April is Wyoming Native Plant Month!

Once again, Governor Gordon has proclaimed that April is Wyoming Native Plant Month. We join many other states in this annual celebration to enjoy and appreciate our native flora.  Read the Proclamation here.

Native Plant Month events:

Tuesday, April 8, 6-7 p.m. Teton Plants Chapter – ZOOM only (will be recorded). Talk: “Restoring Sagebrush Habitats: Insights in Plant Traits and Soil Microbes Vital for Success.” Presenters: Daniel Laughlin, Linda van Diepen, and Dillon Romero of University of Wyoming. Sagebrush steppe restoration remains a significant challenge in Jackson Hole and throughout the West. At Grand Teton National Park, efforts are underway to remove smooth brome grass and invasive species from Antelope Flats and to plant native sage, wildflowers, and grasses to create a biodiverse habitat. University of Wyoming researchers will share the latest re. on the importance of soil microbiota and the role of plant traits in supporting the growth of native species. Their work may hold the key to understanding how to best restore sagebrush ecosystems.

Saturday, April 26, 9-12 am. Volunteer Workday: “Stalking the Saltcedar Invaders”. Lead by local WYNPS member. Get outdoors to set the stage for Salt cedar (Tamarisk chinensis) removal from Hutton Lake NWR. Volunteers will map and record occurrence data on datasheets. Data will be provided to the USFWS to allow for development of treatment plan. Kicks off with a quick training and overview by local expert, and mapping will be conducted in pairs or small groups. Bring water, snacks, hiking boots and long pants to walk long distances, among cactus, and in variable weather. Datasheets and maps will be provided. There are no restrooms on site.

Poster Contest

Wyoming Native Plant Society is again co- sponsoring a poster contest for all 6th-8th grade students. The theme of the contest this year is: “Wyoming Native Plants and Pollinators: Better Together.” We encourage students to learn and creatively illustrate how native plants and their pollinators are essential to one another.
We are also arranging to have rotating statewide displays in collaboration with cooperating County Libraries! Three students and their teachers will each receive a $250 cash prize. The winning students will also receive a framed poster of their original artwork andtheir posters will be featured on the Wyoming Native Plant Society website, shared on social media and displayed in participating libraries across the state. Entries must be received by April 21, 2025. For contest details and entry form are available here.

2025 Annual Meeting – May 30-June 1
Fort Laramie–Crossroads of a Nation

REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Register on-line, or download the registration form. You may pay below or mail a check to Wyoming Native Plant Society, P.O. Box 2449, Laramie, WY  82073.

SPRING into action as we converge in eastern Wyoming where plant life gets a head start! The Community Center of Fort Laramie (town) is central to this Wyoming wildflower weekend, gathering place for field trips, workshops, keynote talks, and with free camping (no hookups) and use of facilities for all who register; plus a special Saturday night banquet.

Events start at 5 pm on Friday with two workshops:
1. Plant Identification—Ben Legler and colleagues will introduce the fundamentals of plant identification with examples from Wyoming’s most commonly encountered plant families.
2. Nature Journaling Plants—Nature journaling is the quest to gather information for personal learning. Dorothy will share her strategies for capturing plant traits in drawings and notes, to create a record of (some) plants she has met. Some drawing materials will be provided; bring your own journaling supplies if you have them. Also bring a hand lens and plant field guide/key, if available.

Walk in the steps of settlers traveling the Oregon Trail at Bedlam Ruts on Friday evening. Bedlam Ruts is named for the distant view of the building, Old Bedlam, on the Fort Laramie grounds. There is a wide variety of plants that grow among the steep rim and rock formations of Arikaree Sandstone that overlook the North Platte River. The view to the south is not unlike it was 150 years ago. On quiet evenings it is not hard to imagine the sounds of wagons going west as their passengers leave the last vestiges of civilization behind and come to the realization that they will be entering the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

Scout nearby Fort Laramie National Historic Site (NHS) on Saturday morning, heralded as “Crossroads of a Nation” expanding westward. It lies at the junction of two river valley travel routes (the North Platte River and Laramie River) taken by explorers and wagon trains, also at the junction of two main upland routes within Wyoming Territory. Prairie bluffs above the North Platte River are crossed by wagon ruts tracing one Wyoming Territory travel route. It connects human history and natural history, with a full-blown flora of 426 species (posted at: https://irma.nps.gov/NPSpecies/Search/SpeciesList).

Explore Torrington Dunes on Saturday afternoon, the easternmost sand dunes in Wyoming with some sand-loving plants found nowhere else in the state. They include among the only locations for Sand milkweed (Asclepias arenaria) and a sand-dwelling variety of Broadbeard beardtongue (Penstemon angustifolius var. caudatus), and with other striking sand-loving plants such as Veiny dock; also called Wild begonia (Rumex venosus), and Painted milkvetch (Astragalus ceramicus var. filifolius).

