Image provided by: Friends of the Sandy Public Library; Sandy, OR
About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1980)
Thur»., Feb 21, 1980 (Sec 2) SAN DY (O re ) POST— 11 n endangered plant list grows Oregon has 395 species of rare, threatened and en dangered native plants, a new State Land Board publication reports, and the number keeps going up as more people spread out over more of the land. Some of the plants in danger of extinction are delicate, showy ones — such as wild orchids, lilies and stonecrops — that can’t cope w ith ra d ic a lly changed environm ents and w ith thoughtless collectors and pickers. Oregon has more kinds of seed plants — 4,000 — than any states except California and Texas. “ Concern for the rate at which native habitats are disappearing and for the species of native plants which are becoming rare as a result, has increased dramatically in the past few years,” the report notes. “ Species once abundant in the Willamette Valley are now found only in a few small rem nants of the native g ra s s la n d s . M a r itim e species are disappearing as the coastal region is developed. When mature forests are harvested for lumber, the plants dependent upon the old-grow th ecosystem are lost. “ In eastern Oregon, old neglected cemeteries and other small pockets of un disturbed land become the refugia for native species unable to compete with wheat fields and well-grazed ranch lands. ” Six years in the making, the publication is based on a cooperative p ro je ct in volving m ore than 300 amateur and professional botanists. The 112-page s u m m a ry , “ R a re , Threatened and Endangered Vascular Plants in Oregon,” is term ed “ an in te rim report“ because 130 species of plants are still under review and 12 more are on a “ watch lis t ” (due to declining numbers). The authors are Jean Siddali of I^ k e Oswego, who is chairman of the Oregon Rare and Endangered Plant Species Task force; Kenton Chambers, professor of botany and curator of the Oregon State University h e rb a riu m ; and D avid Wagner, d ire c to r and curator of the University of Oregon herbarium. Chambers produced the first list of rarely collected and g e o g r a p h ic a lly restricted Oreon plants in 1973. That same year, Siddali was asked by the Pacific Northwest Research Natural Areas Committee to compile a list of rare, threatened and endangered plants in Oregon. The parallel work of the two was soon combined and provided the foundation from which the new report was constructed. Siddali spearheads the work of the amateur and p ro fe s s io n a l b o ta n is ts , ecologists and naturalists whose concern for native plants have prompted 22,000 hours of volunteer work ont he project. “ This sets the report apart from those in other states where professional botanists alone have usually been the main source of information,” Chambers said. “ In Oregon, much of our knowledge about rare plants comes from persons whose bobby is to study, photograph or cultivate wild flowers.” Chambers and Wagner are the professional experts who check the identification of plants as they are reported to the project, and who advise on how the species should be classified. The natural list of rare, threatened and endangered plants — some of which are now protected by law — is issued by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Department of the Interior. A total of 178 Oregon plants are candidates for federal protection but only one species — Mac- far lane’s four-o’clock — has been officially listed to date. The Siskiyou Mountains of southeastern Oregon have the greatest concentration of rare, threatened and en dangered species in the state, the new report says. Next in numbers of rare plants are the Wallowa Mountains and the Columbia Gorge. About one-fourth of the plants on the Oregon list are found in the Illinois River Valley alone. One of the endangered plants in the Siskiyous is the fly - c a tc h in g C a lifo rn ia pitcher plant (or cobra lily ). People like it as a con versation piece for their home or garden, Chambers said, so they dig it up — illegally — and carl it away. It is d ifficult to grow from seed and it can’t reproduce in nature fast enough to stand the ille g a l digging, the botanist said. “ Collectors have put it on the endangered lis t , ” Chambers said. Oregon's forests contain several native orchids — Y e llo w la d y ’s -s lip p e r, California lady's-slipper, Clustered lady’s-slipper and Mountain lady’s-slipper — which are on the endangered list because “ people can’t resist picking them for some reason,” says Chambers. “ Taking the tops off kills the roots, however. They can’t be dug up and transplanted because they’ll only grow where the roots can connect to the right soil fungus in forest areas.” Perhaps the areas in greatest need of protection are the small pockets of natural vegetation in areas of the state where there is little native habitat left, the report stresses. These in clude a few remnants of native Willamette Valley grassland and a few native plants that have survived developm ents in the Columbia Basin. The last 30-40 years have been tough on rare native plants as the number of Oregonians has steadily increased and their activities have touched even the most remote areas, Chambers said. Endangered plants need protection the same as en dangered animals, he em phasized. A few plants listed in the report probably are extinct, according to Chambers. “ We have records of them in books and the herbarium — particularly for the years before the 1930s. But when we go back to the reported sites now, the plants are gone. There is a possibility that tiny patches may be found somewhere else before our more complete list is issued in two or three years.” The list is always in a state of change. Chambers said. Some plants are “ rediscovered" after having been thought extinct. Some of the plants simply fade away. “ They lose their a d a p ta b ility over tim e, become prey to pests and diseases, and go down hill n a tu ra lly . Some plants sim p ly can’t stand the competition of weeds and human activities, which for them are the ‘last straw.’ ’’ Wellness workshop slated A Wellness Workshop, featuring three local health care experts, w ill be presented at Clackamas C om m unity College on Saturday, March 1. The workshop, which is sponsored by the Focus on Women program at the college, w ill feature nutritionist Jane Abbctt, holistic health care lecturer Carol Petersen and nursing instructor Carolyn Taylor. Abbott has been a faculty member at Marylhurst and Portland and Mt. Hood community colleges. She is a registered dietician and frequent c o n trib u to r of health care articles. Petersen is an instructor at CCC in health and physical education. She is also a certified instructor in Alpha Awareness and speed reading. Taylor is chairwoman of the nursing department at CCC. In addition, she is a phychiatric nurse practioner and instructor in holistic health and therapeutic touch Tri-Met sets riders’ record Despite icy w inte r weather that normally keeps many travelers home, Tri- Met set another all-time record for riders carried in January. Figures released by the agency Monday pegged average weekday ridership at 151,000 for January — almost 30,000 more daily bus riders than January, 1979 when snow and ice also hampered travel. Tri-M et General Manager Peter Cass told the Board Directors that the ridership figures indicated Tri-Met was continuing to attract new riders to the system. He said Tri-M et has already carried over three m illion more passengers than projected for the fiscal year January's ridership was 15.4 percent above projec tion, and 24.6 percent above Ja nu ary, 1979 rid ersh ip levels. Farebox revenue was $1,319,500 for January, 21.8 percent above last year. S afety tip s set Water Safety Instructor courses w ill begin March 25 at Mt. Hood Community College. The classes w ill run through June and be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. The courses are offered by the Safety Services Division of the American Red Cross. Persons wishing to attend the WSI classes must be 17 years of age at the time the class starts and have a current Advanced lifesaving cer tificate. F o llo w in g su cce ssfu l com pletion of the WSI course, cardholders w ill be eligible to teach beginning through advanced lifesaving courses. To register for the classes, contact Mike Popovich at 667-7238 techniques. The workshop w ill be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the college Community Center Mall. The registration fee is $15, which includes the cost of lunch. For an additional $2, Abbott w ill compile a personalized £ computer nutrition profile showing what type of diet would be best for the in dividual. For more in fo rm a tio n contact the college Com munity Services Office, 656- 2631, ext . 208 This ’n that by BARBARA ALLISON their children unusual firs t Smoke gets in your eyes: A names, such as LeDon, businessman and two Vondal, Maon and Osrow. associates boarded an But to John Forster, a Eastern Airlines 8 a.m. rewrite man for the past five shuttle flig h t from years on a Salt Lake City Washington to New York newspaper, i t ’s caused recently, passed up the problems, because there is nonsmoking seats and saUn no way of telling the gender the sm oking area The when the name appears in businessman demanded that • print. So Forster compiled a his section be made non list of odd names and offered sm oking. The smokers his newsroom co-workers a became very unhappy. A call contest with a dime entrance for a volunteer to change fee. The first one to guess all seats went unanswered. The correctly would win the pot nonsmoking section was No one entered! expanded. The C iv il In fla te d : Sabar Dolok Aeronautics Board says Pasaribu, 22. of Jakarta, airlines must accommodate Indonesia, was sentenced to nonsmokers. When the seven months in ja il for shouting match continued scattering nails on the street into the flight, the p lo t in front of his tire repair brought the plane down in shop. His method was con Baltimore. Far from the sidered improper business madding crowd. practice. Tacky. Ducking the issue: When natives of Peking learned Doggie dilemma: Thor, a that the price of Peking duck police dog in Davis, F la., was was being raised from $1.46 suspended from the force when someone noticed that for 1.1 pounds to $2.13, they became very angry The the teeth Thor had replaced duck specialty is very by a veterinarian were shiny popular in China. The public and sharp. The dog had broken off his front teeth, was so angry over the in crease that the demand for and it took six weeks for the the duck dinner declined to new choppers to be fitted. the point where it became The department was worried necessary to lower the price that a lawsuit m ight be in to $1.80 There's a lesson to stigated if someone was be learned here. bitten by the sharp manmade teeth. But an insurance agent Gendering interest: In said Thor could go back to U tah, where the most work, saying his new teeth popular last names are posed no more problems than Smith, Young, Jensen and his regular ones. Give us a Hansen, parents have given smile, Thor! Ju/t minute/ awoy from your home: a plea/ant village of 26 quolity /hop/ and /eruice/. Gre/hamVillagc OUR GIFT TO YOU HOUSEPLANT Of your choice...many varieties ! Just for subscribing ! Many 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch houseplants! Take one home FREE just for receiving the Sandy Post In your home by mail for one year...Subscription rate In Clackamas or Multnomah County Is just $8 for the entire year. (Special $6 rate fo r senior citizens.) Stop by our office to pick up yours: I he ^andy Post 17270 SE Bluff near high school in Sandy. 668-5548 Directly across Burnside at Powell from Gresham Fred Meyer
