Kentucky Old Growth June 2007 
 
  • The first meeting of the [tentatively named] Kentucky Old-Growth Society http://people.eku.edu/pedersonn/kogs.html and
    the first gathering of the Eastern Native Tree Society in Kentucky [right
    Bob?] will be held June 15th through the 17th. The temporary program will be
    a talk or two Friday evening after dinner with more formal talks Saturday
    morning [and perhaps into the early afternoon] including speakers Marc Evans
    [KY State Nature Preserves community ecologist] Bob Leverett and Lee Frelich
    [right Bob and Lee?] with several speakers to be added. A field component
    will be held Saturday afternoon [tree measuring, tree coring]. Sunday will
    be an informal trip to a local old-growth forest; which forest this will be
    is yet to be identified.  The location of the gathering is still up in the air. We 
    will nail it down  soon. It will be in eastern Kentucky, perhaps in Richmond 
    on the Eastern Kentucky University campus or in some field site with housing 
    and camping  opportunities.  More to come later this month.
  • After a couple of weeks of securing a location for our gathering, we
    have finally got a nice place to meet: Pine Mountain State Resort
    Park. Pine Mountain State Park is a famous location for leisure in SE
    KY and contains its own tract of old forest.

    We will gather on the 15th of June starting at 1 pm and have a full
    afternoon and evening of talks and discussion regarding the value of
    old-growth forests and directions to take the KY OG group. Talks will
    continue on the morning of the 16th and end at lunch time. In the
    afternoon we will have the traditional ENTS tree measuring and tree
    aging workshop. Following the workshop, we will hike into a local
    old-growth forest. The meeting will conclude on the 16th. We have a
    great lineup of speakers and are waiting for commitments from a
    couple of others. For details regarding this meeting, please tune your 
    browser to:  http://people.eku.edu/pedersonn/kyOGentsmeet.html
    It will be updated as new details develop.

    Hope to see you in June!   Neil  (Update February 26, 2007)

    Kentucky Old Growth Conference   Neil Pederson
      May 01, 2007 08:56 PDT 



    Dear ENTS,

    A quick reminder that there will be a combined Kentucky Old-Growth
    Society & ENTS gathering at Pine Mtn State Resort Park in Pineville, KY
    from June 15th-16th. The hope is that ENTS will help kickstart a group
    to raise awareness of Kentucky's rich ecosystems, especially the oldest
    among those left.

    Besides the usual cast of characters [Bob Leverett, Lee Frelich, & Will
    Blozan], this gathering will have a Kentucky and southern Appalachian
    flavor of speakers including: Rob Messick, David Taylor, Ryan McEwan,
    Jeff Stringer and Marc Evans. There are 1-2 more speakers to be
    finalized. And, if we can get one of them [in particular], it will be a
    complete gathering!

    I've updated the web site with information regarding meals at the
    resort, hotels, local eateries and places to top off your gas tank.

    http://people.eku.edu/pedersonn/kyOGentsmeet.html

    I have just confirmed that Dr. Bill Martin will speak at gathering:
    http://www.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/environment/Biodiversity+protection+award.htm

    Not only has he be given awards for environmental protection, he has 30 yrs
    research experience in mixed-mesophytic forests, esp. in OG forests like
    Lilley Cornett Woods.


    Please RSVP with me or Marc Evans at least one month from today - May
    30th, 2007. Secure your housing as soon as possible. Mid-June is a busy
    time for Pine Mtn Resort.

    look forwarding to meeting many of you in June!

    neil