http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:11:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 © lmiddleton@embarqmail.com () lmiddleton@embarqmail.com() stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed lmiddleton@embarqmail.com No no http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler 144 144 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/01/08/118-you-me-and-stormwater/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/01/08/118-you-me-and-stormwater/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:00:17 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/01/08/118-you-me-and-stormwater/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/01/08/118-you-me-and-stormwater/feed/ 0 5:34 January 8, 2009 The City of Charlottesville, along with Albemarle County, UVA, and PVCC, are all submitted renewal applications for the Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) ... January 8, 2009 The City of Charlottesville, along with Albemarle County, UVA, and PVCC, are all submitted renewal applications for the Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) General Permit for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4's).nbsp; The permit describes how these entities will manage stormwater in their jurisdictions, but much of the management really rests on you and me and how we manage the stormwater that we create because of our modern lifestyle. Chilling, cold, welcome, seasonal.nbsp; These words could all describe the precipitation of the last couple of days.nbsp; Cold and chilling, as temperatures hovered below freezing, icing roads and dusting the Blue Ridge white.nbsp; Welcome, and seasonal, since we rely on wintertime precipitation to keeps our rivers and wells flowing, our groundwater replenished, our reservoirs full and to hold off the press of drought. But this water ndash; mostly clean as transits from clouds to earth ndash; becomes something else once it hits our streets, yards, and houses.nbsp; It becomes storm water ndash; and it is hardly benign.nbsp; Rather than infiltrating the soil as it does in the forests, stormwater rushes to creeks and to the Rivanna, carrying litter, oils, pet waste, and dirt, rushes in such volume and velocity that stream banks are continually scoured and the Rivanna runs brown after even a modest rain. Environmental professionals characterize water pollution sources as either "point" or "non-point."nbsp; Point sources are discrete - water from a single point or conveyance, such as the waste treatment plants at Moores Creek, Camelot, Lake Monticello, discharges from which are highly regulated with increasingly stringent controls. Non-point sources are simply the opposite ndash; pollution that enters our streams from a diffuse or general area, such as excess water that travels across agriculture or playing fields transporting pollutants such as excess fertilizer or manure.nbsp; Rainwater that traverses urban parking lots and roads into storm "sewer" systems might be considered non-point because it is a collection of water (and all that is carried with it) fromndash; my yard, my street, my neighbor's yard, the street around the corner. But the Clean Water Act defines this kind of stormwater also as a point source ndash; because it is conveyed through separate storm sewer systems (such as maintained by Charlottesville or Albemarle County in the urban areas) ndash; and through ditches and channels that direct the water, untreated for the most part, before it enters the river. And as a point source, it too is regulated by the Clean Water Act, with permits required by the state of Virginia for urban areas, industrial sites, and construction activities.nbsp; In the second phase of permitting, since 2003, Charlottesville, Albemarle, UVA, and PVCC are defined as operating Municipal Storm Sewer Systems, or MS4s.nbsp; The five-year reapplication process is underway right now ndash; applications in which these entities show how various programs are reducing the discharge of pollutants from areas and facilities under their jurisdiction to the maximum extent practicable. Now, I have read the permit application from the City of Charlottesville, and it includes descriptions of how the City will maintain structural controls, such as curb inlets and retention basins; and how it will maintain public roads (and try to minimize pollutants coming off of them).nbsp; I've read how Parks and Rec. will minimize use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.nbsp; How the City will permit and monitor erosion and sediment control practices on construction sites.nbsp;nbsp; But the bottom line is this:nbsp; much of the pollution that ends up in stormwater results from how we citizens live our day-to-day lives.nbsp; After all, you'd have to keep a fleet of street cleaners busy 24 hours a day to keep most of the street wastes out of the storm sewer system ndas... