You are invited to take part and help support plans to commission and install a special memorial bench at Idlers Rest to honor the late Marjory Stage and her dedication to wildlife, nature, and native plants.

Marjory Stage’s roots in Idler’s Rest Nature Preserve ran deeper than the preserve’s tallest Ponderosa Pine.  From the day in the mid-1960’s when she met the Berrigans, who owned a large cabin in the cool shade of the cedar grove, to the day of her last breath in July 2022, Marjory was passionately committed to the wildlife, the land, and the plants and trees of this magical space.

The Berrigans offered her the opportunity to lead a special day camp for girls, Camp Kenjockety. With other nature-loving camp teachers, she introduced the “campers” to the joys, wonder, and necessary skills of a life lived in nature. For three years, she served as camp director, devising “treasure hunts”, orienteering routes, animal track identification sessions, and woodland hikes as camp activities.

In addition, she led hands-on experiences introducing the girls to basic camp cooking and other practical outdoor skills. An important goal was to develop her campers’ love of the forest and all the critters that inhabit it.

In following decades, Marjory and her husband Albert, a well-known forestry researcher, connected with the Idaho Native Plant Society and experienced new revelations learning the value of native plants, working to restore native ecosystems, including eradicating noxious and invasive weeds. 

The Stages were active in the White Pine chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society for most of their retirement years.  Al served as Chapter President for multiple terms. The Stage family hosted a number of field trips for members on their 80-acre property on Moscow Mountain. They joyfully joined chapter field trips to the other beautiful spots in northern Idaho to identify and appreciate the native flora.

The White Pine Chapter is grateful to honor Marjory’s legacy with two special memorial plantings along the meadow at Idler’s Rest.  Funds for the plants and needed supplies were generously donated by members of the Chapter and will be planted this fall.  Your help is needed now to commission and install a special memorial bench in honor of Marjory, where visitors can sit a spell to enjoy the native plants Marjory so dearly loved. 

All donations will fund installation and care of the bench. Any and all funds raised over the goal amount will help with the care and maintenance of Idler’s Rest trails, habitat, and the new native plant memorial gardens.  Thank you for celebrating her memory and ensuring her conservation legacy will live on for today, tomorrow, and forever.

Marjory’s love of forest and nature led to her interest in preserving her own land as a natural preserve through a conservation easement with PLT.  Learn more about the permanently conserved property here.