Category: Continuing Education

Native Plant Brown Bag Presentation, Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

On June 14, Anna Maria Johnson gave a great presentation on gardening with native plants at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at JMU. The room was packed with avid listeners. There were several HMNers in attendance (Ann Murray, Peggy Plass, Dave Forrer and Elaine Smith).

After a nice introduction from the Arboretum Director Jan Sievers Mahon, Anna Maria started with a plug for the native plant gardening guide. Then she advocated for thoughtful use of the land, in order to share it with all the other “people” (plants, animals, bugs etc.).

Key points she covered included:

Ecological Gardening, which means choosing plants that feed and shelter wildlife, improve the soil and protect the water, as well as redefining “beauty” to include less pristine specimens.

Some considerations: removing invasive species; using straight species vs cultivars; maximizing diversity; considering eco-regions; “mild, styled or wild” options of approaches, and not needing to be perfect.

She discussed four kinds of diversity: species, structural, functional and genetic. She also urged us to “learn and edit our landscape, rather than trying to control it.”

All in all, it was a wonderful presentation to a large, receptive audience!

– Elaine Smith, Cohort IV, June 2023

Reprinted (and adapted) from the June 2023 issue of the Shenandoah Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society’s newsletter, thanks to Elaine!

Saving the American Chestnut

On Saturday, May 6, Headwaters Master Naturalists were treated to a tour of Lesesne State Forest in Nelson County by forester John Scrivani. Thanks to Malcolm Cameron and Elaine Smith for organizing and hosting the trip and to Malcolm for this report!

John Scrivani retired from the Virginia Department of Forestry to work for the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF). He is the president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and is involved with ACF at Lesesne State Forest.

Lesesne State Forest was established in 1968 when it was gifted to VDOF by Mrs. Anne DuPont Vaulk for the purpose of research to save the American chestnut. It is adjacent to the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest in Nelson County and has several chestnut orchards and open fields within a total of 422 acres. ACF plants and crossbreeds American chestnuts there with Chinese and Japanese chestnut trees.

The chestnut blight infected chestnut trees across its range in the Eastern U.S. in the early 1900s and by the 1940s they were mostly wiped out except for smaller shoots sprouting from the stumps. They were a foundation species before the blight and once comprised about 25% of Appalachian forests, serving as a key economic resource in many local economies. American chestnut trees were favored by fire which was more frequent in past decades.

ACF employs various methods to crossbreed the chestnut species, primarily by covering the female flowers on American Chestnut trees with paper bags once they bloom in June and hand application of pollen from the Chinese or Japanese species. Less than 10% of the catkins have female flowers. These methods have resulted in hybrid species that are 15/16 or more of the American genotype. The chestnut trees start producing nuts at age 7 years. 

The ACF works with the State University of New York in aiding SUNY’s transgenic research in developing stronger chestnut tree hybrids. SUNY inserts genes from wheat into the American chestnuts and ACF of Virginia has planted some of those hybrids at Lesesne Forest. ACF at Lesesne strives for trees that are at least 80-90% American genotype and that have a blight resistance score of 60+. The score is largely determined by how well the trees are able to wall off the cankers in their bark and limit the impact to the tree health.

The Japanese-American chestnut hybrids are more blight resistant than the Chinese hybrids. John’s tour took us through several orchards in the lower field with various back-cross hybrids and at the end of day he showed us the upper orchard where several trees that were irradiated for the blight had been planted. Most of those trees died and other trees were grafted onto the stumps in the early 80’s with mixed results. Some trees in the upper orchard were backcrossed with transgenic chestnut trees. 

ACF plans to begin doing more plantings of hybrid American chestnut trees at various locations in the next few years. ACF Virginia has already planted hybrids in a few locations in the GWJNF.

ACF Virginia welcomes volunteers to assist with their activities at Lesesne State Forest and elsewhere including at the VDOF nursery in Crimora.

Malcolm Cameron, Cohort II

Find more photos of the tour from Scott Jost HERE and from Elaine Smith HERE.

Part 1 Training for a Statewide “Living with Bears” Project Through the VDWR

Headwaters Master Naturalists came together for a beary good training on the evening of Monday, April 24th. We met at the McKinney Center for Science and Mathematics at Bridgewater College to hear from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (Virginia DWR) for “Black Bears 101: General Biology and Ecology of Black Bears in Virginia.” The program was presented by District Wildlife Biologist Justin Folks and facilitated by Courtney Hallacher, DWR Statewide Wildlife Education Coordinator, who has developed a bear awareness public education partnership with Virginia Master Naturalists.

Black bears are the wild bears of Virginia. They were nearly wiped out after European settlement of Virginia but have made a comeback to their home range, and their range is most of the state. We learned a little about how the wild bear population is professionally managed in Virginia and how their population and their behavior fluctuate during low to high mast (fruit and nut production) years. Human/bear interactions also fluctuate between seasons with higher activity in warmer weather.

We quickly learned that “bears are a walking stomach” and they are incredibly omnivorous and wily at acquiring food. We saw a series of pictures of a black bear balancing on a wire to reach a hanging birdfeeder. (Birdseed is surprisingly high in calories!) However, feeding bears is illegal in Virginia. This of course pertains to baiting bears for hunting and feeding them for wildlife watching. But it also means that it is illegal to unintentionally feed bears such as allowing them to get in unsecured birdfeeders, garbage, compost or beehives.

We learned some of the recommended ways to deter bears from property. Folks recommended electric fences, hazing them with airhorns, and harmlessly shooting them with paint ball guns. However, for first encounters, he recommends just shouting or banging pots and pans to scare the bear off the property.

