Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot Botanical Field Studies

Monitoring can be tedious and expensive. Not so, on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Here, the Botany Program has an annual monitoring program that is exciting, rewarding, scientifically defensible, and inexpensive. Moreover, it can be replicated on a National Forest near you!

For one week, volunteers with Botanical Field Studies collect data in an “outdoor classroom” learning environment.

The volunteers are selected through the outreach of our Partners: the Berry Botanic Garden, Portland, OR, and Portland State University. The monitoring projects themselves are selected by Forest Service botanists and conducted jointly with the Berry Garden, who received the National TES Award in March 2000, in part for this work

The Botanical Field Studies Program is funded through a combination of sources. Challenge cost-shares have helped pay for the participation of outside professionals working on the project. Volunteers provide a small fee (e.g., $35) to help cover food. For students enrolling through PSU, $100-$150 for each student helps defray the costs of food and instruction. The Forest Service provides accommodations (usually in available bunk houses), vans for the fieldwork, and evening speakers so that participants learn about National Forest programs other than botany.

Between 1991 and 1999, more than 250 students and volunteers have participated in the program. During that nine-year period, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest provided cost-share contractual funds of approximately $30,000 for some of these studies. Although only 30 volunteers are reached each year, the cumulative effect and the ripple effect on attitudes about rare plants and U.S. Forest Service Programs, has been substantial.

Here is a brief description of some of our accomplishments with Botanical Field Studies:

surveyed marked plots of Pleuricospora fimbriolata (fringed pinesap)
assisted in gathering habitat data and distribution information for Utricularia intermedia (intermediate bladderwort), Chrysolepis chrysophylla (golden chinquapin), and Orobanche pinorum (pine broomrape)
relocated and monitored existing plots of Sisyrinchium sarmentosum (pale blue-eyed grass) at South Prairie and began survey of all known populations on federal land
surveyed old growth forest near Goat Marsh RNA for additional specimens of the fuzzy sandozi fungus (Bridgeoporus nobillisimus), a globally-imperiled species of fungus
began pilot studies of Sisyrinchium sarmentosum at Cave Creek site to determine effects of cattle grazing on population health of the species (results indicate severe restriction of sexual reproductive capacity in grazed sites)
relocated two historic locations of Penstemon barrettiae, Barrett’s penstemon
conducted pre- and post-treatment vegetation study to evaluate success of controlled burn in the fall of 1998 to maintain a meadow near Cakey Butte for winter browsing by ungulates
prepared baseline ecological data at the Sawtooth berry fields prior to treatments to restore huckleberry production
participated in the T.T. Munger RNA Ecological Status Monitoring
helped in vegetation survey of Gotchen Aspen Meadow
surveyed noxious weeds, inside and outside of areas grazed by cattle. Helping with the survey was an urban youth group (pictured) who performed the study over a two-day period as a means of experiencing the forest ecosystem and learning about scientific objectives.
surveyed of South Prairie Bog to determine the general ecological health of the site
aided in stand reconstruction survey in nesting and roosting sites for the spotted owl

Many of the plants mentioned above are, or were rare, and now have improved management strategies thanks to the Botanical Field Studies Program.

With proper supervision, volunteers have shown to be reliable researchers for various kinds of field studies. For surveys, volunteers have quickly learned appropriate search images. Detailed monitoring can be undertaken when several volunteers work in teams, double-checking each other’s work. Working with volunteers substantially increases the amount of work that can be supported on a limited budget, and is worth considerable effort to foster and continue in the future as funds will continue to be limited.

For more information on the Botanical Field Studies Program contact:

Nancy Fredricks, 360-891-5111, (nfredricks@fs.fed.us ), or
Sally Claggett, 509-395-3374, (sclaggett@fs.fed.us )