Tiny and Endangered - So What? - Friday Night Talk

As small as your thumbnail, and as subtle as the orange-brown clays of the Cascade-Siskiyou itself, the Klamath Mardon Skipper is the most unassuming butterfly - yet is also the bellwether of watershed health, surviving in the upper most reaches of the Rogue and Klamath River Basins. Found nowhere else in the world besides the subalpine meadows of the Cascade-Siskiyou, this species has been rapidly declining in the last decade.Join Jeanine Moy as she brings you along through the native bunchgrasses and seablush flowers for a butterly-eye view of the Monument. Hear the story of a rare and imperiled species, and learn about our chance to come together and protect the land that both the Mardon and our communities rely on. Participants will gain opportunities to become involved and take action for meadow habitat conservation and restoration.

Jeanine Moy has a rich relationship with the land now known as the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument; she has led educational excursions here for 15 years, has lived through several winters in the Cascade-Siskiyou mountains, spent a year in community organizing for the campaign to expand the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, was a Artist-in-Residency with the Friends of the CSNM in 2018, and works to advocate for its rare species and special places. She continues to enjoy summer afternoons exploring the wildflowers and butterflies of the Cascade-Siskiyou upland meadows.As a naturalist, educator, creative, organizer, and backcountry adventurer, Jeanine is drawn to interdisciplinary projects that benefit human and more-than-human communities. Through founding and directing the Vesper Meadow Education Program and Restoration Preserve, she works to build broad engagement in biocultural restoration and integrate diverse perspectives in conservation. She has lived in southern Oregon for the past 15 years and is grateful for experiences such as working at the Klamath Bird Observatory, the Willow Wind Community Education Center, and the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center.

The Friday Hike and Learn sessions will take place in the Ashland Food Co-op Community Classroom at 300 N. Pioneer in Ashland from 6:00 to 7:30pm. The classroom is one block toward downtown from the grocery store on N 1st Street. This Eventbrite is for the Friday Talk ONLY, register for Saturday hike HERE. Attendance to Friday Night Talks is limited to 40 people.

Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is a nonprofit organization and our mission is to support the protection, restoration and conservation of the monument through service, advocacy and education. Our Hike and Learn programs are designed to introduce the public to different topics and locations within the Monument. Hike and Learns are co-created with local scientists, historians, artists, students, and more.

Cover photo: Mardon on clay soil by David Lee Meyers Photography