Appalachian Forest School
& Other Educational Events
   at The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System
To receive reminders of upcoming events, we recommend our E-MAGAZINE that shares information on the latest land acquisition projects undertaken by the ARC, articles on Nature Notes from the Eastern Forest, volunteer opportunities and general preserve news. Sign up by writing to linkup.adm@highlandssanctuary.org  Please include your name.

The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System offers several types of educational experiences. Please click on the title or text box below to learn more, or scroll down to see an entire listing of upcoming events in calendar order.

 

Full Program Calendar
   Arc of Appalachia Preserve System -- click on title to get more information

Dec 6, 2008  1pm - 4pm  Holiday Open House at Cave Canyon Saturday   
No registration required
    Here is an event to be enjoyed by the whole family. Held at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, this event provides an opportunity to tour Cave Canyon's trails and facilities without charge. Here you can view the wintry cliffs of the Rocky Fork Canyon from the new Observation Deck, watch a short nature slide show, listen to live music by a local artist, and hike three 1/4 mile long trails into the breathtakingly beautiful Rocky Fork Gorge and surrounding forests. Children can taste wild sassafras tea, make their own buckeye candies, and create nature crafts for the holidays. There are free refreshments for all. After enjoying activities at Cave Canyon, pick up a map from the Museum and take a driving tour of Beechcliff and Hermitage, two overnight lodges. Beechcliff offers additional craft activities for the children--plus a crackling fire in the old stone fireplace, bringing cheer to this handsome 1912 renovated hunting lodge. 
 
March 12-17,2009 Forests of the South, Florida's Panhandle
A Wilderness East trip:   spring wildflowers   crystal clear springs   rare Torreya pine  tupelo swamps  carnivorous plants  ivory-billed woodpecker habitat
This is a trip to northern Florida to explore the southernmost expression of the Eastern temperate forest, and witness the echoes of its refuge during the last ice age. We will try to time this visit to coincide with spring wildflower displays. The panhandle boasts floral species surprisingly familiar to Eastern naturalists, but nearly a full month earlier than mid-continent. We will be visiting a Florida not found in most tourist books, visiting the crystal-clear springs of Wakulla Springs and its champion-sized hardwood trees; an ancient tupelo swamp forest of Leon Sinks; the carnivorous plants, bluffs and ravines of the Apalachicola watershed and National Forest; the rare remnants of the infamous Torreya Pine at Torreya State Park; and the spring wildflowers in the karst country of Florida Caverns. Final details of this trip are still being worked out, but follow the above link for preview information.

March 21,2009 "snow date" on March 28 Snow Trilliums of Chalet Nivale
An Exploring the Arc Tour:    Profuse displays of the world's smallest trillium, the rare Trillium nivale
There are certain seasonal events so phenomenal that it is worth taking special effort to see them first-hand. Snow trilliums are at their peak only for 3-4 days each spring. At Chalet Nivale, where on a good year the trilliums cover the cliffs like fallen star fields, it's not a display you'll want to miss. We will pick the day that is closest to the flowers' peak. We are delighted to now announce that 90 additional acres of land were added to Chalet Nivale in 2008, expanding this significant botanical preserve from 15 to 105 acres in size. We are eager to share this preserve's brand new trail system with you.

April 16-19,2009 Southern Ohio Wildflower Pilgrimage
A Wilderness East field trip: naturalist-led field trips   Over 2 dozen possible destinations   world-class flower display   
One of the world's greatest spectacles is the grand showcase of wild flowers gracing the temperate forests in the spring. Located at the southern edge of the glacial advance which rejuvenated the soils, and also occupying the edge of the Cumberland Plateau of Appalachian foothills, the Arc has one of the richest wildflower displays to be found in the Eastern Forest. This event is timed to catch the beginning of the flowering trilliums - one of the showiest of all the spring flowers. Participants may choose among over two dozen day-long field trips, each with no more than fifteen people and led by experienced naturalists and botanists. Optional meals, packed lunches, and evening programs. Final details of this event are still being worked out, but follow the above link for preview information.

Annual Garlic Plucking Fest
Choose among Weekends April 25, 26 and  May 2, 3, 2009 from  9:30 am to 3:30 pm
OR join us for a 5-weekday in-service April 27 through May 1, 2009
A Volunteer Land Stewardship Event - work one day or two, lodging at the Sanctuary available night before
We hope to attract 100 or more volunteers to the effort of removing this non-native plant from our preserves this year. You can sign up for either location - HNS or the Bluffs - or you can let us assign you to where we need the help the most.

May 9,2009 Orchids and Ancient Oaks - Samson Woods Preserve
An Exploring the Arc Tour:  Pink Lady Slipper Orchids   Ancient old oaks
In the year 2005, John and Emily Samson donated a 70-acre forest tract to the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. Despite the thin infertile soil covering the Appalachian hills, dozens of immense black oaks tower high into the canopy, boasting impressive girths. John remembered planting pine trees in the farm fields adjacent to the oak forests back in the 1960's, and today those pine woodlands give shade to literally hundreds of pink lady slippers. John is proud of the labor he expended in creating these aging pine plantations, but he is even prouder of the wild orchids, which colonized the land effortlessly. The hike will take participants off-trail into Samson Woods to see both the lady slipper orchids and the stately old oaks.  

