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Coming Up, events, online event

Conserving Carolina: Protecting LandsFeatured

For Nature and People. Forever.

Presented by Pam Torlina,

Community Engagement Director, Conserving Carolina

at the Reuter Center at UNCA

Join Zoom Meeting

https://unca-edu.zoom.us/j/99305245804?pwd=QizqGtbYE5fGzUncRbVm22v4oqAfRN.1

Pam Torlina, a field biologist who has worked with Conserving Carolina for 18 years, will explore how the organization has successfully moved nearly 50,000 acres of special lands into permanent conservation, while also planning for public use, continued farm production, clean water, and more. 

Conserving Carolina is based in Hendersonville and its area of concentration stretches from south Buncombe County into South Carolina. A current project includes the rugged Hickory Nut Gorge, where an ambitious effort is underway to protect selected lands and to connect them through an extensive network of trails.

This program is free and open to the public.

Coming Up, events, Plants

Workshop on Dividing Native Plants in the Fall GardenFeatured

Sunday, October 6, 1:00 to 2:30 PM

Asheville Botanical Garden

Garden Director Sarah Coury will demonstrate how to divide crowded plants in your native garden. Division benefits the plants that are left in place and allows you to establish new plantings or to share with others. This is a members-only event that will be limited to 20 people. Watch for more information in future emails.

Past Events, Plants

The Natural History and Ecology of Fungi: From Parasitism to SymbiosisFeatured

Watch the talk here!

Todd Elliott, PhD, will speak about mushrooms in our region and their significance. He grew up in the Southern Appalachians, but has worked as a naturalist, biologist, and photographer on six continents. He is the author of Mushrooms of the Southeast and many other publications. Learn more about him here: https://toddelliott.weebly.com and watch for more information in future emails.

We are changing our location for programs in the fall because of a new UNCA parking policy that would require all of our attendees to pay for parking during the program. We will not be able to stream the program on Zoom but hope to record it and to post it on our YouTube channel. The program is free and open to the public.

Outings, Past Events

Pisgah View OutingFeatured

On July 15, 23 naturalists visited the yet-to-be-opened Pisgah View State Park in Hominy Valley – the first state park in Buncombe County.  We were led in our exploration by Jamie Cameron, the park ranger, who gave us an overview of the park and then led the group on trails up the mountain and to a nearby bog.   The park opening is slated for 2025, but Jamie thought that it might take another year or two to conform to requirements for state parks.

Members exploring Pisgah View

The Park was formerly  the “Pisgah View Ranch” which offered horseback riding, rental cabins, swimming pool, a tennis court, and other amenities. The biggest challenge for the 1,300 acre park is what to do with the numerous structures there, many of which are in a state of disrepair since the former facility closed. Jamie said there are volunteer opportunities to help in preparing the park for opening. We will let our members know once we have that information.

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Past Events, Plants

Native Plant Swap/Sale on Sunday, May 12Featured

9 AM – 2 PM

Where: 39 Courtland Avenue

Parking: On the street, or at the North Star Academy corner of Montford & Courtland

On May 12, we’ll hold our annual Native Plant Swap at Charlotte Caplan’s house on Courtland Avenue, in the Montford neighborhood of Asheville. This is our main fundraiser for the year, so come out to have fun choosing plants for your garden and support BRNN.

Our emphasis is on plants that are native to the Southern Appalachians. We’ll have foamflower, wild ginger, bloodroot, green and gold, bee-balm, mountain mint, joe-pye weed, sweetshrub, pawpaw, and many others. But we’ll accept non-natives too, even houseplants and vegetable starts, as long as they are not considered invasive in NC – see list on https://www.inaturalist.org/guides/2455 . Just a note—vegetable starts can only be swapped for vegetable starts.

No pots? Just save plastic containers from the recycling bin. Medium-sized yoghurt, cottage cheese, and sour cream pots are ideal. Poke a few holes in the bottom and voila! You can cut up a pot up to make labels, too. 

No plants to contribute? No problem. We’ll have a large stock for sale at a modest $4 each.

QUESTIONS? Contact Charlotte at ccaplannc1@juno.com

Birds, Past Events

Bird-Friendly Communities for Migratory SongbirdsFeatured

Tuesday, May 14, 7:00 pm

Watch the event on Youtube.


