Marcy Cottrell Houle’s, “Forest Park; Exploring Portland’s Natural Sanctuary,” published this past February by Oregon State University Press replaces her very successful and much trusted “One City’s Wilderness,” and provides all who would be interested in exploring this truly noteworthy place both a history and a guidebook for their journeys.
Odd as it may sound, I first became aware of Ed Ricketts many years before I knew who he was. Little did I know that as I was watching the 1982 film Cannery Row that the fascinating character of Doc being portrayed by Nick Nolte was inspired by an even more fascinating character: Edward F. Ricketts.
For those of who react allergically to grass, being able to identify one species from another is not only helpful, but in serious cases it can be potentially life saving as one thus knows when one is in the presence of a species that may cause a particularly severe respiratory reaction. The challenge is that the grasses are one of the trickiest of all the plant families to get sorted, and the sheer number of them here in Oregon and Washington – native and introduced – approaches four hundred when subspecies and varieties are included.
As abalone has long been such a popular source of both food and decoration to humans, given the number of the latter so rapidly increasing over recent years, it’s not surprising that the populations of many of abalone species are already, or are now beginning to be, of conservation concern.