Shrub-steppe to Meadows to Peaks
The 2022 WOS Annual Conference represents a unique time in our history, both organizationally and nationally, as we emerge from a pandemic and a three-year hiatus from meeting together face to face at our annual conference. We are celebrating this opportunity and invite you to join us in sampling the avian diversity of arid shrub-steppe rangelands, mountain meadows, and forested peaks. And all of it in the company of fellow birders. Some you have known for years and some you hope to know for years to come. Sound intriguing?
“Shrub-steppe to Meadows to Peaks”
Shrub-steppe to Meadows to Peaks is the theme for the 2022 WOS annual conference. The conference will be held June 9-12, 2022, based out of The CenterPlace Event Center in Spokane Valley, WA. The Planning Team (Jennifer Kauffman, Kim Thorburn, Cindy McCormick, Jon Houghton and Dave Kreft) has put together a full slate of field trips Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On-the-Way field trips are being set up, as well, for those traveling across the state. Trips will be exploring the Channeled Scablands, Palouse Prairie, Columbia and Spokane River valleys, and the mysteries of Pend Oreille County and the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. A couple of owling trips are being offered.
Friday evening will have a no host social hour and light dinner, followed by the popular “Stump the Experts” Bird Quiz Night featuring Dennis Paulson and Shep Thorp. Saturday evening will include the social hour followed by a banquet dinner. Our keynote speaker will be Mike Munts, Refuge Biologist on the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. Mike will speak about his favorite bird, Strix nebulosa.
The CenterPlace Event Center is a state-of-the-art facility with top notch catering. The nearby Tru by Hilton hotel will have a block of rooms for us and there are numerous hotels, restaurants, and shopping within minutes of the conference.
Again, welcome to Spokane Valley, and the Board and I hope you have a wonderful time!
Good Birding, Everyone!
Jennifer Kauffman, WOS President