UW News

December 3, 2015

Award honors hundreds of citizen scientists who search for Washington’s rarest plants

UW News

Each year, hundreds of volunteers spread across Washington’s forests and grasslands to look for the state’s rarest, most sensitive plant species. Many of these endangered populations live in remote valleys or along unseen slopes and haven’t been seen in a decade or more.

Documenting Penstemon eriantherus in Chelan County.

Documenting Whited’s penstemon (Penstemon eriantherus var. whitedii) in Chelan County.Julie Sanderson

That’s where the University of Washington’s Rare Plant Care and Conservation program comes in. Its team of more than 200 volunteers fans out each summer to gather intel, one plant population at a time, on some 4,000 living in Washington state. In the program’s 15 years, about 1,000 of these plant groups have been paid a visit.

The program and its volunteer citizen scientists were honored this season by the U.S. Forest Service’s Regional Volunteer Award for Citizen Stewardship & Partnerships. The federal agency relies on the volunteer base to monitor rare plant populations that otherwise wouldn’t be watched over due to tight budgets and limited resources, said Wendy Gibble, manager of conservation education programs at UW Botanic Gardens.

“With declining funding for botany and ecology programs across the Forest Service, they really do rely on the data our volunteers collect on rare plant populations to understand their statuses and whether they’re threatened by invasive species or human use,” said Gibble, who manages the program and trains volunteers.

The application to join as a volunteer next season opened this week.

Volunteers attend a one-day training, then request assignments based on where they want to go and when they have time to make the trip. They get a packet of information about their plant population, including a map showing where it was previously observed, then head out to find it. That process alone can sometimes be a challenge, given some populations haven’t been visited in more than a decade, Gibble said.

“I’m always so amazed at our volunteers because it’s a very high level of activity,” she said. “What it requires to be successful takes initiative — planning, getting out there, collecting the data and writing up the report.”

The most important thing is to confirm the plant population is still alive and mapped correctly. Then, volunteers are encouraged to estimate the population size, document any threats such as invasive species, and describe the plant’s habitat and likely pollinators.

All of the rare populations on public land west of the Cascade Crest have been visited by volunteers, Gibble said, and the program is starting to cycle through repeat visits. There are many more rare plants in Eastern Washington, many of which haven’t yet been visited by a citizen scientist.

Rare Care has collected a number of photos of volunteers trekking high and low — and sometimes through water — to find plant populations across the state. Here are a few favorites:

Volunteer Katie Messick searches for mountain harebell (Campanula lasiocarpa) in Snohomish County.

Volunteer Katie Messick searches for mountain harebell (Campanula lasiocarpa) in Snohomish County.Brenda Cunningham

Volunteers Carol Mack, Meg Decker, Bill Fouts in Stevens County in search of the water avens (Geum rivale).

Carol Mack, Meg Decker and Bill Fouts in Stevens County in search of the water avens (Geum rivale). John Stuart

volunteer Fred Stark surveys for few-flowered sedge (Carex pauciflora) in King County.

Fred Stark surveys for few-flowered sedge (Carex pauciflora) in King County.Katie Messick

Brenda McCracken is waist deep looking for water howellia (Howellia aquatilis) in Spokane County.

Brenda McCracken is waist deep looking for water howellia (Howellia aquatilis) in Spokane County.John Baumann

Volunteers examine Bolander's linanthus (Leptosiphon bolanderi) in Klickitat County.

Volunteers examine a site for Bolander’s linanthus (Leptosiphon bolanderi) in Klickitat County.Elizabeth Stanek

Volunteer Hally Swift, a UW Burke Museum employee, on the hunt for Barrett's beardtongue (Penstemon barrettiae).

Volunteer Hally Swift, a UW Burke Museum employee, on the hunt for Barrett’s beardtongue (Penstemon barrettiae) in Klickitat County.Betty Swift