Carex Working Group

Our recent projects include:

Rare plant surveys
The Carex Working Group members have extensive experience performing both general and targeted rare plant surveys, including numerous federally listed endangered species of the western U.S. Clients: Shasta-Trinity, Fremont-Winema, Wallowa-Whitman, Willamette, and Mt. Hood National Forests; Medford, Eugene, Vale, and Prineville Districts, BLM; Nature Conservancy; Greenbelt Land Trust; McKenzie River Land Trust; Cities of Corvallis and Eugene.
Infrastructure and right-of-way clearance surveys
Carex Working Group members have conducted rare plant and noxious weed surveys, and wetland delineations for road, bridge, power line, pipeline, cellular telephone, and fiber optic projects ranging to more than 400 miles in length. Methodologies were developed in consultation with clients and regulatory agencies to assure full compliance with state and federal environmental law. Clients: Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Department of Transportation, Lane County Public Works Department, 360 Networks, Williams Pipeline, US Array.
Mapping noxious weed occurrences
Carex Working Group refined a method for mapping roadside weeds that is fast enough to be practical but precise enough to allow others to relocate problem weed populations for control. The land managers received both a database and GIS map layers showing weed locations. Clients: City of Portland (Bull Run Watershed), City of Corvallis (Rock Creek Watershed).
Monitoring rare plants and invasive weeds
Mapping and complete census of a population of Carex flava, a listed rare plant in Washington. Set up baseline transects and photo points for monitoring shrub encroachment and invasive plants in coastal bogs. Clients: Puget Sound Electric, Coos Bay District, BLM.
Training and education
Teaching workshops in the identification of challenging plant groups, including willows, sedges, grasses, and rushes. Clients: R6 Botany program of the USDA Forest Servce; Roseburg, Medford, Vale, and Prineville Districts of the BLM; Jepson Herbarium of the University of California, Berekeley.
Taxonomic assessments
Evaluating taxonomic status of controversial plants such as Carex constanceana/davyi (Davy's Sedge), Cordylanthus tenuis (Slender Birdbeak), Frasera umpquaensis (Clustered Green-Gentian), and Lewisia kelloggii sacajaweana (Sacajaewa Lewisia). Writing the Poaceae (grass) treatment for the Oregon Flora. Writing the Field Guide to the Sedges of the Pacific Northwest. Clients: Fremont-Winema and Boise National Forests, US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species Program, Institute for Applied Ecology, Oregon Flora Project.
Assessment method for potential sage-grouse habitat
Carex Working Group developed a quick, simple method by which botanists can assess condition of late brood-rearing habitat for Greater Sage-grouse in sagebrush steppe. Client: Eagle Lake Field Office, BLM.