Twice a year, millions of neotropical songbirds migrate thousands of miles between their breeding and wintering grounds in North, Central, and South America. Migrating birds face many challenges during these periods, the greatest of which are human imposed. Fortunately, many of these threats are well understood, and numerous tools are available to help us provide safe passage for songbirds during their perilous migrations. This presentation will provide an overview of neotropical songbird migration, the unique challenges created by human-built environments, and solutions to enhance the bird-friendliness of our communities.

Paulina Jones is a western North Carolina local working to improve human-wildlife coexistence in her community. She is passionate about science communication and the intersection of wildlife ecology and policy. Jones is a co-founder of the Coalition for a Bird-Friendly Asheville and, in close coordination with the Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter, has been advocating for the adoption of bird-friendly community practices since 2020.

Past Events, Plants

MOSS AND LICHEN WALK ALONG THE LAUREL RIVER TRAILFeatured

MAY 1, 2024.

Leader: Sue Studlar

On May 1, Susan Studler led 11 BRNN members on a moss, liverwort and lichen discovery walk along the beautiful Laurel River near Hot Springs, NC.  Susan had identified over 100 species in the first half mile of the trail, we saw a limited number.  She graciously provided a handout to the group which explained the characteristics of the organisms which is attached.  Randy Richardson did his usual great photography, the link to the photos in Amazon is https://www.amazon.de/photos/share/Y2sKB3ElqubuWOqq5AR34RUqHtHQ6w8yKP7AGpC88hV. 

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Outings, Past Events

Wildflower Hike at Twin Bridges/Melrose FallsFeatured

On Tuesday March 26, 8 intrepid hikers braved the weather to view the spring ephemerals at Twin Bridges led by Randy Richardson.  The following Thursday, 17 naturalists followed the wildflower path to Melrose Falls accompanied by Paul Fredrickson.  On the trek we saw lots of blooming Trillium, Purple Phacilia, Blue Cohosh, Violets of a few varieties, Yellow Mandarin and the stunning Large-flowered Bellwort.

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Past Events

BRNN Annual MeetingFeatured

September 6

Holmes Educational State Forest, Hendersonville

10:00 am to 2:00 pm

RSVP: president@brnnetwork.org

On Wednesday, September 6, we will hold our organization’s Annual Meeting and celebrate our 10th anniversary. We hope you will join us. BRNN was founded on September 4, 2013 at the NC Arboretum by six visionary participants in the Blue Ridge Naturalist certificate program: Diane Bauknight, Charlotte Caplan, Ken Czarnomski, Barbara Harrison, Linda Martinson and Tom Southard. The rest, as they say, is history.

We are returning to the Holmes Educational State Forest, where we will enjoy hikes guided by Dan Lazar and Charlotte Caplan, followed by a lunch catered by City Bakery. Our brief business meeting will include the announcement of our Blue Ridge Naturalist of the Year. The BRNN Board also will present a slate of nominees for positions that will be open in 2024. Additional nominations will be taken from the floor.

You must be a member of BRNN to attend the Annual Meeting but if you are not a current member you may join onsite and your dues will be good through 2024. 

RSVP to president@brnnetwork.org.

Outings, Past Events

Linville GorgeFeatured

Eleven BRNN members joined US Forest Service Botanist Gary Kauffman and his intern for an expedition to Linville Gorge to see the interesting and rare plants found there.  Our group travelled south from the Table Rock trailhead towards the Chimneys and learned about a remarkable variety of plants along the way.  Some highlights along this stretch included Carolina lilies, starry campion, Table Mountain pine, wild lily of the valley, witch hazel, fothergilla, sand myrtle, and some interesting fungi, mosses and lichens.  At the end of the trail with a bit of clambering we saw the stars of the show, the rare Hudsonia montana and Liatris helleri.  But the plants weren’t the only attraction; we were treated to amazing views of Linville Gorge and some fascinating Quartzite rock outcrops. 

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Related posts
 Big Creek Wildflower Hike
April 16, 2022
Wildflower Walk at Twin Bridges
April 15, 2022
Big Creek Wildflower Walk
April 19, 2017
online event, Past Events, Plants

Prospecting for Plants – The Western Carolina Botanical ClubFeatured

Tuesday, June 13, 7 p.m. / Reuter Center Manheimer Room

Please access the recording and transcript download here. The recording will be available until July 13.  https://unca-edu.zoom.us/rec/share/ngU5DXtewwy2X2GKaQ8RzU9HD_gOTYKJ81ZSVncMW028-un8vHBrN4LV6MHwS0CB.2_6-rSAeeVoYUyul

Have you ever wondered where and when to find our most interesting and rare wildflowers at their peak? Have you wanted to discover some new and interesting trails loaded with botanical curiosities? If so, you’ll want to join this program to learn more about the Western Carolina Botanical Club.  Now celebrating its 50th year, the Western Carolina Botanical Club connects people who are passionate about the plants of the Southern Appalachians.  Representatives of the club will discuss its history, mission, and the tremendous amount of data they’ve collected on our local plant species. We will also learn about its weekly field trips to some of our most interesting local biodiversity hotspots, illustrated with photos of favorite wildflowers, woody plants and mosses.

