T
he high, tight crisscrosses of our neighbor’s ash trees suspend the abandoned bulky nests of last summer’s resident crows. Upon the oval tangles, the deep December snow piled high like formal top hats of white ermine. Sunny days quickly softened their edges, lick by lick, and shrunk them into slumped whipped cream dollops that stuck for weeks. With January’s freezing rain the tangled nests became balls of silver brittle, their twists and turns emitting minute sparkles, promises for a new year, a new decade. Foggy mornings churned up the thickest frosting. What next? Mashed potatoes? Snow, rain, fog, and frost, top hats, whipped cream, frosting and, now, mashed potatoes? You might suspect: I’ve been sequestered in-house by all. But there’s plenty of catching up to do, like rereading notes from South Dakota State Biologist, Dave Ode’s talk at last September’s Master Gardeners’ state meeting. On that sunny crisp day, when the ground still offered firm, non-slip footing, he guided us among the Cactus Hills and explained the plants and ecology of this unique region so near to Sioux Falls. He also tutored us in the existence and use of a consortium called NatureServe www.natureserve.org, presenting it as “an online encyclopedia of life.” NatureServe represents an international network of biological inventories known as Natural Heritage Programs or conservation data centers that
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operate in all fifty U.S. states, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. According to the NatureServe website, “Natural Heritage Programs collect and manage detailed local information on plants, animals, and ecosystems and develop informational products, data management tools, and conservation services to help meet local, national, and global conservation needs.” The Nature Conservancy helped to establish the first Natural Heritage Program in 1974. Natural Heritage Programs are the recognized sources for the most complete and detailed information of rare and endangered species for government agencies, corporations, and the conservation community. Nearly 1000 scientists support 82 international inventories that are tracked with the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system. While the combined Natural Heritage Programs are found under www.natureserve.org, the South Dakota portion, established in 1981, is administered through the S.D. Department of Game Fish and Parks (SDGFP). I went to www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/diversity/index.htm and clicked on “Rare Plants.” Up came a November 2009 list of 200 rare, threatened, and endangered vascular plant species that are tracked by the SDGFP. What percentage is this of total, wild vascular South Dakota plants? In 1985, then University of South Dakota Professor, Dr. Ted VanBruggen noted the number
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