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By Scott Nicholson
A local ecological treasure will be the site of an annual
nature celebration next month.
Naturalist Ed Schell will
speak about “The Roan Highlands” on Sept. 5
at the Fall Naturalists’ Rally in Roan Mountain,
Tenn. which takes place Sept. 5-7. Photo
submitted |
The 46th annual Fall Naturalists’ Rally will be held at Roan
Mountain, Tenn., taking place Sept. 5 through 7.
The event is centered on the natural resources of the mountain,
which is just over the North Carolina border and encompassing
a state park and parts of two national forests, Pisgah and Cherokee.
Gary Barrigar, event organizer, said the special and rare habitat
of the mountain has long made it a popular site for nature enthusiast,
biologists and others. “It has 26 globally rare ecosystems,”
Barrigar said, mentioning the grassy balds, spruce fir and cliff
or outlook habitats as home to many different species.
The event is sponsored by the Friends of Roan Mountain and was
an offshoot of the Spring Naturalists’ Rally, which will
celebrate its golden anniversary in 2009. A winter rally will
also be added to the schedule due to popularity, Barriger said.
Speakers include Ed Schell and Jamey Donaldson. Schell, who survived
the attack on Pearl Harbor as a member of the U.S. Navy, worked
as an Air Force physicist and naval researcher. He began taking
nature photographs and publishing books of his work, and he has
appeared in the pages of National Geographic. He has won the Ansel
Adams Award for outstanding conservation photography, the Stanley
Murray Award from the Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and a
Nature Conservancy Award. He will speak Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. on
“The Roan Highlands.”
Donaldson is a botanist who is curator of the herbarium at East
Tennessee State University. He has worked with Roan Mountain rallies
and conservation events since 1994 and helps with research projects.
He is undertaking a research project to rid the grassy balds of
invasive blackberry species by using angora goats and will speak
on “The Ecology of Roan Massif” on Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Barrigar said the grassy balds present something of an ecological
puzzle, since theories differ on why some of the high-altitude
ridges emerged as plains instead of forests. Some believe the
presence of grazing animals, such as buffalo and elk, led to the
grassy balds, and Barrigar said invasive species, though native
to the area, were encroaching on the balds since those grazing
animals were no longer in the habitat.
The rally will also be a chance to recognize Schell, a long-time
director of the Roan Mountain rallies and whom Donaldson describes
as a “hero.” “Ed Schell has worked on Roan Mountain
for much of his life and is a renowned photographer,” Barrigar
said of the 86-year-old naturalist.
Various field trips, presentations, lectures and workshops will
be held over the course of the weekend on such topics as birds,
wildflowers, mushrooms, medicinal and edible plants, trees, butterflies,
fish, stream ecology, snakes, geology, ferns and owls, as well
as special nature hikes for kids.
Barrigar said the Friends of Roan Mountain is a membership group
dedicated to hosting the rallies, with dues lowering rally costs.
The group also sponsors research and restoration projects in the
parks. Several hundred participate during the rallies each year.
“A lot of people come back year after year,” Barrigar
said. “These are people who love nature.”
Camping is available at the park, and a list of local lodges is
available through the Web site, www.friendsofroanmountain.org.
Preregistration is requested for dinners, and evening programs
or hikes are $4, with children and Friends of Roan Mountain members
getting in free. Meals carry additional costs. For more information,
contact Anne Whittemore at (423) 477-2235 or sondew4annye@embarqmail.com.
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