Finding Gulo: Wolverines of the North Cascades with David Moskowitz
If you weren’t able to make it in person to this fantastic event, you can find a recording of it on OHA’s YouTube Channel! Click here to find it!
Podcast! Grasslands of the Okanogan S4:E1
…with Don Gayton, ecologist and writer
Welcome to Highland Wonders Podcast Season 4!!! We are excited to be back and kicking off the new season with Don Gayton: ecologist, writer, and native grass enthusiast. This episode is sure to push you into the next level of your natural history learning, and to inspire new questions about our native species and ecosystems. At the end, if you are thirsty for more to explore, here are some additional resources to tide you over until you can get back out into the shrub steppe or a highland meadow and see for yourself!
For more about Don Gayton, including his publications and blog, check out his website.
Zoom in and learn more about our native grasses and their distinctive plant parts in Don Gayton’s Grass Identification Primer.
Zoom out with information from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Shrub Steppe page, where you can find an overview, a virtual tour and a short film (by Conservation Northwest and WDFW) about Washington’s Shrub Steppe Habitat.
Join a citizen science opportunity! Help to catalog the biodiversity of the Okanogan Highlands through iNaturalist, a great (and free) platform for learning that allows you to submit your photos or audio observations for identification and learning. It’s a really fun way to connect with a community of nature observers and learners of all levels, and has real value in building our understanding of the biodiversity of our area so that we can better steward our place. Once you have a username, please join our local projects to help build a repository of knowledge about the species that inhabit this special place. Here are a couple of projects that we recommend:
Okanogan Highlands Biodiversity Project: Chesaw and Surroundings
Okanogan Highlands Biodiversity Project: Mt Bonaparte and Surroundings
This podcast is produced by Okanogan Highlands Alliance. For more information or to support OHA, visit our website: okanoganhighlands.org
Find the Highland Wonders Podcast:
Podcast! All About Bears S3:E5
…with Bill Gaines, wildlife biologist and Executive Director of the Washington Conservation Science Institute.
Dr. Bill Gaines has been studying wildlife, including (and especially) bears – both black bears and inland grizzly bears – since the late 1980’s and, wow, has he had some adventures! In this episode, Dr. Gaines shares the experiences and understandings that have come about through his research studies on the ecology, habitat, and population of bears in the North Cascades over the last three decades.
This episode comes at an opportune time, as this summer (2023), the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to release a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that includes a response to initial public comments and a range of options for how to proceed with an effort to restore a grizzly bear population to the North Cascades Ecosystem. This DEIS comes with an opportunity for the public to provide input. As always, OHA encourages the public to build their own understanding, and to participate in the public process by providing input to the decision makers when the opportunity arises. Here are some sources to find more information about the process and timeline of the grizzly bear restoration proposal in the North Cascades.
Friends of the North Cascades Grizzly Bear: https://www.northcascadesgrizzly.org/
National Park Service: 2022 North Cascades Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=112008
US Fish & Wildlife Service: North Cascades Grizzly Bear Restoration EIS: https://www.fws.gov/project/north-cascades-grizzly-bear-restoration-eis
Dr. Bill Gaines is the Executive Director of Washington Conservation Science Institute. Learn more about him and his organization at: https://waconservationscience.com/
This podcast is produced by Okanogan Highlands Alliance. For more information or to support OHA, visit our website: okanoganhighlands.org
Find the Highland Wonders Podcast:
The Evolutionary Story of Plants in the Okanogan with Dana Visalli: November 17, 2023
Kick off the 2023-24 Highland Wonders Speaker Series with OHA and botanist Dana Visalli! We hope to see you there!
Lost Lake Moss Walk with Erica Heinlen
What a treat this field trip was! The Lost Lake Wetland and Wildlife Preserve has habitats that support great moss diversity. A full complement of moss enthusiasts joined OHA and Erica Heinlen, M.S., Zone Botanist for the Tonasket Ranger District, Colville National Forest, as we walked, talked, and learned together about moss structures and identifying features, ecological adaptations and functions. Erica manages the sensitive botanical species and native plant programs for the Tonasket and Republic Ranger Districts of the Colville National Forest. She is excited to share her love for plants and bryophytes with others. It was truly a fun day exploring these small jewels in the forest!
Where and When:
10 am: Moss Walk Begins from the Lost Lake Wetland and Wildlife Preserve Kiosk on the south end of Lost Lake. Find driving directions here.