Sunday morning offers a tour of the Sunrise Mine in the Hartville Uplift, an arch connecting the Black Hills to the Laramie Range, just north of Guernsey. People have been mining iron ore and red ochre there since Paleoindian times. After Europeans arrived, new ways to extract iron and transport it were employed. The town of Sunrise was a company town, now owned by an individual who, together with a non-profit organization, makes tours possible. The Hartville Uplift geology supports a flora far different from surroundings so this tour offers a walk rich in history and in botany.

Saturday dinner will be catered by Crazy Tony’s Grub+Pub (Ft. Laramie Bar & Grill), and includes: smoked beef brisket sandwich (served with provolone cheese, creamy horsey sauce, and homemade au jus), coleslaw, herbed asparagus, seasonal fruit salad, drinks, and dessert. The vegetarian option is cauliflower steak. Dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan options will be provided if requested. BYOB, if desired.

Our Saturday night speaker is Dr. Michael Amundson, author of Wyoming Revisited: Rephotographing the Scenes of Joseph E. Stimson (University of Colorado Press and Wyoming Historical Society, 2014). Between 1890 and 1952, Cheyenne, Wyoming, photographer Joseph Elam Stimson produced more than 7,500 promotional images of Wyoming and the West. He made many of these photographs for his two main employers, the Union Pacific Railroad and the State of Wyoming. During the summer of 1903, he prepared views of the state for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and in 1906 traveled from Omaha to Los Angeles documenting the rebuilding of the UP by E.H. Harriman. Michael Amundson became interested in Stimson’s work as an undergraduate at UW and in 1987 and 1988, repeated many of Stimson’s views across the state using a 4×5 camera and black and white film. Twenty years later, he repeated the project using digital cameras. By looking at locations all across Wyoming through these three time frames, a viewer today can see hints of both the Old West and the New West and the processes that created them as they play out through history.
Dr. Amundson is a professor of history at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where he teaches courses on the history of the American West, Sports History, and Public History. He grew up in northern Colorado and attended the University of Wyoming from 1983-1990, where he was on the Cowboy basketball team and earned a BS in History and Journalism and an MA in American Studies. He then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he received the PhD in history in 1996. He has published two books about the nuclear West, three on Wyoming photographer J.E Stimson, another on cowboy songs played on wind up phonographs, and his most recent work is a biography of Wyoming artist M.D. Houghton, who made sketches of towns, mines, and ranches in Wyoming and the West from 1890-1915. He currently is working on another biography of unknown photographer who made unique 3D color images across America in 1940. He lives in Flagstaff with his wife Lauren, and their dog Jewel and Oscar the cat.

Sunday morning business meeting is open to all WYNPS members. Please come and share your thoughts and ideas with the Board and other members. Breakfast will include delicious pastries provided from Torrington’s Bread Doctor Bakery, coffee, orange juice, and leftovers from dinner (if there are any).

Schedule

Friday, May 30
3 pm:  Check-in begins at Fort Laramie Community Center.
5 pm-6 pm: Workshops
6 – 7 pm: Dinner on your own (Community Center facilities available).
7 pm: Depart Community Center for evening walk at Bedlam Ruts led by Bonnie Heidel.

Saturday, May 31

8 am- noon: Morning plant walks at Fort Laramie National Historic Site, led by Bob Dorn and Bonnie Heidel. Meet at the Visitor Center parking lot at 8 am.
Noon: Return to Community Center for lunch.
1 -5 pm: Afternoon plant walks at Torrington Dunes, led by Bob Dorn and Bonnie Heidel. Meet at Community Center for 1 pm departure.
6 pm: Dinner at Community Center.
7 pm: Keynote speaker, Michael Amundson “Wyoming Revisited”. Come see a century of Wyoming landscapes.

Sunday, June 1

7:30 – 8:30 am: WYNPS business meeting and breakfast, followed by Community Center clean-up.
9:30 am: Depart Community Center for morning walk.
10 am – noon: Morning walk at Sunrise Mine, led by Mine staff. Meet at the Mine at 10.

Important information

Our meeting will be headquartered at the Fort Laramie Community Center, 102 Otis St., Ft. Laramie. Free camping is available for both tents and RVs. No hook-ups, tables or other amenities, except for bathrooms in the Community Center (no showers). The Community Center has a kitchen with refrigerator, stove, oven, small microwave, sinks, etc., but no dishes. You are welcome to use the kitchen, but please bring your own cooking and eating dishes and utensils. We will provide morning coffee, so bring your coffee cup, too.
Alternative lodging is available in Torrington and Guernsey (hotels, RV parks). Short-term rentals may be available in Fort Laramie.
NOTE!! There are no gas stations or grocery stores in Fort Laramie! Fill up in Lingle, Torrington or Guernsey.