12 The Little River VOLUME 02 Watermark ISSUE J u l y 2 0 1 4 Membership Newsletter for Friends of DuPont Forest July Events: DuPontDuPont Listed AnimalListed SpeciesAnimal Slide Species Show Slide By AleenShow Steinberg 18th Mountain Medicine 22nd FODF Board There are 13 known species of animals in DuPont Meeting State Recreational Forest that the state has cate- gorized as “species of special concern,” August Events: “threatened,” or “endangered.” This group of 13 is comprised of one snake, one lizard, one turtle, 16th Litter Pick-Up one rodent, four bats, and five salamanders. Alan 23rd Mushroom Hike Cameron, an FODF member and long-time volun- teer with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission September Events: will present a slide show to describe these ani- mals and their habitats later this summer on a 13th Fall Botanical Walk date yet to be determined. His lecture will include 20th FODF Canoe Day information about a special program to photo- graph over-wintering Golden Eagles here in west- 23rd FODF Board Meeting ern North Carolina. This program will be held in the downstairs classroom of the Aleen Steinberg 27th FODF Trails & National Visitor Center. FODF members will be notified of Public Lands Day the date and time by email. Alan Cameron (photo courtesy of Aleen Steinberg) This issue Forest Supervisors Report 2-3 Environmental Education 3 Calling All Volunteers 4 Frank’s Farewell Tour de Falls 5 Trail Safety Clinic 6 Green Salamander (photo courtesy of Alan Cameron) Trail Crew Update FODF Newsletter Gets a Facelift New Board Members 7 Poplar Hill Rambler 8-9 As you will see, the Newsletter Committee has been hard at work upgrading the format and content of your quarterly newsletter. We The Blue Ghosts! would like your feedback as to what you would like to see in upcom- 10 Welcome New Members ing editions. President’s Report 11 If you would like to write an article about the Forest or would like to submit pictures of the Forest, please submit your suggestions, ideas, and articles to the Newsletter Editor, Nancy Kay at vet- Membership Form 12 [email protected] or telephone- 707-477-6683. Page 2 DuPont State Recreational Forest Supervisor’s Report By Jason I. Guidry Personnel: On June 2nd, Frank Cubero, the Forest Maintenance Supervisor, left the NC Forest Service for a career change. We not only lost 10 years of ex- perience on the Forest but a person with remarkable problem-solving skills and creativity for any project he put his hands on. The FODF and the NC Forest Service gathered at the High Falls Shelter on Frank’s last day to send him off and wish him luck. In the last quarter, we added two temporary appointments to the Forest Staff. In February, Mr. Denver Beddingfield assumed duties as the Public Information Assistant assigned to the Visitor Center. In March, Mr. Chad Battle took the General Utility Worker position assigned to Forest mainte- nance. We hope that these positions will assist in duties that were taking a substantial amount of staff time: public phone calls, permit questions, some routine office work, and maintenance and landscaping needs. We also lost Mr. Stephen Pace, our Maintenance Mechanic, to the NC Department of Transportation in Henderson County. Stephen was a val- ued and skilled member of our work force for three and a half years and he will be missed. Approximately 60% of his duties were assigned to the Visitor Center, with the remainder being tied to the maintenance support of DuPont State Recreational Forest and Holmes Educational State Forest. This position was recently filled by Brandon “Buck” Jones, a skilled me- chanic and long time member of the Brevard Rescue Squad. Recreation/Visitation Services: Record breaking number of visitors seen the first five months of 2014. In the Special Use category of permits, the Forest was recently the site Overall, visitation to the Forest is higher at this point in the year than in of a movie production during the first week of June. The movie, enti- either 2012 or 2013. Through the month of May, 2014, the NC Forest tled “Max”, was an MGM production and an adaptation of a true story Service estimates that 117,000 visitors have been inside the Forest. In the about “A military working dog who returns from active service in Af- record-year of 2012, 113,000 visitors were estimated through May. ghanistan traumatized by his handler's death. Its release is set for January 30, 2015”. The ten-year average of visitation to the Forest, prior to 2013, was ~160,000 visitors per year. The number of full-time employees responsible The NC Forest Staff worked closely with the film production crew to for the Forest has remained at the same level since 2009. Therefore, the minimize visitor conflicts and maximize public safety and resource DSRF Staff is as occupied with public safety, Forest rule enforcement, and protection. public relations as ever. We have recently re-structured the permit system to improve efficiency Vegetation and Wildlife