What To Bring:
Sturdy walking shoes, clothing layers, water, lunch, hand lens (we will also have these available to borrow if needed)
2023-9 HW Field Trip Moss with Erica Heinlen
Podcast! Canada Lynx and Home Range Wildlife Research S3:E4
…with Anna Machowicz, Education Director
Join us for a refreshingly fun episode, full of natural history, scientific research, and the developing story of Home Range Wildlife Research, whose mission is “to advance wildlife conservation by conducting high-quality research, educating aspiring biologists, and engaging local communities.” Anna Machowicz, Home Range Education Director, shares exciting news about field training and volunteer opportunities, and explains how Home Range has begun implementation of a long-term study of Canada Lynx populations in the mountains between the Methow and Okanogan – an area that has been significantly altered by two decades of megafires. In all that they do, Home Range invites community volunteers, students, and academics to participate, leading collaborative investigations of wildlife and working to understand how communities and land managers can support wildlife populations and healthy ecosystems into the future. Check out their website: https://www.homerange.org/home for more information, and to sign up for training and volunteer opportunities!
For additional information, check out this recent article about Home Range in the Seattle Times:
This podcast is produced by Okanogan Highlands Alliance. For more information or to support OHA, visit our website: okanoganhighlands.org
Find the Highland Wonders Podcast:
Bird Songs: Evening Talk and Morning Walk: May 19-20, 2023
…with Naturalist, Author, Educator, Photographer David Lukas
To learn more about David’s work, check him out at www.lukasguides.com and www.methownaturenotes.com
UPDATE! As of Tuesday, May 16, the CCC dinner has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience but we hope, if you are looking for a tasty meal, you can find dinner at one of our local restaurants.
Podcast! Gifts of the Crow S3: E3
…with John Marzluff
Dr John Marzluff, professor at the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, shares a captivating review of the life history, the anatomy, the culture of corvids, including hilarious and surprising stories of the many ways that these ubiquitous birds both influence and are influenced by people. After listening, we think you might look at your local crows, ravens, magpies and jays with new eyes, and you might even change the way you behave around them! This episode is slightly modified from the original presentation, which took place through OHA’s Highland Wonders Speaker Series in 2016. To learn more about Dr John Marzluff, his work and his research about corvids and other wildlife, visit:
University of Washington’s Avian Conservation Laboratory at: https://sites.uw.edu/sefsacl/
University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at: https://environment.uw.edu/faculty/john-marzluff/
You can find Dr Marzluff’s books, including Gifts of the Crow: how perception, emotion, and thought allow smart birds to behave like humans (2013) on Amazon.com
To learn more about and support Okanogan Highlands Alliance, visit: okanoganhighlands.org
Find the Highland Wonders Podcast:
Podcast! The Saga of Washington’s Wildlife S3: E2
…with Ken Bevis, musical accompaniment by Julie Vanderwal
This fast-paced, information-packed, part-spoken musical tour of Washington’s diverse wildlife will inspire awe and excitement (and leave you tappin’ your toes) about the natural history of all of Washington, with special attention to the Okanogan Highlands. Ken Bevis works for the Washington Department of Natural Resources, helping landowners to manage their private forests for habitat and wildlife.
This podcast was originally presented in 2014 at the Community Cultural Center of Tonasket.
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Podcast! Sculpted by Ice S3: E1
…with Karl Lillquist
Kicking off the 3rd season of the Highland Wonders Podcast we are joined by Dr. Karl Lillquist, geography professor from Central Washington University. This summer (June, 2022) Karl led a group of geology enthusiasts on an ice age tour, visiting locations throughout the highlands, from road cuts where deep lake sediments are visible, to eskers and kames, which were formed by stagnant ice, to glacier-carved bedrock hills near Havillah. This podcast hits the highlights, but we expect that after listening you will be excited to learn more, and you are in luck! Dr Lillquist wrote a detailed field guide, complete with a map of our tour locations – if you are in the area, you can take yourself on a tour!
Quick Link to the Field Guide: Field Guide: Landforms and Landscapes of the Okanogan Highlands by Dr Karl Lillquist
Find the Highland Wonders Podcast:
A few photos from an ice age field trip through the Okanogan Highlands in June, 2022 with Dr. Karl Lillquist
The fan delta at the head of this flat floored valley is evidence of an ice age lake. 
Road cuts offer a view of deep lake sediments 
Chesaw Wildlife Area, where eskers and evidence of beaver ponds can be observed from atop a ridge.