May 26-June 1,2009 Exploring Missouri Ozarks - Current River Wilderness
A Wilderness East field trip: Pine-Oak Forests  Collared Lizards  Wild Caves   Canebrakes   Grass Pink Orchids  Swainson's Warblers
This journey takes us to the Missouri Ozarks, the tension zone between the lush eastern forests and the progressively drier prairies of the Midwest. Our destination is the wilderness region of the spring-fed Current River and its tributary, Jacks Fork River, two of America's clearest and most pristine rivers. We will see prairie glades filled with blooming orchids and a dazzling array of forbes, natural canebrake communities that have nearly disappeared elsewhere in the East and still support the rare Swainson's warbler, and remnants of Missouri's once-expansive pine-oak woodlands. During our trip we will explore wild caves without the trappings of sidewalks and electric lights, in one case walking over one mile completely underground. Final details of this trip are still being worked out, but you may follow the above link for preview information.

July 11,2009 High Summer at Kamama Prairie Preserve
An Exploring the Arc Tour:   Peak bloom for showy early flowers    Peak of Swallowtail Butterflies   Dragonflies
Kamama Prairie is one of the rarest ecosystems in Eastern North America-- a native short-grass alkaline prairie. Over 43 state-listed imperiled wildflower species grow at Kamama, and most bloom in the heat of the summer. We will be hiking at the beginning of the expected show, when it is most colorful with its purple-headed coneflowers, scaley blazing stars, butterfly weed, and prairie coneflowers in bloom. The prairie also boasts over 72 species of butterflies and dozens of dragonfly species, and we are timing the visit to hopefully catch the peak of the showy swallowtail butterflies nectaring on the flowers.

July 12-17, 2009 Trees of the Eastern Temperate Forest
Appalachian Forest School Course : tree recognition   forest succession   reading-the-forest skills 
Although the Eastern temperate forest can claim well over 200 species of trees, learning just 40 to 45 of them will allow you to travel anywhere into the forest heartland -- from New York to Tennessee -- and identify with accuracy 90 to 95% of the standing trees you will see. This is exactly the goal of the course - to teach you to the majority of the common, widely distributed broadleaf and associated evergreen trees in the Eastern temperate forest by both common and Latin name. You also learn its ecological relationships, the qualities of its wood, its beauty and shape, wood craft and lore. By the end of this program, with a bit of mental effort and repetitive practice, you will not only be able to identify trees, but by learning the forest "alphabet" of individual species you be trained to begin to read the forest's hidden script -- gleaning from a quick glance a wealth of information about the forest's soils, history, age and health.

August 16-21, 2009  Global Significance of the Temperate Forest
aquatic systems as the forests' lifeblood      sister forests in Eastern Asia and Europe    hallmark species of the temperate forest  
This course will introduce you to the bio-geography of the world's most disturbed biome, the temperate broadleaf forest. Participants will take a virtual journey to the temperate forests of Eastern Asia and Europe, and understand the characteristics these separate forests share in common with North America's hardwood forest, as well as the conservation challenges facing the entire temperate forest biome in the northern latitudes. The curriculum will also concentrate on what makes the Eastern temperate forest unique among the temperate forests of the world, and the temperate forest's evolutionary story. Such a study brings to one's awareness that the lifeblood of the Eastern Forest is truly its rivers, with the East boasting some of the highest aquatic life diversity in the temperate world, in some cases the entire world. These are just a few of the lessons this global-perspective course will share with participants. We will spend a substantial amount of our time in the field, specifically in the water, becoming familiar with the signature species of the Eastern Forest and the importance of its rivers. Full course description and registration information coming soon. Click on Appalachian Forest School page for longer description.

Sept 26,2009 Tall-grass Prairie at Plum Run Preserve
An Exploring the Arc Tour: intact tall native grasses   fall asters   rare Heart-leaved Plantain
Plum Run is likely the largest tall grass prairie left in southern Ohio. Walking through the juniper-studded grasslands in autumn, with the heavy seed heads of big bluestem towering above one's head, is a stirring experience. We will see the rare-for-Ohio Shumard's Oak, and the state-endangered Heart-leaved Plantain, Plantago cordata (shown left), which has almost disappeared elsewhere in the state. We are delighted to say that 2008 turned out to be a year of recovery for the species at Plum Run. As we write, the count of mature plants is way up, and hundreds of new seedlings are taking root along the stream banks of Plum Run. Why not spend the entire weekend at the Sanctuary and register for Sunday's program as well? Click here for lodging recommendations.

Sunday, Sept 27, 2008  Inside Sanctuary 
An Exploring the Arc Event:   An inside look at the 2000 acre Highlands Nature Sanctuary, the Arc's largest preserve
Recommended for people anyone wanting a better understanding of the Arc and the world significance of America's Eastern Temperate Forests. We will spend the morning learning why the Eastern temperate forest and its rivers make our region globally unique and we will share the story how the Highlands Nature Sanctuary grew from simply saving just one river canyon to becoming a regional five-county preserve system and a national voice for the Eastern Forest. The afternoon includes a tour of Highlands Nature Sanctuary, Cave Canyon, and nearby facilities.