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Education,,Neighborhood,,Rivanna,River,,Sediment,,Stormwater,,Water,Quality lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:26:49 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/feed/ 0 5:34 December 18, 2008 Learning to identify trees is the business of the amateur naturalist -- and these days, one that includes learning about and spreading the ... December 18, 2008 Learning to identify trees is the business of the amateur naturalist -- and these days, one that includes learning about and spreading the word about invasive pests that are threatening whole species, such as the Emerald Ash Borer. Last weekend I took a short walk along the scrubby and thinly buffered banks of the Rivanna near Free Bridge with some fellow Master Naturalists.nbsp; We were out to hone our tree identification skills ndash; best done, I've found, after the fall of leaves when one is forced to use the most reliable tools of branching, bark, and leaf scar shape to confirm the ID. Land disturbance and compaction at this site along the river has been pretty much uninterrupted with a succession of fords and bridges dating back to the 1700s ndash; making the area vulnerable to a host of invasive species, such as Siberian elm, callery pear, and Oriental bittersweet.nbsp; But we also found plenty of natives: box elders, sycamores, and green and white ash.nbsp; I've learned over the short time I've practiced my naturalist skills that it is best to focus on one or two species in any given walk, lest I become overwhelmed and loose everything in the resulting confusion.nbsp; On this day, I'd chosen the ash tree, genus Fraxinus, a tree whose wood is strong and straight-grained for use in hardwood flooring, but tough and elastic when used in baseball bats, canoe paddles, and oars.nbsp; Within several hundred yards I met both the green ash, common here in the southeast, and the white ash, at the lower end of its hardiness zone.nbsp; Fraxinus belongs to that small category of trees and shrubs whose branching is opposite, and the mature bark presents interlacing ridges that form a diamond shaped pattern -- both attributes helpful in the identification of a tree commonly planted for shade.nbsp; And there, in the bottom-land along the river, we weren't surprised to see it had taken root, because it thrives in moist soil while tolerating drought well. As I paused to look closely at the pointy terminal bud of the green ash and compare it with the more oblique bud of the white, someone mentioned the Emerald ash borer, a bug that, as it name implies, is up to no good with a tree that fills out the hardwood canopy of our oak-hickory forests here in the south. Later, perusing the various web-sites devoted to trees and forest health, I learned enough to alarm me ndash; that the Emerald ash borer, a small, strikingly green insect arrived from Asian and made itself first known in Michigan in 2002.nbsp; After claiming the lives of at least 30 million trees in Michigan alone, it has moved east, into Maryland and now Northern Virginia, where it was found in 2003 ndash; eradicated ndash; and then rediscovered in the summer of 2008 in Fairfax. The emerald ash borer works fast, excavating serpentine tunnels through the circulatory system of the tree just below the bark.nbsp; The effects are hard to detect in trees until the damage is done ndash; upper branches die first, and as the canopy declines, the tree sprouts wildly at its base in the effort to make new leaves.nbsp;nbsp; The beetle's range is about a half a mile, so destruction of ash trees in a radius around the infested site is one control method ndash; as are quarantines of wood products and plant stock. In July, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services established a quarantine area that consists of Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William, Fauquier and Loudoun counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park. Public awareness campaigns have sprouted up, too.nbsp; Slogans such as, "Spread the word, not the pest" may help ndash; and you can find more information at websites such as dontmovefirewood.org and stopthebeetle.info. It is not an exaggeration to say that the loss of these trees may change our Eastern forests as radically as the chestnut blight altered them in the early 1900s. At a time w... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Ecology,,Education,,Natural,History,,Other,waters lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/28/100-learning-to-see-the-flowers-through-the-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/28/100-learning-to-see-the-flowers-through-the-trees/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:33:03 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/28/100-learning-to-see-the-flowers-through-the-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/08/28/100-learning-to-see-the-flowers-through-the-trees/feed/ 0 00:01:01 August 28, 2008 Learning to identify the native flora and fauna has had a rich tradition rooted in our American history. The study of ... August 28, 2008 Learning to identify the native flora and fauna has had a rich tradition rooted in our American history. The study of natural history starts can be accomplished one flower at a time. Photo of cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor, courtesy of Rose Brown. This show originally aired in August 28, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net When Teddy Roosevelt, known to be both big game hunter and amateur botanical collector, was asked to give an account of his interest and experience as an amateur naturalist, he replied, "The former has always been