WNPS NEWS 
2000 Annual Meeting : The Society’s annual 
meeting was held in the parking lot of the Shirley Basin 
rest area on 17 June. Bad weather prior to the meeting 
may have kept the crowd small (6 members and 2 dogs 
were in attendance), but those who did come were 
greeted to wonderful, warm, sunny summer conditions. 
Prior to botanizing, we conducted a brief business 
meeting, in which the results of the Society’s elections 
were announced (thankfully there were no write-in votes 
for Ross Perot this year). Those elected for the 
2000/2001 term were: President - Amy Roderick Taylor 
(formerly of Laramie, but now from Crested Butte, CO), 
Vice President - Joy Handley (Laramie), Secretary/ 
Treasurer - Walter Fertig (Laramie), 2-year board 
member - Jim Ozenberger (Jackson). Steve Laster 
remains as the carry-over Board member. Thanks were 
extended to out-going officers Laura Welp and Nina 
Haas for their stellar contributions to the club. 
Meeting attendees voted on two sites for next year’s 
field trips. The Bighorn Range was selected for the 
annual meeting/field trip (tentatively scheduled for next 
June) and the Sierra Madre was chosen for a second trip 
in July. Look for more details on these outings in a 
future issue of the newsletter. 
In one other item of business, it was announced that 
the Society has officially been granted non-profit tax 
exempt status by the IRS. Thanks go to former Board 
Member Nina Haas for tracking down and filling out 
numerous governmental forms and Charmaine Delmatier 
for getting the process initiated during her term as 
President. WF 
Y2K -^ 1 Student Scholarship : Thanks to generous 
contributions by WNPS members, the society’s annual 
student scholarship is available once again for qualified 
junior college or university undergraduate or graduate 
students. One to three scholarships will be awarded in 
the amount of $300-500. Interested students should 
contact the Secretary of the Society for an application 
form. Applications are due by 12 February 2001 . 
Winners will be announced by the Board in March. 
New Members : Please welcome the following new 
and returning members of WNPS: Gay Austin 
(Gunnison, CO), Biodiversity Associates (Laramie), Elaine 
Ebbert (Piedmont, SD), Donald Garvin (Oklahoma City, 
OK), Jacqueline Hauptman (Rapid City, SD), Jean 
Jorgensen (Jackson), Barbara Love (Worland), Jacob 
Smith (Boulder, CO), Joe Vukelich (Cody), and Linda 
Zierer (Sturgis, SD). 
WeVe looking for new members : Do you know 
someone who would be interested in joining WNPS? 
Send their name or encourage them to contact the 
Society for a complimentary newsletter. 
Attention Readers : We are always looking for 
articles and illustrations for the newsletter. Items for 
the December issue are needed by 11 December 2000. 
Treasurer’s Report : Balance as of 1 7 October 2000: 
General Fund $698.58; 2000-2001 Student Scholarship 
Fund $527.50; Total funds: $1226.08 
Wyoming Native Plant Society 
PO Box 3452, Laramie, WY 82071 
President: Amy Roderick Taylor (Crested Butte, CO) 
Vice President: Joy Handley (Laramie) 
Secretary-Treasurer: Walter Fertig (Laramie) 
Board Members: Steve Laster (Pinedale) 
Jim Ozenberger (Jackson) 
Newsletter Editor: Walter Fertig (307) 766-3020 (wk)/e- 
mail: clyde@uwyo.edu . 
Teton Chapter: PO Box 82, Wilson, WY 83014 (Joan 
Lucas, Treasurer). 
Contributors to this issue: John Baxter, Jane Dorn, 
Robert Dorn (RD), Walter Fertig (WF), Gretchen Hurley. 
Field Trip Reports 
Annual Meeting - Shirley Basin/Shirley 
Mountains: Following a brief business meeting 
(discussed above), the group proceeded to Chalk 
Mountain, a prominent, whitish limey-sandstone butte on 
the west rim of the Shirley Basin as it drops into Bates 
Hole. Fortunately the road was dry (it had been raining 
and snowing the previous week), and we were able to 
attain the bench-like summit with ease. We were 
greeted by a tremendous show of blooming wildflowers, 
many of which were ground-hugging cushion species. 
Among the notable finds was Laramie false sagebrush 
{Sphaeromeria simplex) growing in thin chalky soils 
intermixed with its more widespread cousin. Capitate 
false sagebrush (S. capitata). Laramie false sagebrush is 
restricted to southeastern Wyoming, and was once 
thought to occur only on the outskirts of an active 
limestone quarry in Laramie. In the past 5 years, nearly 
a dozen new populations have been discovered along 
the western foothills of the Laramie Range and mesas in 
the Shirley Basin. These populations are often quite 
large, so S. simplex is no longer as critically endangered 
as once thought. Other uncommon plants we observed 
on the top of Chalk Butte included Daggett rockcress 
{Arabis pendulinavar. russeola), Nuttall’s Easter-daisy 
{Townsendia nuttallii), Tufted cryptantha {Cryptantha 
caespitosa), Mat buckwheat {Eriogonum acaule), Alpine 
fever-few {Parthenium alpinum), and Fuzzytongue 
penstemon {Penstemon eriantherus). 
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