Many WBA members will remember the annual conference two years ago at Metaline Falls when we were rained out for the entire weekend. It was a bust for butterflies. Thank goodness for members with knowledge of mushrooms and fossils to fill in for the missing butterflies. We felt the place was special and deserved a second chance. This was it and it was wonderfully hot and sunny and alive with butterflies.

Metaline Falls is situated at the north end of the lovely Pend Oreille River valley in the very northeast corner of Washington. The complex geology of the region is the source of not only notable fossils, but minerals, namely lead and zinc, that are actively mined there. The town is picturesque and historically interesting. It’s beautiful Cutter Theater was the site of our meetings and meals and the assembly point for our field trips.

The field trips were spectacular. The difficult to find Compton’s Tortoiseshell was seen in abundance. The Peck’s Skipper, Long Dash Skipper and Garita Skipperling, special butterflies of the region, were seen. We even had an exciting new county record with a sighting of the Edith’s Copper, a butterfly that should be in the southeast corner of the Washington.

On Friday evening Chris Loggers, U.S. Forest Service biologist, gave an interesting and informative talk on “The Forgotten Corner – The Uniqueness of Habitat and Creatures” in which he introduced us to the special flora and fauna of the region.  Jonathan Pelham was our Saturday night keynote speaker. His subject was “Butterfly and Moth Scales – Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Them” and it was a fascinating discourse on the complex, refined and beautiful world of lepidoptera scales with extraordinary illustrations at extreme magnification.

A sizable contingent of local northeast Washington attendees enriched the good fellowship of the July 14 through July 16 conference. The Saturday evening dinner was a nice reward for a long and satisfying day in the field with good food and conversation, fun and games with prizes and the election of officers.

Maureen Traxler continues as president, Donna Scheaffer is our new vice president (she was secretary last year), Robin Lewis is secretary and Mardell Moore continues as treasurer. David Williams was thanked for his service as vice president last year. Maureen, Donna and Mardell were thanked for their service as officers over the past year and for generously continuing as leaders of the organization this year. Appreciations were extended to Joyce Bergen, our conference organizer, Marty Hansen for conference registrations and to Idie Ulsh for being founder of the Washington Butterfly Association, who put us on a good path and continues as our constant source of good guidance, good ideas, energy and fun.

Metaline Falls will stand out among particularly memorable WBA conferences. This one will surely be remembered as the one that was exceptionally sunny and rich in special butterflies.

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