Should someone encounter a black bear in the wild, calmly walk away (don’t run) while getting the bear’s attention by announcing your presence, perhaps by saying, “hey, bear.” Folks said the wild black bear will likely want to avoid human interaction. Bears cannot see well so they may stand up to get a better look and they may bluff charge. 

He said that most problem bear situations in this area begin when a bear enters a yard to eat from a food source such as from a birdfeeder or pet food left outside. Residents often think such encounters are cute and do not deter the bear. However, bears quickly become habituated regarding where to easily find food and how to associate food with humans. Such habituated bears are hard to repel. They cause property damage, and they keep returning. And if a bear enters a human’s living structure or inappropriately makes contact with humans, the animal may be put down or “dispatched.”

We also learned some about bear mothers (sows) and their cubs’ behavior. Folks said that biologists and conservation officers do not assume that a lone cub is orphaned unless the mother’s carcass is found. Often a mother will try to get her cubs to safety and come back later when she feels it is safe to retrieve them. Folks told about a situation at a garbage dumpster by which cubs were apparently left alone. The worried public came to frequently check on the cubs. VA DWR authorities suggested leaving them in peace, and the mother bear left with the cubs.

We also learned some about humans’ reactions to black bears in trees in residential areas. Folks stated that if a bear is up a tree, it is either feeding or frightened. Again, the bear needs to be left alone by people, and dogs, before feeling safe enough to move to safety.  

Mange, a sometimes devastating and highly contagious skin disease caused by a mite, is a problem that bears face in Virginia. Bears with mange should be reported to Virginia DWR at bearmange@dwr.virginia.gov  Or call the VA Wildlife Conflict Helpline: (1-855-571-9003). We heard a little about how mange has progressed and is managed in Virginia’s wild bear population.

Finally, we learned about resources for living with bears in Virginia. Bear Wise (www.bearwise.org) helps people live responsibly with black bears. DWR operates a telephone VA Wildlife Conflict Hotline: (1-855-571-9003).  Linda Masterson’s “Living with Bears Handbook” revised and expanded second edition is another recommended resource. You can purchase the book through bearwise.org.

The April 24th presentation was part one of a two part Living with Bears Training for Headwaters Master Naturalists. Those who attended may participate in the optional part two which will be Wednesday, May 10th at 6:30 pm, again at Bridgewater College’s McKinney Center, Room 124. Sign up for this session on the Opportunities calendar in Better Impact.

After HMNs are fully trained by both sessions, we will be eligible to work with chapter coordinator Pam Gray on behalf of Virginia DWR to help educate the public about best practices for limiting negative human/bear interactions. You can read more about the program from Pam’s earlier article here: Living with Black Bears in Virginia. Or contact Pam for more information on this exciting new collaboration between the Virginia DWR and Virginia Master Naturalists chapters.

– Stephanie Gardner, April 2023

Photo at top courtesy of the Shenandoah National Park, from their Facebook post about being “Bear Aware.”

From Living with Bears HMN project coordinator Pam Gray:

Living with Black Bears in Virginia Part 1 Training is available in video for those who missed the in-class session on April 24th. It is not a recording of the class, but an official DWR training video. Those of you who were unable to attend Part 1 in person, but want to attend Part 2 and participate in the Living with Black Bears Project may watch this video (and earn the same CE) and be eligible for project participation.

Also, VMN volunteers may watch this training video and receive CE credit just for watching, even if you’re not interested in working on the project for volunteer hours.

You may watch this training video here:

Headwaters members are treated to guided star gazing of the early spring sky

On March 26, 2023, Zack Perdue led a stargazing party at Starry Meadows Farm in Linville. Sadly, this event had to be postponed due to cloud cover earlier in the week, so only four Headwaters members could come. The sky this night was clear and beautiful! Venus put on a show. So did the crescent moon. The bright moon did hinder some of our views, as even the Milky Way was not visible.

We were able to see quite a few constellations: Andromeda, Orion, Cassiopeia, Canis Major with Sirius the Dog Star, Pleiades, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and even Mars with the naked eye and binoculars. Seeing the moon through a telescope with a moon filter lens was really a treat!  We all enjoyed using binoculars and Zack’s refracting telescope. We saw a reddish tint to Mars and that Sirius was bluer than Mars. Blue stars are younger and hotter stars. I learned that Cassiopeia is a constellation in the Milky Way, and how to use the moon to find Pleiades, Aldebaran, the fiery eye of Taurus the Bull, and Mars.

We especially enjoyed seeing images on our own phones connected by Wi-Fi to Zack’s EvScope, a telescopic camera that can take very long exposures. 

Using the EvScope we saw Sirius (so cool!), M42- Great Nebula in Orion, Uranus, M51-Whirlpool Galaxy, M1 Crab Nebula, and M46- an open cluster of stars with a planetary nebula in the middle! (A planetary nebula is not related to planets but is a cloud of gas shed from red giant stars late in their lives.) 

Zack told us the “M” stands for Charles Messier, a French comet hunter. The Messier Catalogue might be the most famous astronomy catalog, detailing deep-sky objects such as galaxies, globular clusters, and nebulae. It includes some of the best objects to see in the night sky with a telescope. But the Messier Catalogue didn’t start out as a list of desirable astronomical objects: rather, it was Messier’s record of targets to avoid in the night sky since he was chiefly interested in comets. 

Sharon Landis, Cohort VII, March 2023

All photos by Sharon.

Click on an image to start a slide show with captions. Thanks to Sharon for these great labeled shots and Zack for his expertise and cool equipment!