would not necessarily have to share rides, but this may be arranged too if convenient. Let me know if anyone is interested. Pat4Nature@aol.com

One-Day Teachers Workshop: "A Native Tradition for our Children" will be a on March 4 at the Kellogg Center at MSU. Cost is $25. Conference: "Creating a Native Tradition -- The New American Garden" is the theme with Neil Diboll as the keynote speaker. Conference will be on March 4 & 5 also at MSU. Contact for more info for both conferences: Marjif@iserv.net or
Marji Fuller
3853 Farrell Rd
Hastings, M 49058

The Muskegon Community College (Muskegon, MI) will be holding their eighth conference for the home gardeners (and this year) for community decision makers and developers on March 31st from 8:00AM to 4:00PM. Bob Grese will be keynoter. Contact Sylvia Birckhead at 616-842-4569 or sylvia@novagate.com for more info.

The annual National Pesticide Forum. This year it will be held in Boulder, CO between May 18-20. The focus of this year's conference are ecological approaches to weed management and protecting children from pesticide exposure. For more information, explore our website. Our contact information is: Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP)
701 E Street, SE Suite 200
Washington, DC 20003
tel. 202-543-5450
fax. 202-543-4791
http://www.beyondpesticides.org

If you know of other conferences that people should be aware of, please feel free to share the info with the group.

Thanks!

See you Feb. 15.
Carol

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