The Montana Natural History Center is your base camp for discovery.

Note our summer hours: Tuesday – Friday from noon – 5 pm and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm. Bring your family to enjoy fun activities and natural history exploration each Saturday, and admission for MNHC Members is always free.

June 2007 at your Montana Natural History Center
www.MontanaNaturalist.org

What’s happening outside:
Look for shooting star, arrowleaf balsamroot, stone crop, blue flax and Indian paintbrush.
Listen for chorus frogs.
Calliope hummingbirds are incubating eggs.
Downy woodpeckers and mountain bluebirds are feeing their young.
Moose calves are born.

Summer Science Discovery Camps Open for Registration.

Day camp programs are available each week starting June 11th. Camps meet from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm with extended drop off and pick up hours from 8:00-9:00am and 4:00-5:00pm. Visit our website to see what exciting topics we’ll explore this summer! To register, visit us at 120 Hickory Street in Missoula, print and mail your registration from home or call 327-0405 and register by phone!

If you’d like to be notified about Fun Kids’ Activities happening this fall please send Jessie an e-mail at programs@montananaturalist.org or call 327-0405.

Saturday Discovery Day: Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk
Saturday, May 26, 2007
2 pm-4:30 pm
$20 Class Fee, $15 Members
Meet at the Montana Natural History Center, 120 Hickory Street, Missoula.

Come on an herb walk with Missoula's own herbalist Elaine Sheff, owner of Meadowsweet Herbs. Elaine will take us through Greenough Park where we will explore both native and naturalized medicinal plants including motherwort, nettles, hawthorn, burdock, dandelion, horsetail and many more.

Elaine Sheff has been studying medicinal plants since 1987. A Clinical Herbalist, she is a graduate of both the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies and the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. Elaine teaches herb classes throughout the western United States and is the founder and co-owner of Meadowsweet Herbs in Missoula, Montana.
Space is limited, registration required – call 327-0405.

Sunday June 3, 2007
Morels and More Mushroom Hunt with Larry Evans
12pm – 4 pm Montana Natural History Center 120 Hickory St. Missoula, MT 59801
$20 Class Fee, $15 MNHC & WMMA members

Join expert wild mushroom hunter Larry Evans as he stalks the wild mushroom. He will be sure to show you ways to locate your favorite fungi as how to distinguish foul from favorable. Larry’s ability to detect mushrooms is uncanny so bring a basket and your favorite mushroom recipes.

Larry Evans earned his B.S. in Botany with a minor in Microbiology from University of Montana. He has been collecting mushrooms and teaching about them since 1980. Larry is the founder of the Western Montana Mycological Association and edits the Fungal Jungle newsletter. He works as contributing editor for Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming.
Space is limited, registration required – call 327-0405.

Woad Warriors Part 2- Prairie Keepers
Tuesday June 5, 6:30 pm
Meet at the M trail, be prepared to walk a few miles.
Help the Clark Fork Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society pull invading woad from the native prairies of Mt. Sentinel.
Call 327-0405 or see http://prairiekeepers.dbs.umt.edu for more information.

John Toole Park Weed Pull-Prairie Keepers
Tuesday June 12, 6:30 pm
Meet just north of the Waterwise Garden, near Kim Williams trail.
Help John Pierce and other volunteers continue to restore the native grasslands of old Missoula Valley. Bring a tool for weeding.
Call John at 542-2640 for more information.

Weeds to Wildflowers Walk on Mount Jumbo- Prairie Keepers
Thursday June 14, 7 pm
Meet at the Lincoln Hills Trailhead
Join Morgan Valliant for a guided tour of Mt. Jumbo's native plants and noxious weeds along the saddle trail.
Call 327-0405 or see http://prairiekeepers.dbs.umt.edu for more information.

Woad Warriors Part 3- Prairie Keepers
Tuesday June 19, 6:30 pm
Meet at the M Trail, be prepared to walk a few miles.
Help the Clark Fork Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society pull dyer's woad from the native prairies of Mount Sentinel.
Call 327-0405 or see http://prairiekeepers.dbs.umt.edu for more information.

Annual Volunteer Appreciation Potluck
Thursday June 21, 5:30 pm.
A big thank-you to all of the wonderful volunteers who contribute to MNHC!!!!!
Please call 327-0405 to RSVP and to get directions.

Saturday June 30
Saturday Discovery Day - Black Mountain Fire - 4 years later
8 am - 11am
Meet at Montana Natural History Center, 120 Hickory St.
$20 Class Fee, $15 MNHC members

Join local experts Sue Reel and Dick Hutto for another chance to visit the Black Mountain fire site on Blue Mountain. Bring your binos to check out species that thrive after fire: black-backed woodpecker, mountain bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire and dark-eyed junco. We will also see plenty of bark beetles, butterflies and wildflowers.

Sue Reel is a wildlife educator for Lolo National Forest. Dick Hutto is an ornithologist at the University of Montana and Director of the Avian Science Center.

Space is limited. Registration is required.

Membership supports educational programs and exhibits!
Join our Membership Drive and give the gift of education. You can make your gift online at www.MontanaNaturalist.org. Help celebrate 15 years of MNHC discoveries!

MNHC is an independent non-profit organization celebrating its 15th Anniversary.
Become a member and support MNHC’s mission of promoting and cultivating the appreciation, understanding and stewardship of nature through education. Members receive discounts on programs, special invitations, free admission to the MNHC Discovery Center, and the knowledge that they are supporting natural history education in local schools.
MNHC is a proud member of Montana Shares.

Feel free to forward this to friends who might enjoy learning more about
the Montana Natural History Center.

120 Hickory Street, Missoula, Montana 59801

406.327.0405

www.MontanaNaturalist.org

Copyright © 2007