very real; and the latter, unfortunately, very limited." I imagine most of us amateur naturalists feel pretty much the same way: it's nigh impossible to imagine knowing very many organisms to the species level with the latest count around 2 million named and millions more suspected. So we amateurs fall somewhere on the spectrum between curious and crazed, seeking to manage the acquisition of knowledge in ways that personally give pleasure. Birders pursue life lists in the attempt to actually see every one of the 9000 plus species. Botanists pour over plates in herbariums to see if a variety they've found is a sub-species, alternate, or possibly a cultivar. To me, a newly minted Virginia Master Naturalist, it seemed right to start to find my own rhythm of discovery and naming after finishing the class in the spring. So for the last several months, I've been scribbling notes in field books whenever I go out; capturing images with my digital camera, and trying to find the time to just collect the information in a way that will help me build a knowledge base for the plants and animals of this watershed on a seasonal basis. Early in July, a notation in my appointment book provided just the impetus for a new and perhaps higher stage of discovery. In one corner of the book, I had written: "Start looking for the cranefly orchid." This reminder had been written after a field trip in the late winter woods with Tom Dierauf at Ivy Creek where he pulled back the brown leaf litter to show us the shiny dark green leaves with raised purple spots, the matching mauve underside, a harbinger of the inflorescence to come. "This will all die back, and in the summer, about the time that the crane flies hatch, the plant will send up a stalk, a beautiful stalk with pale delicate flowers." Tipularia discolor, it is called, this member of the orchid family. It was an invitation to a quest ndash; and so, one weekday morning at 7 a.m., I met my fellow-graduates, Amy and Rose, at the Ivy Creek Natural Area, and headed down the path to the place we'd seen the plant's winter leaves. I walked slowly along the slope above the reservoir, and though I had seen pictures of the plant online and knew by the guides that it would be about 30 centimeters tall, I was not prepared for what emerged out of the brown duff of the hillside. Camouflaged, smaller than I imagined, were slender stalks adorned with the flowers, each no longer than an inch and made up of the requisite parts, ovary, sepals, petals, all delicately curled like a young shy girl, with a light green column, one each inclined and angled just so for the Noctuidae ndash; or owlet moths ndash; upon whose eyes this waxy compound of pollen attaches. As we each bent in turn to see these flowers better in the dim morning light, bringing the land lens to eye and focusing on the parts, I was struck by the form of the flower, looking much like the cranefly itself. Those large winged insects that hover by outdoor lights in the summer, looking too much like a mosquito for comfort ndash; but in reality, insects whose adult stage is defined only by the search for a mate ndash; no biting, stinging, or eating of any kind for this family of flies. The search successful, we walked a bit further, seeing now that the orchids are... Albemarle,County,,Ecology,,Education,,Ivy,Creek,,Natural,History lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:30:53 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/feed/ 0 00:01:01 June 12, 2008 This show originally aired on June 12, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. ... June 12, 2008 This show originally aired on June 12, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net It could be any spring day on the river. True, the weather is especially cooperative: May morning temperature just rising from the low 60's as we approached the water. Cumulus and blue above, the green fully leafed out over the river. You might say that it was as scenic as a perfect Virginia morn, as you put your boat in the water amongst cattails and the fresh mist from the sheets of water tumbling over the dam at the South Fork Rivanna River Reservoir. Or, you might, as we were, be launching your kayaks and canoes for a trip with the specific task of evaluating just how scenic our fair Rivanna River is -- according to a formula that the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation established with the state Scenic River program in 1970. This program's goal is to enhance the protection of rivers and their corridors by providing tools for local authorities to help protect waterways that offer special scenic, recreational, historic, and natural values of significance. There are over 500 river miles comprised of 25 river segments in Virginia that have achieved this special status. The Rivanna between Woolen Mills and its confluence with the James in Columbia is already designated as a state scenic river. The stretch from Palmyra downstream was one of the first, in 1975. In 1988, from Palmyra to the Woolen Mills dam was also named a State Scenic River. So today we are traveling from the next dam upriver --- on the South Fork from just below the reservoir down nine and half miles to the place where the Woolen Mills dam used to cross the river, this section now eligible precisely because the