Wildflower Hike at Twin Bridges/Melrose Falls^Featured

March 29, 2024

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.

Twin Bridges/Melrose Falls is always a special place this time of year and a big shout-out to Conserving Carolina for providing this location. More acreage has been recently acquired adjacent to Melrose Falls and Pearson’s Falls to ensure we have clean air and water, scenic beauty and wildlife habitat.
On April 11, we return to one of our favorite places, Big Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As has been done in the past we will have two alternatives, a wildflower intensive walk and a hike to Mouse Creek Falls. Both options promise a view of the diversity of this location. More information to follow regarding this event which will not have attendee limitation.

Coming Up, events, online event, Plants

Foster Nature by Landscaping with Native Plants^Featured

February 29, 2024

with Drew Lathin, owner of Mountain Native Landscape Design

Tuesday,

March 12, 7 p.m.

Landscaping with native plants is critical for building wildlife habitat, reducing resource inputs like excess water and fertilizer, and creating healthy outdoor living areas. Learn why only native plants can do this as well as some design tips to make your native landscape beautiful.

Drew Lathin is the owner of Mountain Native Landscape Design. He is also a certified Blue Ridge Naturalist. Drew is an advocate for re-wilding our urban and suburban landscapes, using native plants in thoughtful ways to bring biological diversity and beauty to our everyday lives.

No RSVP necessary for this event. We look forward to seeing you there!

Outings, Past Events

Waterfall and Fall ColorWalk^Featured

October 25, 2023

On Wednesday, October 18, a total of 18 BRNN members made the trip to view waterfalls and fall tree colors. The weather was perfect. The trees were in their autumnal best and, as always, the attendees were enthusiastic.

The first waterfall walk was the Cove Creek trail on FS 475 by the Pisgah fish hatchery. We crossed the newly constructed bridge over Cove Creek and passed cascades that included deep pools best enjoyed in the summer.

After a mile walk on the trail we descended to the base of Cove Creek Falls. The water flow was a less than normal, but still was a great show which included a few rapellers (not from our group).

Lunch was enjoyed on the rocks at the base of the waterfall.

Following our Cove Creek hike we drove further on FS 475 to the Daniel Ridge trailhead.

On the trail we saw some of the natural beauty of the Davidson River.

Stopping for a group picture on the Davidson River bridge.

We continued to the Tom Springs waterfall, a spectacular cliff with a limited flow of water.

As we drove to our waterfalls we were treated to the majestic beauty of John Rock pluton with its cap of fall colors.

This concluded our outdoor adventures for 2023. See you next year!

Past Events

Our Visit to Purchase Knob^Featured

October 12, 2023

As we progressed up Hemphill Road towards Purchase Knob, the BRNN contingent broke through a layer of low clouds to discover a brilliant sunny day in the high mountains. A total of 26 BRNN members joined at the top to hear a welcome and the history of the site from Paul Super of the National Park Service. Then we broke into two groups, one ably led by our own Lou Dwarshuis and Marilyn Kolton, and the other by Randy Richardson.

As usual, the meadow offered a gorgeous tableau of fall wildflowers dominated by a variety of asters, goldenrod, and mints visited by swarms of bees and butterflies. Meadow highlights included Mountain Goldenrod, Bladder Campion, Ironweed, Stiff Gentian, Lady’s Tresses, and British Soldiers marching along the shingles atop the Ferguson Cabin.

events, Past Events

The History and Biology of Coyotes In North Carolina^Featured

October 12, 2023

Watch the talk on Youtube.

Tuesday, November 14, 7 p.m.

Reuter Center at UNCA Manheimer Room

OLLI.Cedar Classroom UNC Asheville is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Blue Ridge Naturalist Network November 2023
Time: Nov 14, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://unca-edu.zoom.us/j/94469031955?pwd=YTJhVEhSOXppQTFKRUxwZ2gyNWZTUT09

Meeting ID: 944 6903 1955
Passcode: 911168

Justin McVey is the mountain regional district wildlife biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Justin has a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from North Carolina State University. He also obtained his Master of Science in wildlife and conservation biology from North Carolina State University focusing on studying the food habits of coyotes and red wolves in Eastern North Carolina. Justin has been employed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission since 2005, holding the positions of captive cervid biologist, wildlife technician, permits biologist, and the recent position of district wildlife biologist.

No RSVP necessary for this event. We look forward to seeing you there!

Past Events

BRNN Annual Meeting^Featured

August 15, 2023

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 Gorge^Featured

August 12, 2023

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. Having spent too much time picking Gary’s brain on the outbound hike, we did not have time to climb Table Rock in the afternoon, but instead stopped along the roadside in a couple of places to see Appalachian sunflowers and some gorgeous yellow-fringed orchids. All agreed that it was a full but rewarding day.

Past Events

Wet Camp Gap – A High Mountain Meadow^Featured

June 21, 2023

Tuesday July 25 at 10 am Blue Ridge Parkway South

Past Events, Trees

Woody Plants Hike with Ron Lance^Featured

June 20, 2023

online event, Past Events, Plants

Prospecting for Plants – The Western Carolina Botanical Club^Featured

May 28, 2023

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 81^Featured

February 20, 2023

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 Program^Featured

January 15, 2023 7 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.