These fun fungi photos were taken by our president, Janet Miron, during a recent trail tour.
47th Annual Lake & River Cleanup
Love the Lake & River Weekend, Sep. 9-11, 2016
The Greers Ferry Lake & Little Red River Association invites everyone to lend a hand in the big yearly land & water cleanup day. This year, join the celebration as part of a 3-day community event.
Find schedule details & check-in times for participating locations at www.arkansasadventures.org or e-mail info@arkansasadventures.org.
Register Online! →
All registrants will be entered into the grand prize drawing.
See our listing in the new online Regional Visitors Guide!
Congratulations to our new President!
As of July 2016, we are pleased to announce our newly-elected president, Janet Miron! Our team is grateful to have her knowledge and energy play such a vital role in our organization. Former president Don Richardson will continue to offer his invaluable experience as a member of the board.
Janet resides in Little Rock with her husband Philip, who currently serves as the organization’s Treasurer. She works as a science curriculum consultant in addition to serving on the Foundation’s board of directors. Janet has a strong desire to carry out the wishes and visions of her former neighbor, Victor Gates, for the South Fork Nature Center.
Cut & Burn/Save
The 2006 study of plants at SFNC by Theo Witsell and Brent Baker documented a unique ecosystem on the grounds of South Fork, one that showed little sign of disturbance during the recent past.
About three quarters of an acre in area, the upland depression wetland holds shallow standing water during wetter months; massive hummocks of several species of moss, including Sphagnum, cover much of the ecosystem floor. Hot summer weather leaves the site dry. This area, more commonly seen in the Gulf Coastal Plain, supports high bush blueberry (Vaccinium fuscatum), Drummond’s red maple (Acer rubrum var. Drummondii), maleberry (Lyonia ligustrina), and several orchid populations as well as a diversity of sedges (two of which are of conservation concern) and partridge berry (Mitchella repens). Restoration and maintenance of this ecosystem requires considerable opening of the canopy increasing the available light, future controlled burns.
So, the first step in this restoration is removal of the many Eastern red cedars that have grown tall as well as a number of tall sweetgums and hickory species. This tree removal became a Saturday project on May 14 when 12 anxious and dedicated workers (SFNC docents, Board members, and friends) gathered early in the morning for duty. Chain saws whined loudly as trees came thundering down; ten foot cedar logs good enough for fence rails were cleaned and saved while the brush and undesirable trees were burned. A welcomed rest and lunch at noon at the picnic tables beside the cabin was a fine idea…leaving only the feeding of the two huge fires with the ends of burned logs and branches. By 3:00 pm all was quiet, save only an occasional pop and crackle of the fires. If one were to listen carefully, an ever so softly spoken word could be heard from the heart of the ecosystem being restored… “Thanks for giving me light again!”
(For documentation of this ecosystem, see “A Comprehensive Floristic Inventory, Habitat Assessment and Plant Community Classification of South Fork Native Plant Preserve, Van Buren County, AR, 2006” by Theo Witsell and Brent Baker…noted on SFNC web site under “Reports.”)
July 16 Program: “Think Outside”
Think Outside – No Box Required. Using outdoor experiences, traditional and non-traditional, k-12 educators and the public are invited to SFNC, Sat. July 16, 9:00-11:00 to see how new state science and literacy standards can be met by taking your students….outside.
Suzanne and Marc Hirrel, docent facilitators, will lead you in new Project Learning Tree (PLT) and Leopold Education Project (LEP) curricula and show why learning outdoors can lead to higher achievement test performance. Participants will receive a curricula sampler and credit hours toward PLT and LEP certification.
6th Annual Butterfly Release
Saturday, June 18, 2016
The 6th annual butterfly program at South Fork Nature Center was attended by about 65 interested people. It included dressing children as butterflies to review insect anatomy, learning about and observing the life stages of 8 species of local butterflies, and releasing 8 adult butterflies and about 50 Monarch eggs and caterpillars on their milkweed host plants.
During the segment about Monarch butterflies, 18 people from the audience were given butterfly weed seedlings to take home and plant in their yards.
A highlight of the event happened at the very end when a Pipevine Swallowtail adult broke its chrysalis open and crawled to a spot for wing expansion and drying. It always feels like such a privilege to witness the beginning of the adult stage of a butterfly’s life.
Ruth Andre
South Fork Nature Center 
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