ENHS Nature Trails November 2004 Article 1

This month's speaker: Ellen Morris Bishop

"It is a very compelling story, and also quite logical and inspiring--beautiful tropical islands meet a slow but violent death in a collision, are resurrected into a new landscape on the continent's western brink while the next generations of volcanoes build the shoreline westward, and the continent once again collides with an innocent and unsuspecting terrane, adding it to the great North American amalgam. I think Faulkner wrote about the same sort of themes, but used human characters instead of volcanoes and island arcs." www.timberpress.com/newsletter/archives/2003_10.cfm#iw

These words of Ellen Morris Bishop from a Timber Press interview I found online give a delightful hint as to the vibrancy and depth of knowledge we'll enjoy at this month's talk. If you love Oregon's topography, you won't want to miss the photographs Dr. Bishop has taken accompanied by her keen insight into the evolution of Oregon's geology.

In our interview with Ellen she gave us additional insight into herself when she told us: "Nature is not a hobby, it is my life, and connecting people to it in ways that help preserve the wild and wildlife is one of the most important parts of my work." Like many of our other speakers, she came from a family that fostered the creative spirit and encouraged discovery. She actually can't remember anyone discouraging her from following her interests, at home or at school. Here's how she says she spent her growing up years: "I grew up on a small farm in rural Connecticut that was completely surrounded by a huge, forested watershed, I spend part of every day exploring the woods, streams, and hills. I came to regard deer, rabbits, and other wildlife as my best friends, the outdoors as my home, and still am very closely connected with wild lands and wild places.

"My parents were both commercial artists and designers. They influenced my vision of the world, helping me see color, pattern, and composition in everything, although they did so unintentionally, I think. They were also avid readers. My mother, especially, loved nature and animals, and during our walks in the woods together she taught me a great deal, not only about wildlife, but also about how to observe, how to listen, how to learn, and the importance of respecting and loving even the smallest bit of Creation.

"Mary Jo Cornish, an 11th grade English teacher, introduced me to real writers, including Dylan Thomas, Hemingway, and Eugene O'Neil. She took us to plays, encouraged creative thinking, and demanded rigorous analysis. She was fired by the school board for doing all three (and requiring that we read and think beyond the Readers Digest.) But she was the first (and only) teacher in the schools who truly valued creativity and art. She encouraged my writing and artistic expression."

Travel that offers reality
"Nepal, (Anapurna Circuit) 2004. I plan to return next spring to visit a Tibetan friend I made there and travel to Mustang (Lo Manthang) with her. Our almost daily email correspondence keeps me in touch with the reality of the rest of the globe."

Editor's note: My own curiosity inspired me to look up Mustang (3,750 meters), and I learned that to get there is a challenge for even the most industrious trekkers as this area does not offer the usual tea houses that provide shelter and food along the way according to one internet source. The bitter winds and soil of the red-brown rock and sand desert plateau of Mustang can barely supply the local population with its own needs. And those planning to visit this region, quite far up the Kaligandaki Gorge, must bring all of their own supplies from Kathmandu (1,350 m.). It's only since 1991 that the Home Ministry of Nepal has allowed outside visitors into the region of the ancient walled city of Lo in order to preserve the culture of the region.

THE LURE OF GEOLOGY
Dr. Bishop says that she always wanted to be a geologist: "I think it's partly the aesthetics of rocks and the need to be out-of-doors. And partly the history and stories. I specialized in petrology and tectonics because the saga of how Oregon and North America were built was interesting, and also (and mostly) because to study the rocks, I had to spend lots of time in Northeast Oregon's mountains and wilderness areas." Ellen's interest in Oregon in particular stems from a book her parents gave her at the age of six, titled Little Appaloosa. It's the story of a Nez Perce Indian and his Appaloosa horse. "So from a very early age I decided I wanted to see these horses and get to know the people who raised them. I was also enthralled with the story of Lewis and Clark (and Seaman). And then there were all those Cascade volcanoes . . . . What more could an incipient young geologist ask for?"

Ellen received her BA degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and then earned both her MS and PhD at Oregon State University. Her thesis research was centered on the Greenhorn Mountains and the area from John Day to Baker City, where some of Oregon's oldest rocks can be found, telling us about Oregon's earliest geologic hisory. "To understand them, one had to learn about the Klamath's rocks of the same age, and then [one] begins to wonder what happened next? So subsequently, I began to research the Clarno Formation--Oregon's first native volcanoes. But there's always the question ’ÄòAnd then what happened?'

October 28, 2004, Ellen Morris Bishop was announced as a Finalist for the Oregon Book Award in non-fiction for In Search of Ancient Oregon, and that's what we're going to hear about Friday night: "From its earliest times, at least 300 million years ago, Oregon's landscapes and exotic terranes have been built, welded, and honed by volcanoes and volcanic processes. I'll talk about that history, and also about the variety of ecosystems and climates that have evolved here, along with Oregon's geolgic heritage."

BESIDES WRITING, READING, HIKING AND DISCOVERING:
"I work as an educator and educational development specialist with Wallowa resources, a sustainable forestry/community organization in Wallowa county. We have developed a 3-course (soon to be 6-course) program in sustainable forestry and land management, a new part of Oregon State University's Forestry curricula which will be taught in Wallowa County. We have developed programs with the local schools, including a Friday School that involves kids learning about and researching their local forests, wildlife, and streams (and sharing their findings with the community), and Outdoor Schools where kids spend a week exploring and researching a publicly-accessible location, and the whole class or school writes a field guide to that place for the public. We offer teacher workshops, and are developing a series of educational tours, workshops and adventures. I invite you all to come out and learn about Wallowa County's landscapes and Oregon's geologic and ecologic history." Ellen lives in Enterprise, Oregon.

Editor's Note: I have encouraged Ellen to bring a few copies of her books Friday evening for those who might like to purchase a copy and have it signed by the author, and perhaps, even her dog.

Books by Ellen Morris Bishop:
In search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History
Best Hikes With Dogs: Oregon with John Eliot Allen
Hiking Oregon's Geology
and with many others, Oregon Wild: Endangered Forest Wilderness

AND ANOTHER WAY TO VIEW OREGON'S GEOLOGY
Oregon's geology hasn't always nurtured curiosity and excitement about its formation and evolution. Tales from early settlers on the Lewis and Clark trail included not only the awe and admiration of the early explorers but also the discouragement and disillusionment of some of its settlers. One early pioneer, Overton Johnson, wrote in his journal: "This is, perhaps the most rugged desert and dreary country between the borders of the United States and the shores of the Pacific. It is nothing less than a wild rocky barren wilderness, or wrecked and ruined nature, a vast field of volcanic desolation." And from another pioneer disenchanted with the geology, Sarah Cummins writes: "The traveling was slow and toilsome; slopes and gullies alike were almost impassible for man and beast. As night was coming on, it seemed we all must perish."

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