Koma Kulshan chapter members will vote on proposed amendments to the chapter’s bylaws at the October 2022 meeting. The proposed update is below. Text with strikethrough will be removed and underlined text will be added.
Voting is open until November 30, 2022 via our online poll.
Interested in receiving modest funding for your native plant research? Help with the cost of attending events like the statewide WNPS Study Weekend or Botany Washington? The Koma Kulshan chapter has a small grants and scholarships program that might help you. You’ll find all the information on the Grants and Scholarships page.
Friday, July 3, 7:30 am to 5:00 pm or later
We will visit Kelcema Lake and an interesting mountain fen along with nearby areas if time permits, all in Snohomish County along the Mountain Loop Highway. This is a long drive, about ninety miles on pavement and four miles on gravel one way. Meet to carpool at the west side Fairhaven park and ride at the south end of 32nd Street at 7:30 AM. A Forest Service permit for parking will be necessary. The fen is small enough that a large group could easily overwhelm the site – so the group is limited to twelve people. To sign up contact Jim Duemmel at 360-733-3448 by phone or by email at JimDuemmel@q.com.
Join our annual series of fun, informal walks and get familiar with plants native to Whatcom County. Sponsored by the Koma Kulshan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS), these introductory plant identification walks feature an easy pace and will each last about two hours. All walks are free and no registration is required, just show up at the meeting spot. The walks will focus on a variety of habitats, with your expert guide introducing you to common trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants native to our area. Leaders will share tidbits on ethnobotany, wildlife use, gardening with natives, and other interesting plant related facts. People of all ages and experience levels are welcome. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes that may get wet. Each walk stands alone, or attend them all to get a free mini-course on plant identification. For more information contact: Allan Richardson at 733-5477 or via email at boghill@earthlink.net.
Sunday, April 26, 1:30-3:30 pm: Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve
Thursday, May 7, 6:00 pm to dusk: Hidden Forest Foray at Sehome Arboretum
Saturday, May 16, 1:00-3:00 pm: Padden Lagoon
Thursday, May 21, 6:00 pm to dusk: Coastal Ethnobotany at Woodstock Farm
Thursday, May 28, 6:00 pm to dusk: Downtown Plants at Maritime Heritage Park
Details about each of the walks are on the Field Trips page.
Visit the Field Trips page for Koma Kulshan chapter field trips between July and September. Explore the Twin Sisters area, lava fields at Schreiber’s Meadow, Cutthroat Lake, Boulder Ridge, Yellow Aster Butte, and Damfino Lakes and learn about the plants that grow there.
Wednesday February 5 from 6:30 – 9pm
WWU Biology Building Room 249
Don’t you wish you had more plants to ID in the wintertime? Well, if you can get familiar with the bryophytes you’ll have plenty to keep you busy! This week, Katrina will get us started with bryophytes by providing an overview of moss anatomy, terminology to help with identification, and a sampling of the most common and easily identified moss species of our region. Take advantage of this opportunity to use the microscopes in the biology lab — it is hard to identify mosses without them.
Wednesday January 29th from 6:30-9:00 PM
WWU Biology Building Room 249
The forests of Western Washington are home to a couple native cherries, and a handful of esoteric ornamentals that are increasingly showing up in wild places. This week’s Native Plant Study group will examine the identifying characteristics of the Prunus genus and try and sort out confusing common names. We will study photographs, herbarium specimens, and fresh winter twigs.
The next Koma Kulshan chapter meeting is on Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 7:00 pm in the Sustainable Living Center (upstairs above the ReStore at the corner of Broadway and Meridian in Bellingham).
Nick Saling will discuss Whatcom Land Trust’s conservation strategies and point out our stewardship activities and restoration efforts that will reveal the wealth of flora and fauna that we have on our lands. He promises some video clips scattered throughout the slide show to help demonstrate our county’s biodiversity.
Nick works with the Whatcom Land Trust as Director of Stewardship. Since graduating from the WWU Biology program, he has also been a Washington Conservation Corps Supervisor for the Department of Ecology and served with the U.S. Peace Corps doing coastal resource management work.
The Koma Kulshan chapter has two wetland field trips scheduled for October. The first, on October 13, will be a late-season plant exploration on a new Whatcom Land Trust property near Glacier. The second, on October 20, heads to the wetlands around Little Cranberry Lake near Anacortes. Details are on the Field Trips page.
Chapter meetings this fall cover fire ecology and fungi, two disparate forces that interact with our flora and have major impacts on the landscape.
On October 16 John Marshall will show us how fire has changed Washington’s landscape.
On November 20 Kira Taylor will discuss the role fungi play in the plant community.
Details are on the Chapter Meetings page.
The Koma Kulshan chapter’s summer field trips all take advantage of long days and high mountain vistas as we explore the flora around Mount Baker.
Trip descriptions are on the Field Trips page.
You’ll find we’re planning visits to Goat Mountain, Chowder Ridge, the Scott Paul Trail, Lake Ann (the one by Mt. Shuksan), Ptarmigan Ridge, and a Cryptogam Ramble scheduled for the Damfino Lakes Trail (if the road is repaired).
Chapter meetings will resume on Wednesday, September 18.