2010 Methow Conservation Course
Secrets of the Shrub Steppe

Full Course Syllabus with Instructor Biographies

February 1st  - Shrub Steppe Development - From glaciers to butterflies (Dana Visalli & Eric Bard)

Core Readings:
1. Report:  ‘Shrub-Steppe Conservation Prioritization in Washington State’ by George Wooten. An interesting and easy to read overview of shrub-steppe natural history; focus mainly on the introduction.

2. Web-page: ‘Shrub-Steppe: Washington’s Disappearing Sea’ by Joe Rocchio.  This is a well-written blog overview with some good pictures.

3. Book Chapter:  ‘Columbia River Plateau’ (Chapter 10) from Geology of the Pacific Northwest by W. and E. Orr.  A geological overview with photographs on the geology of our region.

4. **Handout:  ‘Observing the Methow’s Shrub-Steppe’ by Dana Visalli.

Additional optional readings:
1. **Book:  Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary by Ronald Taylor, 1992 is the best popular wildflower book for the Columbia Basin.

2.  Book: Northwest Dryland Wildflowers: Sagebrush & Ponderosa by Dana Visalli, 2005 is better for the Methow shrub-steppe.

3.  There is an assortment of geology lectures on DVD at the Methow Conservancy’s library from the 2006 Methow Geology Conservation Course.  Please check them out through Mary Kiesau at the Conservancy.

February 8th - Early People - First contact with people of the Methow ( Jack Nisbet)

Core Readings: 
These articles written by Jack Nisbet can be reached at his “Boundaries” column at www.northcolumbiamonthly.com/boundaries/boundaries.shtml

1.  ‘Pismires,’ January 2007.  A fun read about the ecology of thatch ants we see often in the shrub steppe.

2. ‘Rootfood,’ July 2008.  An account of the spring tribal bands gathering camas, bitterroot, and Lomatium.

3.  ‘Fish Doctor,’ August 2009.  Revelations about fish bones analyzed from Indian encampments.

Additional optional readings:
1.  Book:  The Mapmaker’s Eye by J. Nisbet, WSU Press, 2005.

2.  Book: Visible Bones by J. Nisbet, Sasquatch Books, 2007.

3.  Book: The Collector by J. Nisbet, Sasquatch Books, 2007.

February 16th (Tuesday) - Deep Dirt – The varied strategies of burrowing animals ( Kim Romain-Bondi)

Core Readings:
1.  Scientific review article:  ‘Pocket gophers in Ecosystems:  patterns and mechanisms’ by Huntley and Inouye, 1988.  BioScience, Volume 38, 7-pages (786-793).  Discusses the importance of burrows and mounding of soils in arid environments.

2. ** Scientific review article:  ‘A review of burrowing by semi-fossorial vertebrates in arid environments’ by Al Kinlaw in 1999. From the Journal of Arid Environments, Volume 41, 18-pages (127-145).   An overview of fossorial animals around the world, and the ecology of the burrow system in desert ecosystems; skim through for interesting facts about burrowing ecology.

3.  Article:  ‘Urchins Underfoot: Spadefoot Toads’ by Mary Kiesau, in The Methow Naturalist , Spring 2005 Volume 10, 2 pages (6-7).

Additional optional readings:
1.  Scientific review article:  ‘Mounds of the American Badger:  significant features of the North American shrub steppe ecosystems’ by D. J. Eldridge, 2004.  Journal of Mammology, Volume 85, 7-pages (1060-1067).   Scientific and relevant to our shrub steppe environment- see how important badgers and their burrows really are.

February 22th - Animal Survival – Islands of life in a harsh world (Michael Schroeder)

Core Readings: 
1. Publication:  ‘Keeping birds in the sagebrush sea’ by S. A. Ritter, and C. Paige, published by Wyoming Wildlife, March 2000 issue.  A glossy introduction to management practices that benefit our wildlife species.

2.  **Scientific Review Article:  ‘Teetering on the edge or too late?  Conservation and research issues for avifauna of sagebrush habitats’  in The Condor, Volume 105, 2003.  23-pages (611–634). An attempt to identify priority research issues needed for conservation of birds in sagebrush ecosystems in western North America.

3.  Scientific Review Article:  ‘Shrubsteppe bird response to habitat and landscape variables in eastern Washington, U.S.A.’ in Conservation Biology, Volume 14, 2000.  15-pages (1145-1160).  This paper examines the response of birds to landscape variables in shrub steppe communities across eastern Washington.

Additional optional readings:
 1. Book:  Singing grass, burning sage by Jack Nisbet, 1999.  A fun overview about the historic scene and ecology of the Columbia Basin.    
2. Report:  ‘Use of CRP fields by greater sage-grouse and other shrub steppe associated wildlife in Washington’ by Schroeder and VanderHaegen, WDFW, Oct. 2006  
3. Poster presentation:  ‘The Conservation Reserve Program and shrub steppe birds in eastern Washington’  by Schroeder and VanderHaegen, WDFW, 2005

March 1st - Landscape Disrupted – Dramatic forces and subtle shifts (Jerry Benson)