Three days of field trips out of San Quintin, interspersed with lectures, with a day of travel between San Diego and San Quintin, on each side of the workshop. Bus travel will be arranged between San Diego and San Quintin and is included in the price. The workshop price includes 4 nights in hotels but does not include meals. Passports are required now for travel to Baja.

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First evening presentation followed by two field days. Overview and field studies of rare plants and vegetation of eastern San Luis Obispo County. Emphasis on field identification, habitat characteristics, conservation status, and management concerns. Potential stops include sites in the Carrizo Plain, Temblor Range, Caliente Range, eastern La Panza Mts., Cuyama Valley, etc, depending on phenology, mud, and logistics.

Three-day combination of field exercises and lectures. The California Native Plant Society (CNPS), the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), present a Vegetation Rapid Assessment workshop in the Carrizo Plain. The course will be a combination of lecture and field exercises in vegetation sampling. The course will focus on collecting data using the CNPS Rapid Assessment protocol. We will discuss applications of fine-scale vegetation sampling, classification and mapping, how to document rare natural communities, and how vegetation information fits into planning documents.

Three full days of field and laboratory exercises. Participants will acquire a higher level of knowledge and confidence in identifying vernal pool plants both in the laboratory and in the field. They will learn characters used to distinguish species beyond those used in the typical dichotomous plant key and gain field identification skills to make participants more efficient and effective at vernal pool vegetation assessments, floristic surveys and rare plant surveys.

Two-day combination of lecture and field trips. This is an intensive and pragmatic 2-day course on plant community identification, sampling design, and ecology. The course also reviews general plant community attributes and the relationship between vernal pool communities and rare species occurrence, conservation, restoration priorities, as well as vegetation mapping. The course is designed to accommodate consultants or agency staff individuals with diverse backgrounds who want or need to improve their knowledge of, and skills with, vernal pool vegetation and habitats. The class is being designed to specifically accommodate the needs of the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service.

Three-day combination of lecture and field exercises. Using classroom and field exercises, the workshop will focus on the role of plant population monitoring for adaptive management. Participants will learn how to develop good management objectives Topics cover principles of sampling and several sampling designs, field techniques for measuring vegetation, analyzing monitoring data and presenting results. Participants will receive a copy of the BLM-published book, Measuring and Monitoring Plant Populations by Caryl Elzinga, Dan Salzer, and John Willoughby.

One-day of lecture followed by two days of field trips to Redwood Creek watershed in Marin and Delta/Central Valley riparian field sites (vicinity of the Cosumnes preserve). Please join CNPS and Stillwater Sciences for a three-day, riparian ecology and restoration workshop in Davis. This workshop will include a day of lecture and discussion that provides a conceptual framework for riparian ecology and the natural processes that sustain riparian systems (day 1). The remaining days will include at-site lectures and field visits to riparian areas within a one to two hour drive of Davis. In the field, we will see how riparian systems function from the source waters to the river mouth, and visit restoration sites that demonstrate a broad range of approaches and techniques. The strengths and concerns associated with each will be discussed, as well as the practical challenges (and solutions) that arise in the planning, implementation and monitoring phases of riparian restoration and management.

First evening presentation followed by two field days interspersed with lab identification exercises. California is rich in wetland ecosystems. They are found across all geographic regions of the state where a combination of topography and hydrology result in saturated conditions at least part of the year. The valleys and rugged terrain of eastern Mendocino County are an ideal location for the study of wetland systems commonly found across the state. These include perennial streams, ponds, and marshes, as well as small intermittent tributary streams, vernal pools, seeps, and springs. This workshop will include field trips to the Hopland Field Station and Little Lake Valley north of Willits to observe plant communities and soil characteristics of different wetland types, and the influences of topography and hydrology. Plants of the sedge (Cyperaceae), rush (Juncaceae), and grass (Poaceae) families are well-represented in this region and will be the focus of the class. Participants will have the opportunity to identify difficult plants during scheduled day and evening lab sessions.

First evening presentation followed by two field days. This field-based workshop will focus on regional endemics of the Eddys, Scott, and Trinity Mountains, within the triangle circumscribed by the towns of Redding, Mt. Shasta, and Weaverville. This landscape is not only geologically and topographically complex, but is also very old. We will see many rare plants that are confined to ultramafic (“serpentine’) substrates, and will also see rare plants that are generalists. Habitats we will visit include Jeffrey pine/incense cedar woodlands, mixed conifer-oak forests, extensive rock outcrops, and Darlingtonia wetlands.

Three-day combination of lecture/lab/ and field exercises. Participants will learn about vegetation sampling, classification, and photo interpretation in this hands-on workshop presented jointly by CNPS, the California Department of Fish and Game, and Aerial Information Services. In field and computer lab exercises you will practice creating a vegetation map using Geographic Information Systems, collect reconnaissance samples to support the 2nd edition of a Manual of California Vegetation classification, and practice techniques of photo interpretation, delineation, and attribution. You will also learn how to validate a vegetation map through accuracy assessment.

Evening lecture on 28th followed by two days in field and 2nd evening lecture. Few botanists journey out in the late summer or early fall in search of colorful blooms of California’s desert plants. Yet the early fall bloom in the eastern Mojave Desert can be more reliable than the more popular spring blooms. Approximately 10% of eastern Mojave annuals are considered “summer annuals”, species that germinate following the monsoonal cloudbursts of summer, grow rapidly, and complete the life cycle before temperatures decline sharply in fall. In addition, many perennial species flower in early fall, particularly those of the Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Polygonaceae. This course will introduce botanists to the ecology and taxonomy of the diverse flora of early fall in the eastern Mojave Desert, with special emphasis on rare or unique species.

Three days of classroom exercises and case studies. Environmental negotiations are often more complex than other negotiations due to their technical complexity, regulatory complexity, interest from many parties, and often, the emotional nature of the parties. This 3 day workshop will provide attendees improved skills for effectively participating in environmental negotiations. This workshop presents basic negotiation concepts (e.g., Fisher and Ury’s, “Getting to Yes” series) and specific environmental issue applications. Participants will learn simple processes to prepare for negotiations and reinforce skills through practice negotiations of increasing complexity. Negotiation simulations and role playing are used to provide a fun and safe way to learn negotiation principles. In addition, everyone is encouraged prepare for upcoming (real life) negotiations during this course. This course emphasizes using principled negotiation approaches. The attendees are taught to recognize commonly encountered tactics and shown productive responses. Guest presenters will provide examples of successful negotiations. The skills taught in this class help many reduce anxiety about negotiating while helping to achieve successful outcomes. Course materials provide useful tools for future negotiations.