The Olympic Natural Resources Center, 1455 S. Forks Ave., has two Evening Talks lined up for March at this time. We are fortunate to have two local presenters on two important issues facing us on the West End. First up: Dr. Tom Rosmond will be presenting at 7 p.m. Friday, March 11, on “Living by the Cascadia Subduction Zone — Waiting for the Big One!”

This presentation will be in the Hemlock Forest Room at the ONRC at 7 p.m. In the event of a major earthquake the bridges are not the only thing that all of us and the authorities are worried about.

Come and learn more. The experts say it is not if but when we may be faced with a major earthquake. For us on the West End of Clallam County we will need to be prepared for such an event as we will be on our own before outside help will be available. Being prepared is the prudent thing to do. Dr. Rosmond has volunteered to have an Evening Talk on this important subject.

Dr. Rosmond received his B.S and M.S. in Physical Oceanography from the University of Washington. He later received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the university as well. Dr. Rosmond’s career included working for the Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory. He directed and led the development of the U.S. Navy’s operational global atmospheric predictions system.

Dr. Rosmond was involved as the primary architect of this system as it evolved over several generations of computer architectures. Upon retiring from civil service, Dr. Rosmond joined the Science Applications International Corporation in 2005. He resides on the Olympic Peninsula near Forks.

He is very pro-active and concerned for our entire community’s safety. One note about our local volunteer fire districts, Tom Rosmond, former Fire Commissioner District No. 6 and District No. 6 Fire Chief Jeff Baysinger would say that volunteers are needed throughout all the fire districts. The bottom line is you can never have enough volunteers. Think about joining your local volunteer district if possible, or at least supporting their efforts. They might be our only local support after the “Big One.”

 

 

Our second Evening Talk is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, March 14, at ONRC. We are fortunate to have Ms. Jill Silver, executive director and watershed program manager of the 10,000 Years Institute to speak to us about the realities of “Invasive Species and Salmon Restoration.” Ms. Silver is an ecologist with project experience in natural resource planning, watershed analysis, habitat restoration and development of watershed-scale conservation programs.

Ms. Silver’s academic training is in riverine and wetland ecology, geomorphology and community planning. Ms. Silver has been active in the river riparian restoration field for many years.

A majority of her work is within the Hoh River watershed. The key message of her talk is that succession of invasive plants species that fundamentally interfere with riparian processes and function must be controlled. Non-native and aggressive species such as knotweed, reed canarygrass, Scotch broom and herb Robert are proven to eliminate biodiversity and natural succession in native mixed and coniferous riparian forests.

Please join us! Evening Talks at ONRC is funded through the Rosmond Forestry Education Fund, an endowment that honors the contributions of Fred Rosmond and his family to forestry and the Forks community. Refreshments will be served and a potluck of your favorite dessert is encouraged. For more information, contact Frank Hanson at 374-4556 or fsh2@uw.edu.