Earl Neikirk|Bristol Herald Courier: The Spring Naturalists Rally will be held May 2-4 on Roan Mountain, Tenn. The event will feature a variety of nature hikes and more.
Natural Beauty
Naturalists Rally To Feature Birdwalks, Nature Programs, More
Thursday, May 01, 2008 - 12:00 AM
By Lois Carol Wheatley Special to the Herald Courier |
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Printer FriendlyAh, to be younger than springtime – while celebrating a 50th anniversary. This long-awaited breakthrough will be witnessed when the Spring Naturalists Rally goes into its 50th year on Roan Mountain, Tenn., on May 2-4.
Jennifer Bauer, the rally’s organizer, is quick to point out she’s far too young to remember the early beginnings of an event that, over the years, expanded to include a fall rally, and just this year went for the first time to a winter rally.
“It was the brainstorm of a gentleman by the name of Fred Behrend,” she said, “and Freddy was born in Germany in 1896. He came to New York in 1926.”
From there, he found his way to a job in Elizabethton, and soon began his meanderings through the area’s abundant forests, paying frequent visits to his new neighbors along creeks, in meadows and high up on mountaintops.
“He absolutely loved the Appalachian Mountains, the plant life especially and the animals. He was a wonderful naturalist, and he just relished everything the mountains had to offer,” Bauer said.
In 1958, Behrend organized a gathering of people “who liked to get outside and enjoyed looking at wildflowers and birds.” He called it the Carter County Wildflower Tours and Bird Walks, and he persuaded notable naturalists, professors from the university and knowledgeable individuals to lead the hikes.
“In 1993, the people who coordinated it asked if [Roan Mountain State Park] would consider sponsoring the event and help keep it on its feet,” Bauer said. “So from 1993 to 2001, the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally continued in that fashion. Then in 2002, a new organization formed called the Friends of Roan Mountain, dedicated to education, interpretation – promoting Roan Mountain in all its finery, you might say – and helping with research when they can.”
The Friends took on as its primary activities the spring and fall rallies, and this past February started the new winter event – a bold move, considering there is much less to see and do in the wintertime, and not so many people willing to turn out for a wilderness trek.
“We only had two speakers,” Bauer said. “A botanist at ETSU spoke on trees in winter, barks and buds, with an afternoon field trip after some indoor stuff in the morning. And the forest service in Unicoi presented a program on birding.”
But spring is quite another thing and remains the year’s main event. Guest speakers are scheduled on Friday and Saturday night, and hikes and tours fill the agenda during Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon sessions.
“I’ll be running around in circles. Coordinating an event like this keeps you on your toes,” Bauer said. “I used to try to lead hikes at the same time, but it’s very difficult. There are so many things to set up, and the schedule is very full. Something is happening every minute.”
Seasoned hikers already familiar with the local flora and fauna can learn about current events at the rally.
On Friday night, Rhonda Goins will give a talk on the socialization of gray wolves, commenting on the recent addition of four new wolf pups to the already existing adult wolf pack at Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport.
A Saturday afternoon hike will provide perspectives on how the forest service plans to manage “the balds.”
“One walk called the ‘Baaatiny Goat Project and Grassy Bald Hike,’ is going to be about putting Alpine mountain goats up on the balds to graze, and to research how to maintain the grass balds in their native state,” Bauer said.
“The two big discussions aside from not knowing how the balds are created are should we maintain them or should we let them grow up. I think the forest service has decided to keep the balds open. So the second question is how do we keep them open without destroying endangered species that grow there. Some people think burning is the answer. This is an experiment of sorts to see how grazing will keep the balds open and promote the growth of the endangered species.”
Saturday evening, “Frozen Head – A highly diverse Tennessee Natural Area” will be presented by David Engebretson, park manager at Frozen Head State Natural Area near Wartburg, Tenn.
Focusing on unique geologic rock formations, rare plant communities containing enormous cinnamon ferns, delicate orchids and tropical-looking magnolia trees, the talk will illustrate how the Brimstone and Sundquist Wildlife Management Areas will benefit directly from the recent 124,000-acre acquisition.
A Saturday night field trip to the Dave Miller Homestead will feature a combination astronomy program and “owl prowl.” While an ETSU professor sets up his telescopes to look at the night sky, members of the local birding club will call owls.
“This is a lot of fun,” Bauer said. “It’s very impressive. They do something with their mouth and sound exactly like whatever species they’re trying to call. If one is within a reasonable distance, they might come in to see what’s going on, check it out. An owl will go in the trees behind you, and at first, you don’t know it’s there. It’s very exciting, to sit and listen and wonder, in a very dark place sitting on the side of a mountain listening to the wind blow and the leaves rustle.”