Featured Member

George Ellison, long-time naturalist, author, Citizen Times columnist, dies at 81Featured

21 Comments

Karen Chávez Asheville Citizen Times 2/20/2023

ASHEVILLE – George Ellison, a naturalist, author, longtime columnist for the Asheville Citizen Times and by all accounts a Western North Carolina treasure, died Feb. 19, according to his daughter, Quintin Ellison. George Ellison, 81, lived in Bryson City with his wife, Elizabeth Ellison. Their daughter said Ellison had Parkinson’s disease. He died from double pneumonia after receiving “amazing care” from Haywood Regional Hospital and Four Seasons Hospice, Quintin said. George Ellison was by any measure the voice of the WNC mountains for at least the past 36 years, penning the weekly “Nature Journal,” detailing the intricate ways of wildlife, especially his beloved birds, the passing of seasons in the mountains and the wonders of nature. These weekly columns were accompanied by Elizabeth’s stunning watercolor artwork. “He was tough,” Quintin Ellison said of her father. “But life had just been kind of been getting harder and he couldn’t type, you know, he couldn’t work, and that’s what he lived for – it was writing. He was proud of his relationship with the Asheville Citizen Times. And that was a long relationship.” Ellison was writing as long as he could. His last “Nature Journal” column was published Feb. 4, about hepatica. “But to my way of thinking, year in and year out, hepatica is the earliest of the truly showy woodland wildflowers,” he wrote.

Quintin Ellison, herself a former reporter with the Citizen Times, said she believed her father started working as a correspondent for the paper, writing and taking photos, even before the Nature Journal gig, starting back in the 1980s.

He was a prolific naturalist and author, who had also written six books. In 2019 Ellison was honored with the prestigious Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award for co-authoring with Janet McCue, “Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography,” by the WNC Historical Association.

It is a 500-page, seminal biography on one of the most famed naturalists in WNC history. It was edited by Frances Figart and published by Great Smoky Mountains Association.

George Robert Ellison II was born on Dec. 15, 1941, in Danville, Virginia, the son of Ruth and George Robert “GR” Ellison, who was killed in World War II, Quintin Ellison wrote on her Facebook page.

“My father played football for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a caree ending knee injury, Dad turned his attention to academics, finishing his bachelor’s at UNC and continuing at the University of South Carolina, where he received his master’s degree.

He taught at Mississippi State University in Starkville. In the early 1970s, we moved to Bryson City.

He loved these mountains and its flora and fauna. He and my mother last year placed into conservation our family property on lower Lands Creek in Swain County.”

He and Elizabeth had three children, George Robert Ellison III, Milissa Ellison Dewey and Quintin, six grandchildren – George Robert Ellison IV (George Ellison), Daisy Ellison, Jonathan Reed, Elizabeth Liz Reed and Will Murphree – and great-grandchildren.

“He was not always an easy person, but always he was an interesting one, and we loved and cherished him, just as he did us, exactly how he was and how we are,” Quintin wrote.

“In lieu of a memorial service, my mother asks that you consider planting a wildflower garden and/or supporting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Family members wil build a small cairn in his memory at home in Bryson City.”

This story will be updated.

Karen Chávez is Interim Executive Editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Tips, comments, questions? Call 828-236-8980,
email, KChavez@CitizenTimes.com or follow on Twitter @KarenChavezACT. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times at citizentimes.com/offers.

Check out this story on citizen-times.com: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2023/02/20/george-ellison-citizen-times-columnist-kephart-biographer-dies/69923023007/

Inspiration

A Short History of the Beginnings of the Blue Ridge Naturalist ProgramFeatured

28 Comments

In 2002 Jesse Wilder attended a 10-week residential program in Ecoliteracy at Genesis Farm in New Jersey. There she delved into the story of the unfolding Universe, Earth’s story, and wisdom traditions that have shaped how humans have related to Earth. After coming home to Asheville, she wanted to study the bioregion of the Southern Blue Ridge, but could only find bits and pieces of what she wanted to know.

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