dam has been removed. We are a mixed group: five from the state agency, five of us locals, a pack of canoes and kayaks, guided by Dan Mahon, Blueways and Greenways coordinator for Albemarle County who alternately paddles ahead to scout obstructions and falls back amongst us with offerings of local knowledge of the river and the greenways that flank its banks. Today, we have our share of blue heron, geese, a red tail, turtles of all sizes sunning themselves on smooth logs protruding like commas from the side of the river and angling from the dusky water. These sightings are important, but we're also looking for other things: power line crossings, short and long range vistas, residential houses that we can see, bridge crossings, historic structures, changes in vegetation, geological features. The roads, houses, and powerlines detract from the scenic formula, as do sparse or non-existent buffers, stands of bamboo or multiflora rose, slumping earthen banks. There's a tally sheet. We record our observations and we take pictures. But as we go, we point out the things to DCR that they may not know about our river: on our left, Monnasopegenau where the Monacans lived and thrived on the river for hundred of years; the old carriage road on river left that runs to Gordonsville, said to have been built to transport sulpher from the mines materials from Key West. Some of the gentle rapids are actually historic structures: Broad Mossing Ford, wing dams for batteau. So these all get counted, along with restoration work we know is underway, tree buffers being planted. As we come into Charlottesville, signs of civilization detract from the scenic score: powerline crossings, the Free Bridge, the apartments at Pantops we can see through the trees. But the long view down the last section above Woolen Mills shows Montalto rising in the distance, one of the few real vistas the Rivanna along this stretch has to offer. At the end of the trip, we sit in the shadow of box elder and sycamore overlooking the remains of the Woolen Mills dam, offering up our observations and hearing how the Rivanna compares to other piedmont rivers the D... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Education,,Rivanna,River,,Rivanna,mainstem,,South,Fork,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/08/82-building-outdoor-memories/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/08/82-building-outdoor-memories/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:45:33 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/08/82-building-outdoor-memories/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/04/08/82-building-outdoor-memories/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Environmental educators are pushing legislation called "No Child Left Inisde" to promote outdoor, experiential time in nature to help combat what is now being ... Environmental educators are pushing legislation called "No Child Left Inisde" to promote outdoor, experiential time in nature to help combat what is now being called "Nature Deficit Disorder." But it does not take just special programs in school to help get kids outside and enjoying the wonders of nature: simply inviting a young friend to the woods or the stream will yield great rewards for both of you. This show originally aired on April 3, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. I have promised my six-year old friend that our time together this afternoon will involve "water," so Aibek arrives at my house with boots that reach almost to his knees, a change of clothes, drinking water, and a snack. We are ready! We walk through the neighborhood, where many of the backyards lean down towards small creeks that are headed, like us, towards Greenleaf Park. Upon arrival, the swings beckon ndash; and we spend a good 15 minutes in our special game that consists of shouting real and made-up words when our faces meet at the height of the swing's trajectory. Afterwards, we walk down towards the wooded section of the park, past the rain garden, installed a couple of years ago, where vegetation is just starting to fill in a bit. I explain that most of the pollution that gets collected in the rain garden is OK, because the plants are able to turn it into food for themselves or bacteria that lives in the soil. It's a subtle point, and the stream below us, the one that's being protected by this rain garden, beckons. We cross a small wooden footbridge into the woods and hop into the stream. Aibek grabs a stick and starts scraping the rocks, seeking a satisfying splash. But it's only a couple of inches deep, and the best tools are our hands. So we walk the creek, overturning cobble and rocks to see what we can find. We are in luck! There's a crayfish scudding away from his eager fingers, its claws arching up at the young giant that has backed it into a rocky corner. "You pick it up," he commends, suddenly still, my clue that he's had some experience with the sharp pinchers of this miniature freshwater lobster. With fingers that feel way too big, I pick up the inch and half long crayfish, trying to be both firm but gentle. "Do you want to hold him?" "No! You!" he yells, jumping with a thrill, as fear and excitement course through his small body. I return the stunned creature to the stream, and we continue to walk and