Emerald Chapter is hosting the Annual Meeting this year. It will be held in Eugene on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Chapter members have worked diligently for many months to put together an exciting and memorable event. Registration is now open! Please visit the 2023 Annual Meeting website to learn everything you need to know about field trips, evening programs (the Saturday night banquet, Friday night social mixer), how to register, and more.

* Wednesday, July 19th, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm. Emerald Chapter Summer Picnic at Amazon Park. Join your botanical friends for a picnic! We will brainstorm presentations and field trips for next season and share information about great places to see wildflowers. Bring a potluck item to share, your own plate/utensils, a folding chair and drinks. Emerald Chapter will provide dessert.

* Saturday, June 10th, 9AM – 2:30PM. Herbert Farm Restoration. Leader: Sara Alaica. Meet at South Eugene High School and we will carpool to Herbert Farm near Corvallis. We will see some or all of the rare plants at the site, including golden paintbrush, Nelson's checkermallow, Oregon checkermallow, Kincaid's lupine, and peacock larkspur. We will also walk by the girdled trees where we are releasing oaks, the riparian row plantings where we are improving the buffer to the river, and the berms created for streaked horned lark habitat. Sign up here.

* Saturday, June 10th, 1PM – 2PM. Museum of Natural and Cultural History Native Plant Garden. Leader: Jill Paulson. The property surrounding this museum, on the University of Oregon campus, bears an excellent native plant garden that is little known to the community. In partnership with the museum, Emerald Chapter members will be leading this short walk in and around the museum's Glenn Starlin Native Plant Courtyard. With over forty species, the courtyard offers a rich array of plant life that have provided nutrition and material for tools, shelter, and more for millennia. This is the first of a monthly series of walks at this location. Limited free parking is in a designated lot located just west of the mammoths on East 15th Avenue, and metered parking is available on the street. The address is 1680 East 15th Avenue on the U of O campus in Eugene. Sign-up is not needed, and the tour is free to NPSO members.

* Saturday, July 8th, 9AM – 5PM. Horsepasture Mountain. Leader: Krista Farris & Jenny Lippert. Join retired Forest Botanist Jenny Lippert and outgoing District Botanist Krista Farris on a walk up to the top of Horsepasture Mountain. See a glorious wildflower display and eat lunch at an old fire lookout. Help pull St. Johnswort at the top if there is still some there. The trail is moderately steep and the walk is 3-4 miles in length. Bring a walking stick, lunch, water and a camera. Sign up here.

* Thursday, July 13th, 6:00PM – 7:30PM. Howard Buford Recreation Area, East Entrance. Leader: Ed Alverson. Celebrate "International Field Botany Day", to commemorate the first documented (in writing) botanical excursion to identify plants, which was in England on July 13th 1629. Join Ed Alverson in a walk in the SE corner of HBRA (Meadowlark East and Meadowlark South), which has a lot of interesting natives that bloom in July. Since parking at the East Trailhead is limited, we'll meet up 2 miles away at the Pisgah Public Market in Pleasant Hill, and carpool from there. From southbound I-5 take exit 188 for OR58 East, "Oakridge-Klamath Falls", and continue on OR58 for just under 4 mi. The Pisgah Public Market is on the left as you enter Pleasant Hill. Sign up here.

* Saturday, August 12th, 9AM – 5PM. Gold Lake Bog Research Natural Area. Leader: Jenny Moore and Sarah Uebel. Join us for a foray into the botanical wonderland of Gold Lake Bog, which was designated as a Research Natural Area in 1965. Gold Lake Bog hosts several rare botanical species such as Scheuchzeria palustris (“Rannoch-rush”), several species of Utricularia (carnivorous bladderworts), and other fun fen species. Bring a walking stick as we will be walking downhill from the trail into the bog and crosscountry once there. Plan to get your feet wet or wear rubber boots. Bring a lunch and water and a sun hat. Sign up here.

*PLEASE NOTE* - You can watch Emerald Chapter's recent program on how to use the iNaturalist app here. You can also view other previously recorded NPSO Emerald Chapter Programs here, including Dr. Christine Buhl's recent (Feb. 2023) presentation on the Emerald Ash Borer. A PDF of her presentation is available here. Both contain links at the end for reporting new sightings of Emerald Ash borer as well as other references.