Over long stretches of time when native plants disappear, so do native insects, birds, and animals dependent upon them for food (and larva hosts for butterflies, etc.) Indirect and with the passage of time, few notice. For some animals, extinction has been assisted by man in shorter periods of time, some 30 larger genera disappearing in North America since the last Ice Age.  Consider the Columbia Mammoth that roamed our area less than 10,000 years ago, recent evidence coming from Everett’s Hat Island 20 miles SW of the Gardens.  Or remember the 30-foot-long Steller Sea Cow first observed in 1741; 27 years later they were gone from the face of the Earth.  We are on our way to a World with but a few bird species and fewer animal.  Plants that hold unknown secrets are of much concern. There are 275,000 known vascular plant species worldwide, with Cascadia Floristic Region hosting but 900, most largely unstudied for their medical properties.  They silently go extinct.  Our governments could easily propagate and secure Cascadia’s native plant’s futures by annually planting a few acres here and there on state owned lands.  Instead, we plant (use) our public forest land with a single species clone; we are careless.

https://www.inlander.com/news/the-palouse-mammoths-2172745
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/why-did-the-last-ice-age-end
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/a-lot-can-be-learned-from-a-mammoth-molar/
https://www.oregonlive.com/today/2016/01/mammoth_bones_unearthed_at_ore.html
https://thesubtimes.com/2023/05/29/finding-a-pacific-northwest-woolly-mammoth-article/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Mammoth&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

Mammoths used to live in this area.  Approximately how many years ago?

10,000
1,000
100

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