Volunteer of the month

Sierra Singles leader Roy Buck makes conservation sexy

Roy Buck doesn't just lead hikes - he teaches sex education.

Even in Sierra Singles, however, his form of sex is unusual, for he focuses on the sex life of plants. He wants people to "see more than pretty flowers"; he wants them to understand something of the complexity of plants and the necessity of conservation.

Plants have been Roy's passion for all his adult life. After growing up in Great Falls, VA, he attended Colby College in Maine. This was the period of "dropping out to contemplate your navel", he says, and he did that - moving to Kentucky to live with his parents for a few years. There began a love affair with the wilderness and a desire to delve more deeply into nature.

His father owned an excellent handbook, The Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky, and Roy began hiking about the countryside flowers. "I didn't have the patience to study what could fly away or swim away or run away," Roy laughs, "so I settled on plants."

One day he thought, "I wonder if I could get paid for this." He decided to seek a university, in the west, where he could study the environment, and after much research, settled on UC Santa Cruz, where he earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies and biology. His next stop was UC Berkeley, where he labored on his Ph.D. at the same time as he worked for an environmental-consulting company. Starved for time, he took 10 years to finish his dissertation, but during his research, in inhospitable Sand Canyon in the western Mojave Desert, he had the excitement of discovering a previously unknown species in the mustard family.

Roy, now working for a different consulting firm, describes himself as a botanical generalist, focusing on California flora, especially endangered species. He spends the equivalent of about three months of each year in the field. On a typical "field day", he might hike into an area, the eight-pound Jepson manual (the "Bible of California plants", to which he is a contributor) on his back, record all the plants he sees, and take samples for further identification. Often he camps close to his study area. Sometimes he tromps through the wild alone; when safety dictates, he is accompanied by another botanist. Spring and summer are the most productive seasons for survey work since most plants are identified by flowers and fruit.

Desiring human and not just vegetable company, Roy began trotting along on Sierra Singles outings. Long-time leader Sarah Alexander, a wildflower enthusiast, asked him if he would lead a hike focusing on wildflowers. Roy led this "trial hike" in the spring of 1993 in the Ben Lomond hills in Santa Cruz County. After getting his first-aid certification, he became a regular leader for the Sierra Singles.

Roy's favorite hikes? For spectacular views, few routes beat Skyline Ridge in San Mateo County. For wildflower hikes Roy favors Mount Diablo and the little-known Napa-Skyline Wilderness, east of the town of Napa. For unique flora he recommends the Ben Lomond sand hills and Ring Mountain on the Tiburon Peninsula. On Ring Mountain, the serpentine soil is toxic to most plants, allowing an unusual plant assemblage to grow there, including the striking Tiburon mariposa lily, discovered in the 1960s, which grows only on that hill and nowhere else in the world.

On his botany hikes Roy gets the group moving at a slow pace so that they can look around and think. Roy, an energetic teacher, discourses on local flora. He loves pointing out plants, such as wild cucumber and the California hazelnut, that have separate male and female flowers. Why, he'll ask, does the madrone flower have windows at the top where the sun flows through? Why do some flowers have bright colors and elaborate patterns? Bees respond to sun-lit windows, he explains, and to color and pattern - and their help in pollination is necessary for the survival of the species. He identifies the villains in the California plant kingdom - "When you see star thistle or Scotch broom," he tells his listeners, "kill `em!"

Roy spends some time himself yanking non-native species out of the Golden Gate Recreation Area. He is a member of and field-trip leader for the California Native Plant Society, a powerful though nonpolitical organization that has strong influence on which plants should be included on the state's list of endangered - and therefore protected - plants. In the 1970s, he was the CNPS's conservation coordinator for the Santa Cruz area. He continues to do conservation work when he has time. He also serves as treasurer for the California Botanical Society, a professional organization.

Richard Lardner, chair of the 950-member Bay Chapter Sierra Singles Section, applauds Roy's contributions to the organization as well as to the environment. Roy served a stint as Singles vice chair, and for the past few years has taken the responsibility of seeing that Singles trip leaders have first-aid certification. He is "very diligent", says Richard, "and a terrific help" in the day-to-day operations of the Sierra Singles.

Does Roy maintain a lush garden at home? Does he array houseplants around his kitchen, plant pots of herbs outside his back door? Nope! "I'm not home enough to take care of them," he says. Instead, he's out in the field or on the trail, doing what he can to make sure the rest of us "enjoy and protect" native plants.

Karen Rosenbaum

For more about Sierra Singles and how to participate in its activities, see article.