Cultivating native plants is essential for the health of local habitats and the conservation of natural resources, including water. Due to the dire impact of climate change on native species, gardeners, scientists, and urban foresters are introducing adaptive species to support urban and wild habitats and communities through an uncertain future. These initiatives are raising concerns about the impact of adaptive species on native habitats. Sometimes, these concerns are compounded by existing confusion between adaptive and invasive species, while opposition to non-native species can telegraph anti-immigrant sentiments. We’ve invited local advocates and experts who embrace a diversity of perspectives to join us for a conversation on the relationship between native and adaptive species, the complex distinctions between adaptive and invasive plants, and the importance of disentangling xenophobia from environmental advocacy. Join us at the beautiful Wright Park!

This event is possible thanks to Tacoma Creates. 

Panelists:

Christopher Briden, Puyallup Tribal Language Department

Gail Sklar, Native Plant Steward and Master Gardener

Gail Sklar moved to Washington in 2015 from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, retiring after 44 years as an educator to be closer to her beautiful family. She was a Master Gardener in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, there she served as president of that group. In 2016 Gail enrolled in a Native Plant Steward class and in 2016 took her training and became

a Natural Area Steward for China Lake Park in Tacoma.  Gail also became very active in the South Sound Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS).

In 2018, she became, not only Chair of the Native Plant Appreciation Week efforts for the South Sound Chapter, but also for Washington Native Plant Society at the state level.  It has become, under her leadership, Native Plant Appreciation Month.  On the South Sound Board, she serves as a director. She presently serves as the President to the State Board of WNPS and on 9 other committees.

Promoting native plants is not new to Gail.  While living in the east, Gail worked to remove invasive plants and replace them with natives on her two-acre property, while encouraging her neighbors to do the same.  As a Penn State Master Gardener and now a WSU Master Gardener, she helps her neighbors identify invasive plants, and replace them with our natives.  In her 8 years as Native Plant Steward/Natural Area Steward, she leads work parties on the first Saturday of every month and bakes cookies for her volunteers at China Lake Park.  More people visit the park now and thank her for the improvements to the park.

Jenny Liou, Research Fellow and Educator

Jenny Liou is a Research Fellow at the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, where she focuses on multidisciplinary salmon habitat restoration. She is also interested in how the conventions of storytelling can be used to generate multi-stakeholder buy-in for restoration projects in agricultural contexts where there has

has traditionally been conflict between farmers and restorationists. Jenny grew up in Moscow, Idaho, before receiving a BS in biology and a PhD in the literature and philosophy of science from the University of California, Irvine. She has taught English and environmental studies at the Nez Perce branch of Northwest Indian College and is currently an Assistant Professor of English at Pierce College. When she’s not researching salmon, Jenny is actively publishing poetry or training jiu jitsu and muay thai.

Michael Yadrick, Ecological Restoration Practitioner

My family and I live in Tacoma on the traditional lands of the Puyallup Tribe. My ancestry includes Irish, Colombian, and Slavic roots, several generations removed from farming and mining livelihoods. As an ecological restoration practitioner, my day job is at Tacoma Environmental Services supporting Open Space restoration efforts. I am also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and former AmeriCorps volunteer, and also serves on the Board of Tacoma Tree Foundation. I endeavor to bring love, compassion, and harm reduction to his restoration practice while unsettling colonial conservation

practices. I value accountability, and I train hard in a high operational tempo while cultivating long-term working relationships. You'll often find me in the local parks, running in the mountains or plunging in the Salish Sea.

Tim Lehman, Indigenous Planning Strategist, City of Seattle

Northern Arapaho Landscape Designer and Urban Planner. Tim has lived in the Seattle area for over 30 years and has been passionately working with Indigenous communities across the United States for 15 years. It is our job as planners and designers to help empower the citizens and communities we work for on current social and environmental issues. We are a means to an end of acutely impoverished urban communities, environmental degradation and social injustices that are a result of misappropriated urban development and a current planning system that is not working for disadvantaged communities. Tim’s work reflects who he is, and he wants to turn the communities he works

for into places that citizens are happy to call home. Tim has a Master’s in Landscape Architecture and a Master’s in Urban Design and Planning and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography, all from the University of Washington. He is currently the Indigenous Planning Strategist for the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development. Tim is also a Lecturer, reviewer, researcher, and mentor for the University of Landscape Architecture Program.

Moderator:

Lowell Wyse, Executive Director of Tacoma Tree Foundation

After a career in higher education, I joined the Tacoma Tree Foundation team in 2021, first as a board member and then as a staff member. Since October 2021, I have served as Executive Director, which means I am in charge of the work we do to fulfill our mission as a community-based organization. Everywhere I go, I get to tell the story of how the people who love Tacoma are coming together to create a greener and more resilient urban area after enduring generations of

environmental harm. On both sides of my family, I come from a long line of teachers and land stewards. My worldview is shaped by being a descendant both of Swiss-German Mennonite farmers who moved to Ohio’s Maumee Watershed seeking religious freedom and also of the Ojibwe people who continue to steward the lands and waters around Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. I grew up on our family farm in Michigan and have also lived in the Great Plains, the Hopi territory in northern Arizona, the Chicago metro area, and the Barranco neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Now I live and work in downtown Tacoma and volunteer on the Sustainable Tacoma Commission. I am deeply motivated by the values of community, justice, stewardship, resilience, storytelling, and placemaking. When I need to recharge, you might see me running with my dog in Point Defiance or surfing on the Northwest coast. Pronouns: he/him/his. Hablo español.