Objectives: and consistency with the administration of the various permit programs. The DSRF Staff conducted four prescribed burns during the period We hope this benefits our users and our staff. Current areas of responsi- from late February through April. All of the burn units were located bility, per general permit category, are found below: along the Joanna Road corridor. The Vista Trail burn (26 acres), Oak Tree Trail burn (20 acres), Pitch Pine Trail burn (45 acres), and Briery Routine Use (Denver Beddingfield, Public Information Assistant): Fork Trail burn (~50 acres) met the objectives of wildlife habitat en- Disabled Access, Shelter Reservations, and After-Hours hancement, reduction of fuel buildup, and breaking up of occlusive patches of mountain laurel and rhododendron. Special Use (Eric Folk, Educational Ranger): Hunting Permits, Dis- (continued on page 3) abled Hunters, Weddings, Volunteer Projects, Barn Use, Guion Farm, and Training Events. Commercial Use (Jeremy Waldrop, Educational Ranger): typical commercial use FODF Newsletter Committee: Nancy Kay - Newsletter Firewood Permits (Michael Sweat, Management Forester): fire- Editor, Nancy Black - Copy Layout, Kent Wilcox, wood, stick removal for artistic materials, mushroom logs, etc. Aleen Steinberg, Jerry Brown & Helen Lee. Special Use-Supervisor Level (Jason Guidry and Bruce Mac- Newsletter Contributors: Jason Guidry, Eric Folk, Rella Donald): movie projects, photo shoots, significant events or vari- ance of Forest rules. Allred, Kent Wilcox, Helen Lee, Lyle Burgmann, Devin Gentry, Bev Parlier, Aleen Steinberg, Gloria Clouse, Chris McDonnell, Bob Twomey & Alan Cameron Page 3 Forest Supervisor’s Report (continued from page 2) Approximately 10 acres of recently harvested hardwood forest were Cultural Resources planted with shortleaf pine. The shortleaf pine was planted on a wide Throughout most of the month of June the NC Forest Service designed spacing and in irregular patterns to mimic a natural community. The over- and constructed the re-route of Big Rock Trail away from a petroglyph all objective of the harvest was to improve wildlife habitat and forest site. Forester Michael Sweat was the project manager and used NCFS’s health by developing an early-stage successional forest community type. B.R.I.D.G.E. program for the labor. The NCFS received design assis- This site in the Guion Farm area is expected to regenerate into a mixed tance from Mr. David Brown and Mr. Chuck Ramsey and the re-route pine and hardwood stand. corridor was endorsed by the Natural Heritage Program to avoid rare and significant plant communities associated with the granite slabs along Big Approximately 250 hybrid American Chestnut were planted in the Guion Rock Trail. Farm harvest area. These potentially blight-resistant trees were provided Loop trails have Other Recent FODF Contributions: through an agreement between the NC Forest Service and The American Chestnut Foundation. In early May, the semi-annual Western Piedmont Community College (WPCC) project in DuPont took place. A storage shed was constructed to support the operations of the Aleen Steinberg Visitor Center. The shed, Invasive/Exotic Species Control: The DSRF staff recently submitted a designed by Frank Cubero and Eric Hurley, added a significant amount grant proposal to chemically treat ~25 acres of Miscanthus sinensis of storage capacity for the NC Forest Service and for the FODF’s Tour de (Chinese silvergrass), Microstegium vimineum (Nepalese browntop), and Falls events. The shed will also house a new utility terrain vehicle that will Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet) on the DSRF and HESF. This work be assigned to the Visitor Center. We thank the FODF for supporting this will be completed by Forest staff members throughout the growing sea- project and the WPCC students and instructors for their hard work. son of 2014. The FODF and Chris McDonnell have once again graciously made avail- Forest Resource Protection: able $1000 for use on the Forest, through a charitable contribution by Mr. Trails McDonnell’s former employer JP Morgan. This year’s contribution funded The Shoal Creek, Cedar Rock, and Hickory Mountain Loop trails have much needed security lighting around the Visitor Center. The contribution been successfully re-routed to protect the quality of water in nearby is a match for Chris’s volunteer work in the Forest. Over the past ten stream systems. The overall cost of the project was ~$17,000 and was years, Chris’s hard work has resulted in over $10,000 of direct benefit to funded solely by the Friends of DuPont Forest. We appreciate FODF for DuPont Forest. It is greatly appreciated. promoting trail improvement projects that protect the Forest’s natural resources. North Carolina Forest Service Contributions: The FODF Trails Committee approved the remaining balance of the The Young Offenders Forest Conservation Program (also known as money (~$4100 ) be set aside for trail improvements.