Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast 

Description of Talk: Peter Haggard and Jane Monroe will introduce topics from their book, Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast. They will discuss the process of converting (sub)urban yards into habitat for native plants and wildlife and why rewilding is important. The most effective way to protect and encourage biodiversity is to start locally. Urban and suburban yards can be the basic unit of endemic animal and plant survival in our cities and towns. We need to act now, in every neighborhood: gardens, lawns, parks, and community gardens can all be rewilded. Yard by yard, we can change the world. 

Peter Haggard received a BS in Wildlife Management from Cal Poly Humboldt. He worked for the Humboldt County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office as an Agricultural Inspector/Biologist for 35 years. Pete has taught garden-related courses at College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly Humboldt Extension, and classes in entomology and pest identification for the UC Master Gardener Program. He is coauthor, with Judy Haggard, of Insects of the Pacific Northwest and has written many articles on insects and gardening. Since 1977, he’s been landscaping his garden using native plants to attract endemic wildlife.

Jane Monroe has a BS and an MA in biology from Cal Poly Humboldt. Her master's thesis was a study of the dune silver bee. She has worked as a biologist, conducting habitat reviews for northern California plant and animal species. She also worked as a lecturer at CPH, where she taught various labs or courses in general zoology, general biology, human biology, physiology, ecology, and freshwater invertebrates, and was an assistant for a limnology lab.