look. There are very few aquatic bugs, which doesnrsquo;t surprise me, this being an urban stream and one that's been disturbed for many years. But once again, Aibek sees something. This time, he reaches for it himself, and proudly offers up a crane fly larvae, whose white, grub-like body is a chubby, alluring inch long torpedo. He holds it for awhile, considering. It seems that it needs a proper home ndash; so Aibek spends the next fifteen minutes building a small rock wall enclosing the platform on which he has placed the crane fly. He caps the house with a flat rock for a roof. I watch him at work, crouching in the stream, totally absorbed in selecting just the right rocks based on size or shape, or texture or heft. Or maybe factors that only a six year old can understand. It is unlikely that he will remember this exact day, the water cool between his own small fingers, the slick soft pressure of the crane fly's wormlike body, the early spring sun warming his back. I donrsquo;t know if he will, when he is grown, remember our word game on the swings, or making a house for the crane fly, or perhaps the picture that I show him later of the adult cranefly that the larvae will become in a few short weeks. But as sure as the warm breeze on this early spring afternoon pulls me back to my own unspecific childhood memories of playing in the woods, I know that this kind of time is somethin... Charlottesville,,Ecology,,Education,,Neighborhood lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/21/80-learning-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/21/80-learning-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:22:48 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/21/80-learning-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/21/80-learning-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees/feed/ 0 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/06/79-rocking-around-charlottesville/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/06/79-rocking-around-charlottesville/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:00:20 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/06/79-rocking-around-charlottesville/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/03/06/79-rocking-around-charlottesville/feed/ 0 00:01:01 On a field trip with the training group for the Rivanna Master Naturalists, students learn see 1.2 billion years of history in five stops around ... On a field trip with the training group for the Rivanna Master Naturalists, students learn see 1.2 billion years of history in five stops around Charlottesville, just looking at rocks. This show originally aired on March 6, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. March 6, 2008 Itrsquo;s a whirlwind geologic tour of the Virginia, and it all takes place within five square miles in Charlottesville. Wersquo;re a group of Rivanna Master Naturalists, standing before a rock outcrop that borders the rough boat launch into Ivy Creek just upstream of the Woodlands Road bridge. Tom Biggs, Professor of Geology at UVA, invites us to use the rock hammers hersquo;s brought along, stepping forward himself to take a swing. A chunk of rock cleaves off, dropping into his practiced hand. This is an outcrop of the Lovingston formation, a high grade metamorphic formation of foliated feldspars and granites that represent some of the oldest rocks in Virginia. Itrsquo;s what geologists call the basement or foundation of Virginia, laid down when the first major mountain-building event called the Grenville orogeny took place some 1.2 billion years ago. Wersquo;re being encouraged by Tom to take a closer look, so we pull out our loops ndash;those clever magnifying lenses that you flick open from their protective cases into the crook of your index finger. Bringing lens to eye, and rock to lens, ,we look for the pattern of alignment that indicates itrsquo;s gneiss. Gneiss with a ldquo;grdquo;. that is, the name for a type of metamorphic rock that generally has visible grains of feldspars, that group of silicates that predominantly makes up the crust of the Earth. Therersquo;s something about holding a rock in your hand and knowing it is literally as old as the hills that inspires an appropriate pause. Tom has spread open a colorful map of the geology of Albemarle County, the most recent one available, published by Wilbur Nelson in 1962, and likely based on research done in the 50rsquo;s when plate tectonic theory was just emerging. Needless to say, it is out of date. Itrsquo;s not that rocks have changed so much in the fifty odd years since that this map has been produced, but research by geologists has certainly rendered some of the theories about these rocks obsolete or, at least, questionable. Each rock type ndash; by formation - is given its own color, and this two-dimensional map shows the predominant type in a given location down to a depth of several thousand feet and in many cases much deeper. Cross sections along various transects enhance the story of the land, revealing the great folding anticlines and synclines that resulted from the major mountain building events on the east cost of North America. My three-dimensional visualization skills are not the best, so I keep referring to the variety of views and draw sketches in my book, hoping Irsquo;ll