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FIELD TRIPS & OTHER EVENTS
Friday, April 4th—Sunday, April 6th—JOINT ARKANSAS/MISSOURI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY MEETING in Harrison, Arkansas—Loads of field trips! NOTE: SPRING MEETING FIELD TRIP DETAILS ARE PROVIDED ELSEWHERE IN THIS ISSUE WITH SPRING MEETING GENERAL INFORMATION… See you there!
Saturday, April 5th—2nd Annual Calhoun Community Garden Show— Harvey C. Couch School in Calhoun, Arkansas (5 miles east of Magnolia). Theme is “Where History & Gardening Come Together & Touch For a Day”. 9am-5pm. Crafts, Plants, Wildflower Seeds, Antique Roses, Garden Furniture, One-Of-A-Kind-Sale, Southern Arkansas University Bugdacious Exhibit, Columbia County Master Gardener's Plant Sale, plus Bluegrass, Gospel, & Country Music, and more. For more information call 870.234.9491
Saturday, April 26th—Field trip to Roaring River area in Missouri— We will meet at the Emory Center at Roaring River State Park at 10:00 AM and go to Butler Hollow from there. We will see lots of unusual spring woodland species like Valerianella ozarkana and be sure to bring binoculars
as the birding in this area is outstanding. There is a restaurant at the center where we can have lunch and afterward,
we will visit the forest service glade just south of the park for a completely different habitat. Roaring River is located 5 miles south of Cassville, MO and can be reached by taking Highway 221 north from Berryville to Mo highway 86 and turning west on F and on to the park. From the west, take Mo highway 37 north from Gateway to 112 and on to the park. Those coming from Fayetteville/Rogers area will take Hwy. 62 to Gateway.
Contact Linda Ellis at 417.272.3890 for information or e-mail at lindasellis@hughes.net.
Saturday, April 26th—Arkansas Earth Day Festival and Concert 2008— Free festival from 11am to 4pm at the William J. Clinton Presidential Park.
Concert from 7-11pm ArtScene in North Little Rock. This is the largest Earth Day celebration in Arkansas
and will feature food, shopping, games, live entertainers, and more, with a twist: the attractions are healthy,
eco-friendly, and socially responsible. The evening concert will host live music, artists at work, and a green
fashion show. Detailed information regarding sponsorships, booths, performers, and volunteers are now
all online and available for viewing at www.arkansasearthday.org/applications.
Saturday, May 3rd—Field Trip to Grand Prairie Natural Areas (Joint Field Trip with the Tennessee Native Plant Society and the Memphis Wildflower Society) —Join our friends and neighbors to the east as they cross the Mississippi to explore our beautiful remnant prairies in eastern Arkansas. The trip will be led by Bart Jones of the TNPS, with assistance from Theo Witsell from ANPS. We’ll meet at Downs Prairie Natural Area on Hwy 70, just west of Devall’s Bluff at 11:00 am. Park along the side of the dirt road at the north end of the prairie (north of Highway 70). See one of the last best remnants of this once 400,000 acre prairie! If time allows, we will also explore Konecny Prairie Natural Area and/or other sites. For directions to Downs Prairie, visit the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission website at www.naturalheritage.org (and click on Natural Areas) or call Theo at 501.831.7473.
Saturday, May 17th—Field Trip to Petit John Hollow (Ouachita National Forest), Montgomery County —Join Ouachita National Forest Botanist Susan Hooks to tour one of the largest wooded seep complexes in Arkansas. Meet at Burl’s Smokehouse at Crystal Springs on Hwy 270 at 9:30 am. Bring a lunch and boots or shoes that you can get wet. There will be lots of good spring wildflowers and rare plants restricted to our better seeps. For more info call Susan at 501.321.5323 or 501.282.5365. Saturday, May 17th—10 a.m. Field Trip to Leatherwood Creek— For the past two years, we have made plans to hike the trail at Leatherwood Creek.
Rain has prevented us from doing so. This year, we are planning to visit Leatherwood Creek
in mid-May and are hoping for great weather. Meet at the Leatherwood Creek parking lot,
about a mile north of Hwy. 62, ca. 2 miles west of Eureka Springs. The hike is moderately strenuous.
For more information, contact Brent Baker at btb2001@yahoo.com or Burnetta Hinterthuer at 479.582.0317 or email at burhint@sbcglobal.net.
Saturday, May 31st—Field Trip to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (Pawhuska, OK)—Join veteran Arkansas guides Joe Woolbright and Joe Neal to explore the largest protected tallgrass prairie remnant in the world! We will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Arvest Bank parking lot in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (across Hwy 412 from Walmart as you come into Siloam from the east). Those who don't want to carpool can caravan or get directions from Joe Woolbright. We will stay in Bartlesville, OK overnight. Call Joe Woolbright for lodging details and to reserve a spot. 479.427.4277. Saturday, June 21st—Field Trip to the South Fourche Botanical Area (Ouachita National Forest), Perry County—Spend the first day of summer exploring the Ouachita National Forest’s newest specially designated botanical area. This area, along the South Fourche LaFave River in the rugged Fourche Mountains, has one of the highest concentrations of rare plants and habitats in the eastern Ouachitas. Explore a number of rare habitats including a large upland channel scar swamp, wooded seeps, glades, bluffs, river scour prairie, and a large natural salt lick. Led by Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission botanist Theo Witsell. Terrain is moderately strenuous and will involve approximately 2 miles of (slow) walking and some bushwhacking, as there are no trails. Limit 25 people. Call Theo at 501.831.7473 for more information and to reserve a spot. Saturday, Oct. 4th & Sunday, Oct. 5th—Arkansas Audubon Arkansas Ecology Adult Worshops at Ferncliff Conference Center in west Little Rock. Workshops run from 10 a.m. Saturday to 4 p.m Sunday. Accommodations available at Ferncliff for out-of-towners. And the workshops are: 1) Mushrooms and other fungi: how to identify, collect, cook, and avoid. Jay Justice, longtime President of the Arkansas Mycological Society, instructor. 2) Edible and otherwise useful wild plants: acorn bread is only the appetizer! Tamara Walkingstick, of U. of Arkansas Ag Extension, instructor. 3) Trees of Arkansas: learn to identify (and appreciate) more than 50 of our native trees. Eric Sundell instructor. Interested? Check it out at www.arbirds.org. And save the date.
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