"...I couldn't pass up a chance to riff with fatplant..." That was why I asked what I was missing. Although I've heard a lot of info that I've disagreed with over the years from others, I was baffled at what you were saying. It didn't sound at all like you! ;~) "...my whole family is saddened by the very visible effects logging has on our community." ' I, too, have been horrified at the logging going on around me! :~( It was all but shut down, until 'shrub' campained his "Healthy Forests" scam up here. I can be arrested if I collect Cyps, Darlingtonias, etc, but it's acceptable to run over them with a Caterpillar! Virtually all of the fishing streams are protect from fishing, but it's fine to fill them with silt from the logging runoff. It's all being sent to Japan anyway and doing the locals no good, especially in the long run. It's like trying to protect the "Golden Goose" and being out voted by the other geese!:~( "I collect natives for my personal collection and for conservation." Good for you!! :~) I have no problems with responsible stewardship! Someone has to do it. Most of the horror seems to come from those that are just professional protesters and don't actually do much. You do know that 'shrub' has added mining, officially, to the list of forest activities. I'd rather have logging any day!;~) If you're interested, I added a link to a set of photos of my local SW Oregon natives that I've found. Here is a link that might be useful: Native Orchids/Plants

I emphatically disagree with seraphima. Of course you could survive on natives. People have done it for most of their history on earth, when we knew nothing about agriculture! People have been around for 200,000 years, and agriculture has only been known for the last 10,000 years. Although most people here would not know edible natives beyond a few berries, it's because they simply don't know the native plants. You could survive on a vegetarian diet here with natives. It would consist of berries, fresh in summer and dried in winter, roots of camas and ferns year round, greens of fireweed and salmonberry in the spring. You can even eat the inner bark of trees in a famine. Of course, this is assuming you only mean using the plants. The native peoples here ate a lot of fish because it was very abundant and easier to get than plants. The main problem with surviving only on natives is that it would be BORING! Common garden vegetables come from all over the world - potatoes and tomatoes from south america; carrots and broccoli from europe; apples, onions and lemons from asia. How much of your diet comes from the tropics? I know a lot of mine does. In comparison to all this diversity, of course only eating natives would be boring. But that doesn't mean you couldn't survive perfectly well on it.

Get a current Peterson field guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern United States - it shows the natural range of Trachemys scripta elegans. While Trachemys scripta has a huge range, there are several "subspecies" in the United States. Releasing your slider into the range of one of the other subspecies can and has polluted the natural genetics of the area. In general, the redear slider (T. s. elegans) was the subspecies of Trachemys scripta that ranged farther north than the others, being replaced by the yellowbelly slider (T. s. scripta) farther south. In any event - get a field guide to show her the natural range of the redear slider. The other thing - the deliberate release of pets into the wild is (as far as I know) prohibited/illegal in virtually every state that I know of. Releasing a pet into the wild is not only unethical and irresponsible - its illegal in every state so far as I am aware. ~Mike

I remember thinking Idaho's nativity set was attractive but cannot remember exactly what it looked like. I bought this one at Costco last year and saw that they brought it back again this year. Not sure if this is your taste. Here is a link that might be useful: nativity scene