News & events from the South Fork Nature Center
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SFNC’s outdoor classroom is calling you! Our 22+ highly trained docents are waiting to open up your classroom to the great outdoors. If you’re studying ecosystems, habitats, structure and function of plants, abiotic and biotic factors of an ecosystem, environmental adaptions of plants and animals, the natural divisions of Arkansas, or many more areas of nature, we’ve got an exciting day of on-site nature experiences for your students.
We have first-hand experience crossing the curriculum with many areas of education including such subjects like math, literature, art and history.
Our incredible volunteer docents consist of retired professors, licensed science teachers, former forest rangers, entomologists, biologists and more. Many of our docents are trained by the Leopold Education Project and work to incorporate your framework requirements into stimulating activities.
A day at South Fork Nature Center can consist of trail hikes, work stations integrating other curriculum areas such as journaling and art, or simulation activities revolving around habitats, food chains and food webs.
Click here to read about some of the Educational Enrichment Programs offered. We also have educators on our docent staff who can work with you to create a “custom” day for your class or club. You can link to the “planning your trip” section and contact us to set up the date.
This fall we will also be able to send SFNC representatives to your school to meet with your teaching team or educational administrators to introduce everyone to what we offer at our nature center. Just email us at grf@artelco.com or call us and we’ll get you on our calendar.
Hope to hear from you soon!
September: Contact Krissi Graham via e-mail
October-December: Contact Programs director, Dr. Don Culwell at (501) 358-2095
Gorgeous day on Greers Ferry Lake for our double-feature cleanup teamup, at the shoreline & back to the nature trails!
Thanks to the Greers Ferry Lake & Little Red River Tourism Assoc. for keeping this awesome initiative alive, 47 years and counting, and for sponsoring a luncheon at beautiful Choctaw Park on Saturday Sept. 10! Thanks also to Jason Hayes with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, ECT Web Designs, Phillip Ellis for VBC Clerk, and the great gals at Furgersons Choctaw Marina & the great gals at the Choctaw Park gatehouse.
The Greers Ferry Lake & Little Red River Cleanup is held annually the Saturday after Labor Day. Registration is free and everyone is welcome to join up for a weekend of community fun for an awesome cause! See more at www.arkansasadventures.org.
The after clean up “mini -work day” at SFNC was a success. Trees and brush were cut by Don Culwell, Philip Miron and Kendall Goff. Leslie Goff spent the time weed-eating the parking lot and trails. Julia Goff, Quentin Goff and Janet Miron spent an additional 3 hours cleaning up trash at the nature center. All and all a total of approximately 25 additional volunteer hours were added to morning clean up hours for a total volunteer hours of approximately 65 hours for the day. Thanks to all the board members, docents and friends of South Fork that came out to help.
Ready to roll up your sleeves and get ready for autumn trail walks at South Fork? We’re doing some seasonal maintenance & you’re invited to pitch in! Meet us at the Nature Center Saturday afternoon.
Want to come out early? Spend the day on the Lake with us as we join the 47th Annual Lake & River Cleanup!
The Greers Ferry Lake & Little Red River Assoc. will host the annual cleanup as a 3-day community fun event. Now you can register online (individual or group) and play a part in the stewardship of one of our most precious regional resources. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!
Check in-times for boats, as well as info on participating marinas & locations, are listed at www.arkansasadventures.org. All registrants will be entered into the grand prize drawing!
Sign up is FREE! Register online at www.arkansasadventures.org. All notifications about events & activities will be posted here.
Join us on Saturday morning Volunteers may check in at ANY of the 9 marinas around the Lake, plus Lindsey’s Resort. The South Fork Team will check in at Furgersons Choctaw Marina at 7:30am.
Our group will spend the morning cleaning the peninsula area on the southwestern side of the Lake.
Meet us back at Choctaw Marina, around 11am, where a luncheon will be provided at the Pavilion on the hill. (Lunches will also be held for Sugar Loaf volunteers & at the Fairfield Bay marina main location.)
Bring your work gloves and follow us back to South Fork Nature Center to continue the cleanup efforts as we carry out Trail Maintenance! Get a hands-on view of our amazing grounds, including our trail network, restored pioneer cabin, and field-based educational facilities. Work alongside our awesome & knowledgeable docents!
Need to ask a question, or get directions? See maps & local info on the Registration page, or call 844-939-7567 & press “0” for assistance.
We will have a booth again this year at the Van Buren County Fair. Docents and Board Members will be manning the booth on Tuesday – Friday from 6-8p.m. and most of the day on Saturday. Come by and see what we’ve been doing all year, and talk to us about scheduling your class, group or organization out for a visit. We want to tell you all about our mission and community activities we offer. See you soon!
Click the image for full schedule of events…
South Fork Nature Center has just been the recipient of a $4,000 grant from an anonymous donor through the AR Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that fosters smart giving to improve communities, to help AR protect, grow, and direct their charitable dollars as they learn more about community needs.
This grant will be used to enhance South Fork glades for Monarch butterfly habitat and for possible additionally threatened species.
In June of 2015, a $5000 grant from U.S. Fish and Wildlife provided funding for monarch butterfly habitat in three glade ecosystems of SFNC, glades that were undergoing enhancement from an earlier U.S.F.W. grant of $10,000. Specifically grown milkweed plants, some 450 in number, were set out in the SFNC glades in 23 populations, 18-20 plants per population, in June by Master Gardeners, South Fork docents, and Board members; these plants were watered until early in the fall. Milkweed survival documented in the spring of 2016 in all 23 of these plots ranged from 0-82% with six of the plots showing percentages above 50%. Nine of the 23 plots had survival rate below 25%. Similar results were achieved in 2011-12 in Missouri with survival from six transplant sites ranging from 23-66% (C. Davit, Missouri Prairie Journal vol. 34 no. 2, p.11).
In many plots at SFNC, milkweeds compensated for deer browsing, insect feeding and winter injury by producing additional stems from established root systems. Several plants grew to flower in the first year, but research shows that bloom may take a minimum of two years to occur.
We at South Fork Nature Center would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and individual donors. We appreciate your interest in our mission. Your donations truly strengthen the SFNC organization and make an incredible impact on our local environment.
The South Fork Nature Center is the premier project of the Gates-Rogers Foundation. The Gates-Rogers Foundation is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization. Donations made to SFNC may be eligible for a tax deduction. Donations of all sizes are greatly appreciated. If you are interested in the environment, habitat restoration, education of local school children or fostering opportunities for community based outdoor activities, then please consider South Fork Nature Center for your next charitable gift. Visit us soon! Our outdoor Classroom is in your neck of the woods!
Fast, secure online contributions through PayPal are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!
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