Meet the charismatic and itty-bitty flora of the Agate Desert Preserve with Botanist and Stewardship Director, Kristi Mergenthaler. We will soak in the beauty of rings, patches, and ribbons of colorful flowers and look for federally endangered and other rare flowers that grow in drying vernal pools. This is a unique preserve of vernal pool-mounded prairie surrounded by industrial and grazing land. We will also get to see how the flowers responded to a prescribed burn last year.
Most hikes are free. Registration opens online and one month in advance before the date of each hike. For more information or for help with registration, please visit www.landconserve.org/hikes-and-tours, call 541-482-3069, or email events@landconserve.org.
If you ever peer into a half-rotted log you might be so lucky to find a slippery pair of eyes staring back at you. If you’re extremely lucky those eyes could belong to a Pacific giant salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus). Usually seen wriggling through woody debris or eating a mildly toxic banana slug, these marbled beauties are found throughout western Oregon.