make better sense of it during my review later on. The repetition helps, and Tom is generous with his knowledge with us Master Naturalists-in-training. As Master Naturalists, wersquo;re joining a statewide corps of volunteers that is provides education, outreach, and service, extending the reach of the various state agencies. Like Master Gardeners, once trained and certified, wersquo;re required to volunteer in the community by giving trainings, or helping in restoration work, or offering our time to citizen science projects. But for now, wersquo;ve got a whole lot of information coming in with weekly class time and field trips with specialists like Tom, whose disclaimer is familiar, when he tells us, ldquo;In these three hours, yoursquo;ll be getting an overview of what I teach in a semester to my freshmen.rdquo; Fortunately, the study of natural history can be life long ndash; and these classes are designed to impart basic information, but more importantly, to instil... Charlottesville,,Education,,Geology,,Ivy,Creek,,Natural,History lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:51:36 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/feed/ 2 00:01:01 Learning the names of trees and plants at the Ivy Creek Natural Area provides the beginning of a lifetime of naming the things we see ... Learning the names of trees and plants at the Ivy Creek Natural Area provides the beginning of a lifetime of naming the things we see and may eventually hold dear. This show originally aired on January 3, 2008 on "The Rivanna Rambler," a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. The School Trail at Ivy Creek Natural Area got its name because itrsquo;s just right for taking a group of kids on a 45-minute guided walk in the woods, something the Ivy Creek Foundation guides have been doing free of charge since 1980. Itrsquo;s three-tenths of a mile long, traverses both field and forest, and ends up at the Barn for a closer look at natural history artifacts and exhibits. On a sunny fall morning, Irsquo;m with a some kindergarteners from Free Union Country Day School, so young, and so very small compared to their teacher, myself, and Tom Walsh, our guide for the day. Though Tom claims hersquo;s not very experienced, I know hersquo;s been around the trail with kids before when he stops at the row of trees in the middle of the parking area and asks, ldquo;Now, who is the leader here?rdquo; in a firm but kindly way letting them know the rules of the trail. Follow the leader, donrsquo;t take anything from the Natural Area, and stop and listen when he has something to show. And from this moment on, it is all show and tell, starting with an inspection of the dogwoodrsquo;s red berries. ldquo;And what happens to the berries after the birds eat them?rdquo; They all look at him, silent, until he says, ldquo;Well, the seed inside the berry gets pooped out, and this is where a new tree grows.rdquo; The word ldquo;pooprdquo; gets their attention, and suddenly they are all making noises and thinking this adult is OK after all. We start down the mowed trail through the native grasses stopping at clump of thistle, thigh high with seeds scattered from their brown heads. Tom bends one down so the kids can inspect it, telling them that just a month ago, goldfinches had built their late summer nests here and raised and fed their young. Empty of both nest and food, we use our imaginations. We enter the woods where the School Trail veers off to the right and begin to learn about some of the 20 most common trees in Virginia. You can get your own guide from the Ivy Creek website and with the signs marking the trees, this could be a self-guided tour. But today, we have Tom introducing the holly tree with its pointy green leaves. Musclewood, its sinewy trunk easy to identify. High as the sky, we look up to see seed pods on tulip poplars. Stopping in front of another tree, its smooth gray bark scarred by initials cut by a knife, Tom tells the kids that itrsquo;s just like cutting the skin of the tree, and asks ldquo;You wouldnrsquo;t like someone to do that to you, would you?rdquo; We traverse the hillside, making plenty of healthy noise pushing through the dry leaves, our learning stops getting shorter as attention spans wane. By now, each child has picked up a small branch to use as walking stick, or to rake leaves or tap the trees. ldquo;Will we see any animals?rdquo; Tom shakes his head slowly, not wanting to diminish their joy of being outside in the woods which is, along with the learning, the point of our being here today. It is difficult for me recall exactly what I knew, or was taught, when I was the age of these kids. Blessed with an abundance of outdoor time, did I know the names of the trees and plants I encountered? Though naming something is not the same as truly knowing it ndash; this requires understanding habits and ecology -- without names, we cannot learn or converse about what we see, nor be specific about that which we hope to protect. ldquo;Now, whatrsquo;s this one called?rdquo; Tom asks in front of a tree wersquo;ve seen before. ldquo;Hollywood!rdquo; shouts one of the kids, which seems as good a mnemonic as any for a tree that is ... Education,,Ivy,Creek,,Rivanna,River,,South,Fork,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No