This Natural Areas Association (NAA) Stewardship in Action Field Workshop is being offered in partnership with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
*This event has concluded. Thank you to all that attended!
The Natural Areas Association (NAA) and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program will host a professional training workshop on managing sensitive natural communities concurrently for biodiversity conservation and public access based out of Claytor Lake State Park. Workshop participants will tour the Buffalo Mountain and The Channels Natural Area Preserves, two ecologically significant and spectacular sites owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and subject to high levels of public visitation. Virginia Natural Heritage staff have documented natural resource degradation, implemented strategies to reduce ecological damage due to recreation traffic, and are monitoring restoration success at both preserves.
Sustainable Summits is a two-day workshop that will include expert-led discussions of the sites‘ natural history and innovative stewardship strategies for improving the sustainability of public access to rare plant communities on public lands. The workshop will feature opportunities for collaboration and networking among land managers, ecologists, and outdoor recreation experts working in Virginia, the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.
All proceedings will be professionally filmed. Film will be used to produce a remote training/professional development video that will be included in a live Zoom event that will feature collaborative discussion. The Zoom event will be recorded and made available as on-demand training for NAA members and other audiences as appropriate.
All times Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
Click here for a PDF of the detailed workshop agenda.
Day One - September 29, 2021 | |
6:30am - 7:30am | Grab and Go Breakfast |
7:30am - 7:40am | Welcome and Opening Remarks
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7:40am - 8:00am | Stewarding Virginia's Natural Area Preserve System: 25 Years of Balancing Resource Protection with Public Access
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8:00am - 8:20am | Public access management at Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve: balancing sustainable visitation & biodiversity conservation
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8:20am - 8:40am | Public access management of a geologically unique heath bald in the Southern Appalachians
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8:40am - 9:00am | Restoration challenges of a mountaintop natural community at Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve in Northern Virginia
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10:30am - 10:45am | Break |
10:45am - 11:45am | Transportation to Field Site |
11:45am - 12:00pm | Arrival at Field Site |
12:00pm - 12:30pm | Hike and Workshop - Ascending |
12:30pm - 1:00pm | Lunch |
1:00pm - 3:00pm | Hike and Workshop - Descending |
3:15pm - 4:30pm | Return to Transportation |
4:30pm - 5:30pm | Break and Free Exploration |
5:00pm - 6:00pm | Dinner and Campfire Social |
Day Two - September 30, 2021 | |
6:30am - 7:30am | Grab and Go Breakfast |
7:30am - 9:30am | Transportation to Field Site |
9:30am - 11:30am | Hike to Field Location |
11:30am - 12:30pm | Hike and Workshop - Ascending |
12:30pm - 1:00pm | Lunch at Field Site |
1:00pm - 3:00pm | Hike and Workshop - Descending |
3:00pm - 3:15pm | Return Transportation & Departure |
Natural Areas Stewardship Manager with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Natural Heritage Program; 1998 to present. Rick earned his BS, Masters and PhD in Forestry and Forest Ecology from Clemson University. His doctoral research focused on the ecological roles of fire and hurricanes in the southeastern U.S. He has worked as Extension/Research Forester at Purdue University and as Consulting Fire Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy. For the last 24 years with DCR in Virginia he has overseen all aspects of managing the State Natural Area Preserve System, which currently consists of 66 preserves protecting nearly 60,000 acres of the Commonwealth's most biologically diverse lands. He supervises 20 full-time positions, located in seven field offices statewide, whose primary duties are to maintain habitats for rare species, restore natural communities and provide compatible opportunities for public recreation. Outside of work, Rick's interests include acoustic music & guitars, dogs, fishing, boating, gardening and parenting boy-girl twins born in August 2001.
Registration Fees | |
Member | $249 |
Non Member | $299 |
This event has concluded.
photos by VADCR
Please know that we will be monitoring the CDC guidelines for in-person events, and that the workshop will be limited to only vaccinated individuals - including presenters, participants, and staff.
Workshop participants will be sharing cabins. If this is a concern, participants are welcome to secure hotel rooms in nearby Dublin, VA.
Twelve two-bedroom cabins and three three-bedroom cabins have been reserved for Tuesday, September 28 and Wednesday, September 29.
Cabin Details
From I-81, take Exit 101 (Claytor Lake) to State Park Road (State Route 660).
State Park Road ends at the park's entrance.
Drive Time: Northern Virginia, 5 hours; Richmond, 4 hours; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, 5 hours; Roanoke, 1 hour
Workshop presentations, meal service and back-up space for inclement weather will be hosted in the Claytor Lake Conference Center, a modern, fully functioning meeting facility that features an auditorium, deck space and a kitchen space.
The Channels Natural Area Preserve contains a significant high elevation forest, rock outcrop and cliff communities. Following a 3.5-mile hike to the 4,208 ft. summit of Middle Knob, workshop participants will enter a maze-like system of sandstone crevices and boulders which gives the Channels its name and makes the site popular for outdoor recreation. During our visit site managers will lead discussions about the unique natural history and stewardship of the Preserve and the surrounding 4,836-acre State Forest.
As of June 10, 2020, the parking area is limited to 10 vehicles. If the parking area is full when you arrive, please come back another time. Parking along Highway 80 is not permitted, and violators will be ticketed. Please take this capacity into consideration when arranging carpooling for the workshop.
Directions:
Latitude/Longitude:
36 49’ 40.9, 81 57’ 43.5
The Channels State Forest is located on the south slope of Clinch Mountain, situated primarily in Washington County, approximately 8 miles due north of Abingdon. The property lies just north of Route 689 (Brumley Gap Road) and west of Route 80. A small portion of the forest (30 acres), extends over the top of Clinch Mountain into Russell County; north and east of Middle Knob.
Parking/Access: Access from Route 689, and Route 80. There are three parking areas along the North-South Road and a parking area along Route 80 at the trailhead that is the most common hiking route to the Channels. A small parking area adjacent to Route 80 near the Washington and Russell County Line can accommodate 10 cars, with an additional parking area north of Route 689 across from Fletcher’s Chapel.
As of June 10, 2020, the parking area is limited to 10 vehicles. If the parking area is full when you arrive, please come back another time. Parking along Highway 80 is not permitted, and violators will be ticketed.
Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve is home to a globally rare invertebrate species, and rare plants including grass, wildflower, and fern species, prairie-like glades, outcrop barrens and four other significant natural communities. Workshop participants will hike ~1 mile to the 3,971 ft. naturally treeless summit, a hiking destination popular for its long-distance panoramic views. Preserve managers will lead observations of rare plant communities and showcase multiple stewardship strategies, including installations of soft barriers, implemented to make public access to this fragile environment more sustainable.
Public access facilities consist of a 10-car gravel parking area, portable toilet, information kiosk, interpretive signs and three hiking trails. When the parking lot is full, the natural area preserve is full, and visitors will need to wait for a spot to open, or come back another time. The parking lot is most likely to be full midday on weekends. The narrow 0.9-mile gravel road to the parking area has multiple pull-offs to facilitate passing cars.
About Buffalo Mountain - VADCR pdf
Join the people who protect and manage our natural areas.