Celebrating Wildflowers News and Events

USDA Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers

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	News and Events We will provide information about wildflower- and botany-related events, news, events, and activities. Events We will provide general and regional information about Celebrating Wildflower-related hikes, artistic events, and programs. These may be hosted by the Forest Service or they may be hosted by other government agencies or organizations. Please refer to the host's link for contact information. Eastern Region March 2 to June 29, 2012 - Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk (Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Press Release (PDF, 106 KB) Poster (PDF, 99 KB) Celebrating Wildflowers News Get Ready for Green! National Forest and Grassland Wildflower Viewing Areas New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) at the Androscoggin Ranger Station, White Mountain National Forest, in New Hampshire. Photo by Amanda Weise. Longing for warm, fragrant breezes? Blooming trillium colonies, foraging bumble bees, and even unfrozen water puddles all signify the arrival of spring. While we can't make winter move along faster, we can help you plan a trip to see wildflowers when spring shows up. There are about 316 Wildflower Viewing Areas we have identified on our national forests and grasslands in nine Forest Service Regions across the United States. They vary from native plant and pollinator gardens in urban settings to recreation areas and hiking trails, all showcasing the natural beauty of native wildflowers. Every site is open to the public. Some locations offer interpretive signage and brochures. Find Wildflower Viewing Areas by Forest Service Region… Using Cactus as a Bioremediation Tool - January 2012 ARS plant/soil scientist Gary Bañuelos (right) and grower John Diener survey prickly pear cactus growing in poor-quality soil. The west side of the San Joaquin Valley in California presents several challenges to growers. The soils there include marine sediments, shale formations, and deposits of selenium and other minerals, results of ancient seas and runoff. Anything grown there needs to be irrigated, but the resulting runoff, when it contains high levels of selenium, can be toxic to fish, migratory birds, and other wildlife that drink from waterways and drainage ditches. Periodic droughts and population growth are also squeezing supplies of the fresh water available for irrigation. Gary Bañuelos, an Agricultural Research Service plant/soil scientist with the Water Management Research Unit at the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, California, believes that he has found a promising alternative to address land productivity and environmental concerns stemming from soils with these mineral deposits, growing prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficusindica). Read more about Using Cactus as a Bioremediation Tool (PDF, 523 KB)… The Hidden Beauty of Pollination Pollination: it's vital to life on Earth, but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators with gorgeous high-speed images from his film "Wings of Life," inspired by the vanishing of one of nature's primary pollinators, the honeybee. Read more about and see the talk and images from Louie Schwartzberg's "Wings of Life" on the TED website… Hoosier Works Together to Develop Pollinator Areas and Early Successional Habitat - December 2011 Native flowers bloom in the Haskins Field in July, 2011. Since 2007, the Hoosier National Forest has established several pollinator and early successional habitat areas. These projects create new habitat for butterflies and native bees, as well as improve habitat for other wildlife such as quail, turkeys, songbirds, and bats. The largest 100-acre site at the Haskins Tract initiated in 2007 was previously a row-crop field, while the newer pollinator areas were old fields dominated by dense growth of tall fescue and other exotic pasture grasses or non-native forb species. The other Native Seed Production and Pollinator Resource Areas are Mifflin (2009 - 10 acres), Stillion (2010 - 30 acres), and Tincher (2011 - 10 acres). Through the end of 2011, these four areas total about 150 acres of ecosystem restoration and habitat enhancement. Read more about the Hoosier developing pollinator areas and early successional habitat… Wildflower News Archives…
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