The native owl species likely to respond to the call are the screech owl, barred owl, barn owl and occasionally the great horned owl. “And on top of the Roan, a very tiny owl called a saw whet owl, maybe four to six inches high, nests in the spruce fir forest,” Bauer said.
Also on the three-day weekend calendar are birds, flowers, salamanders, medicinal and rare plants, trees, butterflies, bugs and, get ready for this one, morels – an edible mushroom that looks like a sponge on a stalk.
“We certainly added a lot more hikes this year, changed our programs and included different offerings,” Bauer said. “We’re going to have commemorative T-shirts and things available for people to find out the history of the event.”
Before becoming park manager of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area in Elizabethton, Bauer worked for 21 years at Roan Mountain as an interpreter specialist, “what used to be called ranger naturalists.”
IF YOU GO: SPRING NATURALISTS RALLY
What: Spring Naturalists Rally at Roan Mountain State Park
Where: Roan Mountain State Park Conference Center
When: May 2-4
Time: Registration on Friday begins at 5:30 p.m.; hikes and programs on Saturday start at 6:30 a.m. and continue until late hours of the night; the weekend concludes on Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Cost: $4 for the entire weekend of events
For a brochure or more information, call Jennifer Bauer at (423) 772-4772 (home), (423) 543-5808 (work) or e-mail highlandlady53@embarqmail.com. Visit www.etsu.edu/biology/roanmtn and at www.friendsofroanmtn.org.
This event is sponsored by the Friends of Roan Mountain. Membership in the organization is $15 for an individual; $20 per family; and $250 for lifetime membership. If you join the organization to support its nature education efforts, the $4 weekend fee to attend the rally is waived.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, May 2
5:30 p.m.: Registration at the Roan Mountain State Park Conference Center.
6:30 p.m.: Dinner catered by City Market, Elizabethton. Cost is $8.75 for adults; $4 for children age 12 and under. Menu includes baked chicken, two vegetables, salad, dessert selection, bread and drinks.
7:30 p.m.: Socialization of Gray Wolves, presented by Rhonda Goins, naturalist, Bays Mountain Park, Kingsport.
Saturday, May 3
6:30 a.m.: Birdwalks, Lee & Lois Herndon Bird Club at Sycamore Shoals State Park, Elizabethton.
8:30 a.m.: Birdwalks, Lee & Lois Herndon Bird Club; River and High Mountain Wildflowers, Guy Mauldin; Wildflowers/Ecology, Lana Hamilton; Wildflowers of Blue 2, Tim McDowell; Salamanders, Gregory McConnell; Edible & Medicinal Plants, Jeremy Stout; and Native Tennessee Trees, April Welch.
9:30 a.m.: Field-shop, Beginners Birding, Joe McGuiniss.
Noon: Lunchtime workshop: A Historic Photo Journey across the Balds, Jamey Donaldson and Nora Schubert. Bag lunches available by reservation only.
2 p.m.: Butterfly & Bug Walk, Don Holt; Wildflowers of Heaton Creek Ridge, David Hall and Patsy Schang; Morels on the Mountain, Brad Jones and Tommy Cox; Doe River Wildflowers (Fred Behrend Trail), Anne Whittemore; Baa-tany Goat Project & Grassy Bald Hike, Jamey Donaldson; Cloudland to Carvers Gap – Geology, Bob Whittemore; Doe River Gorge/Twin Springs Trip will visit the gorge if construction is complete. If not, we will be exploring Twin Springs, Gabrielle Zieger; and Nature Discoveries for Young Folks – carpool to Hampton Creek Cove, Nora Schubert.
6:30 p.m.: Dinner catered by City Market, Elizabethton. Cost is $8.75 for adults, $4 for children ages 12 and under. Menu includes lasagna, salad, breadsticks, dessert selection and drinks.
7:30 p.m.: Frozen Head: A Highly Diverse Tennessee Natural Area, presented by David Engebretson, manager, Frozen Head State Park.
9 p.m.: The following two field trips both carpool to the Dave Miller Homestead and will occur simultaneously. Visit both presenters while enjoying a dark night sky at the homestead; Viewing the Summer Skies, Gary Henson, ETSU; and Owl Prowl, Larry McDaniel and the Herndon Bird Club.
Sunday, May 4
8:30 a.m.: Birdwalk, Larry McDaniel; and Appalachian Trail Conservancy Rare Plant Slide Show & Walk, Jamey Donaldson and Julie Judkins.
9:30 a.m.: Slide presentation, no limit.
12:30 p.m.: Rare Plant Hike, limited to 20, bring a bag lunch. Call or e-mail Julie to sign up for hike at (828) 254-3708 or jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org.
2 p.m.: Butterflies & Bugs, Don Holt; and Wildflowers & More, Jerry and Sally Nagel.
LOIS CAROL WHEATLEY is a freelance writer. Contact her at features@bristolnews.com.
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