FEBRUARY Virtual Program
Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 pm
Dead Wood & Healthy Habitats

Dead wood – be it dead standing trees or snags, downed wood in streams and on land, or decaying wood with cavities – is important for wildlife habitat and vegetation communities. This joint program of the Native Plant Society of Oregon Siskiyou Chapter and Rogue Valley Audubon Society will feature two expert speakers.
Dr. Pepper Trail, naturalist and ornithologist, will dis-cuss cavity-nesting birds and other wildlife. Eighty-five bird species nest in cavities in North America, including Wood Duck, Western Screech-Owl, and White-breasted Nuthatch, as well as all woodpecker species. Many of these cavity-nesting species, such as American Kestrel and Mountain Bluebird, are declining due to the lack of suitable habitat, and especially the loss of snags. Snags are also essential to many mammal species, including fishers, flying squirrels, and silver-haired bats.
Lance Wyss, restoration biologist for the Rogue River Watershed Council, will discuss downed large and small wood, and their biological legacy guiding stream processes. Have you ever pondered what legacy you will leave behind in your life? Trees that grow along streams and rivers leave a lasting and influential effect on physical and biological attributes of a riverine ecosystem. Whether a living or dead tree falls naturally into a creek or is placed during active stream restoration, it continues to play a key role in the ecosystem.

About the Speakers
Well-known local naturalist Pepper Trail has recently retired after more than 20 years as the ornithologist for the Nation-al Fish and Wildlife Forensic Lab in Ashland. He is the long-time conservation co-chair of the Rogue Valley Audubon Society and has been a leader in many regional conservation efforts, from the creation of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to searches for the critically endangered Franklin’s Bumble Bee.
Lance Wyss is the Restoration Biologist for Rogue River Watershed Council. He works with private landowners and public natural resources managers to design, implement, and monitor ecological restoration projects that include riparian rehabilitation and instream enhancement to improve stream processes, water quality, and plant and animal habitats.

IMPORTANT: This month’s talk is sponsored by the Rogue River Watershed Council, Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, and Pollinator Project Rogue Valley. To register for this free Zoom talk, visit the following link and select the option for February 17, 2022: bit.ly/sisk-npso-talks.