Plants abloom for dam removal project, aided by mural

CARLSBORG — Good chemistry — the human kind — has caused a wild portrait to materialize at Robin Hill Farm County Park.

More precisely, “The Dungeness River in Spring,” a mural wrapped around a plywood soil bin, is now part of the Matt Albright Native Plant Center.

The center, anchored by a 2,100-square-foot greenhouse built by Olympic National Park last fall and winter, is where park workers are raising the plants to be part of the massive Elwha River restoration project to begin next year.

It’s named for the native plant specialist who envisioned a greenhouse devoted to this purpose; Albright died of cancer in 2007 after spending 19 years working in the park.

Rod Farlee, a retired chemist and Friends of Olympic National Park board member, came up with the mural idea after building a soil bin for the plant center.

He was pleased about using recycled materials for the bin but admitted that the thing was ugly.

Fortunately Farlee’s wife, Wendy Goldberg, in addition to being an organic chemist herself, is an artist.

And last April, she brought her sketchbook into Sequim, to capture the mountains freshly draped in snow; along with that image she sketched the Dungeness River as it looks from Old Olympic Highway.

Goldberg could have gone ahead and painted the mural on her own.

But she and her husband wanted to spread things around, preferably to young people.

Farlee also wanted to make the painting an educational experience for the young muralists.

And so this spring, Goldberg collaborated with Carla Morton, a Greywolf Elementary School teacher who runs the science fair club, to bring a team of science-savvy fifth-graders into the mix.

Several of these kids won blue ribbons at the 2010 Washington State Science & Engineering Fair, Goldberg said.

In addition to working with them on the mural, she brought in an Olympic National Park ranger plus plant propagation specialist Dave Allen, the keeper of the greenhouse, to talk to the fifth-graders about wilderness ecology.

Farlee, meantime, persuaded Friends of Olympic National Park to supply the $125 cost of paint for the mural.

Goldberg wanted tough exterior house paint, however, and that meant she could afford just six colors. She made do, mixing the few hues into a range of shades demanded by the project.

Farlee, 57, and Goldberg, 56, retired young and moved from Wilmington, Del., to Sequim in 2003.

These days they’re into vigorous volunteering, Farlee with the Washington Trails Coalition and Friends of Olympic National Park and Goldberg as volunteer coordinator at the Matt Albright Native Plant Center.

Since December, Farlee and his fellow laborers have put in hundreds of hours at the center, working on the nursery structures and caring for the plants.

Summer, Farlee said, “is trail-work season.” He’s already built a bridge on the Little River trail, among other projects.

To find out about working with the Friends of Olympic National Park or at the plant center, e-mail wendybg@olypen.com or visit www.friendsonp.org.

Farlee grew up in Oregon and Idaho, and is “very much a mountain man,” said Goldberg, who comes from the other end of the spectrum: Brooklyn, N.Y.

The two chemists met in 1987 at the Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference in Asilomar, Calif.

“Even scientists fall in love,” said Goldberg.

And both care deeply about the Olympic Mountains’ ecosystems.

After all, Goldberg added, “ecology is chemistry.”

________

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.

More in News

Derek Kilmer.
Kilmer looking to next chapter

Politician stepping down after 20 years

Jefferson County PUD General Manager Kevin Streett plans to retire next summer. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Jefferson County PUD general manager to retire

Kevin Streett plan to serve until June 2025

Port Angeles, waterfront district agree to three-year deal

Funds from parking, quarterly billing to help with public events

From left to right: Special Olympics Washington Athlete, Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, East Wenatchee Police Officer Brandon Johnson, Port Angeles Deputy Chief Jason Viada, Undersheriff Lorraine Shore, Sheriff Brian King, Chief Criminal Deputy Amy Bundy and Fife Police Officer Patrick Gilbert. (Clallam County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook)
Clallam County undersheriff named Torch Run Sheriff of the Year

Clallam County Undersheriff Lorraine Shore has been selected as… Continue reading

Oliver Pochert, left, and daughter Leina, 9, listen as Americorp volunteer and docent Hillary Sanders talks about the urchins, crabs and sea stars living in the touch tank in front of her at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. Pochert, who lives in Sequim, drove to Port Townsend on Sunday to visit the aquarium because the aquarium is closing its location this month after 42 years of operation. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Aquarium closing

Oliver Pochert, left, and daughter Leina, 9, listen as Americorp volunteer and… Continue reading

Tree sale is approved for auction

Appeals filed for two Elwha watershed parcels

Port Townsend City Council to draw down funds in 2025 budget

City has ‘healthy fund reserve balance,’ finance director says

Man flown to hospital after crash investigated for DUI

A 41-year-old man was flown to Olympic Medical Center in… Continue reading

Signal controller project to impact traffic

Work crews will continue with the city of Port… Continue reading

Cities, counties approve tax hikes

State law allows annual 1 percent increase

Health officer: Respiratory illnesses low on Peninsula

Berry says cases are beginning to rise regionally