The Natural Areas Conference (NAC) is designed for land and water management practitioners; those who conduct research or practice on-the-ground stewardship of natural areas to protect biodiversity for future generations. Land stewardship benefits from shared knowledge rich in a variety of perspectives to enrich learning for all.
In order to advance opportunities for new learning, collaboration, and information sharing, the NAC26 agenda will include optional half and full-day opportunities for both pre-conference experiences on Monday, October 5, and embedded field workshops on Wednesday, October 7, that relate to the conference topics.
Transportation to and from the workshops will be provided unless otherwise noted. Full day workshops will include a boxed lunch.
For those who prefer to "choose their own adventure," there will be additional "self-led" field trip suggestions on the conference App (coming soon!)
Questions? Contact info@naturalareas.org.
Across Roan Mountain, Hurricane Helene impacted High Elevation Spruce-Fir forest as well as northern hardwood forest, the impacted patches ranged from a half acre to greater than 25 acres. Each patch requires its own management or restoration plan. A field review will discuss the previous and ongoing activities and potential implications. This workshop will also visit two other critically rare plant communities, a grassy bald and high elevation rocky summit; and highlight four federally listed plant species and discuss two federally listed animal species.
Leader: Gary Kauffman & Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Duration: Full Day, Estimate 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation & lunch will be provided
Come tour one of the largest urban stormwater and stream transformations in Asheville! The A-B Tech Green Infrastructure project transformed an old, underutilized asphalt parking lot, on a site of almost an acre, into a stormwater education park featuring bio-infiltration basins, wetlands, swales, a flow splitter, abundant young native plants and walking trails. The system now treats runoff from over 16 acres of campus that previously discharged untreated and caused massive downstream erosion. The stream restoration components feature a regenerative stormwater conveyance, wetlands and 600 linear feet of restored stream. Challenges along the way included constructing a wetland on a fill slope as well as unexpected contaminated soils and failing stormwater infrastructure. The grant-funded project was spearheaded by Asheville-based environmental nonprofit RiverLink in collaboration with A-B Tech Community College, with design and engineering by Blue Earth and Osgood Landscape Architecture (stormwater park) and Wildlands Engineering (stream restoration) with the support of many stakeholders.
Leader: Renee Fortner, Director of Programs, Riverlink
Duration: 2.5 hours, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Cost: $20
Good To Know: Transportation will be provided for up to 12 participants. Additional registrants may drive to the location.
Hurricane Helene may be two years ago; however, the recovery is still just beginning. Join your colleagues for a driving tour in and around Asheville that will highlight the ecological impacts of this 2024 natural disaster. This tour will focus on the significant damage to the local landscape and signs of recovery, offering a insights into the ongoing challenges of a natural event of this proportion. Participants will explore changes in the landscape, habitats, and hydrology, while engaging in discussion about management considerations, restoration approaches, and the role of resilience in future stewardship.
Leader: Josh Kelly, Resilient Forests Program Director, MountainTrue
Duration: Half-Day, Estimate 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Cost: $75
Good To Know: Transportation will be provided.
Welcome to the fascinating world of lichens! These extraordinary composite organisms form a partnership that has survived for millions of years and are integral in nearly every ecosystem on Earth. Lichens will indeed be very different from any plants you have studied. Join lichenologist Karin Heiman for a hands-on workshop designed for beginners. We will start with an introduction and basics about lichenology, aspects of their biology, ecology, cultural significance, and conservation, then move into hands-on identification techniques, lichen groups, and field identification techniques. This workshop will enable participants to better understand lichens and to incorporate them in management of natural areas.
Leader: Karin Heiman, Consulting Biologist
Duration: 2.5 hours, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Cost: $50
Have you wanted to sculpt your Aster identification skills but don’t know where to start? What is the difference between a ray floret, disc floret and ligulate floret? What is a cypsela and why would I ever need to ”inspect the pappus”? Join Scott Ward this fall as we workshop the Asters, with an aim of familiarizing both beginner and advanced naturalists with the many genera and species in our Flora's most diverse family. We will have a wide assortment of live plants to peruse and will use a combination of flora resources (e.g., FloraQuest) and microscopes to pick apart, dissect and learn about the many structures and forms in this family. This workshop can be relaxed and casual or more focused and driven, depending on your preference. Students can also bring in specimens if they’d like to practice ID’ing their unknowns.
Leader: Scott Ward, Research Botanist, University of North Carolina Botanical Garden
Duration: 4 hours, 11:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Cost: $50
Good To Know: This workshop will be conducted on the UNC-Asheville campus. Transportation will be provided.
These smallest plants are often ignored and are challenging to learn, but are important members of our natural areas. This workshop will review the basics of what they are and how they function, what their special roles are, and how knowing them can help us protect their habitats. It will be a hands-on time with the tiny plants and microscopes, so bring a hand lens if you have one.
Leader: Jame Amoroso, Jim Goldsmith, and Becky Smucker
Duration: 4 hours, 11:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Cost: $50
Good To Know: This workshop will be conducted on the UNC-Asheville campus. Transportation will be provided.
Silver Run Preserve is The Nature Conservancy’s living laboratory where the organization uses both fire and silviculture to enhance the composition and structure of fire-adapted oak and oak-pine forests.
Leader: Jordan Luff, Southern Blue Ridge Forest Ecologist & Adam Warwick, Southern Blue Ridge Fire and Stewardship Manager, The Nature Conservancy
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
This workshop is a field tour of three unique properties to see conservation in action. We'll identify native plants, birds, and herps, learn about the specific land management goals for each site (including Heritage Preserves vs. WMAs), and get an insider's view on the challenges, teamwork, and partnerships that drive the protection of South Carolina's Blue Ridge natural resources.
Organizer: Austen Attaway, Wildlife Biologist, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
Participants will hike a total of 6 miles (3 miles out-and-back) on moderate terrain through an “exceptional” rated NC Natural Heritage Natural Area and USFS Special Interest Area to a stunning, panoramic view atop Looking Glass Rock. Looking Glass is a uniquely-shaped granitic pluton rising 1,650 feet above the Davidson River Valley in the heart of the Pisgah Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest. Near the summit, participants will pass through two stands of Carolina hemlock, a Southern Appalachian endemic species. We will discuss Southern Appalachian and Carolina hemlock natural communities and ecosystems, with a focus on how the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid is changing the landscape and how it is being managed in North Carolina. This hike will be led by Hemlock Restoration Initiative staff, and will be joined by David Siripoonsup, NC Natural Heritage Program Special Projects Botanist.
Organizer: Margot Wallston, Director, Hemlocks Restoration Initiative
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
This trip will focus on the red spruce-Fraser fir forests that occur at the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachians. The focus will be on the ecology and biota of this distinctive ecosystem, and on ongoing impacts and stewardship issues rather than on Hurricane Helene impacts. Topics will include historic logging, balsam woolly adelgid, characteristic and rare plants and animals, and spruce restoration efforts. We will visit the highest peak in eastern North America.
The trip will involve some trail hiking, potentially with steep grades. High mountain weather is always unpredictable, and participants should come prepared for freezing temperatures and for rain.
Organizer: Michael Schafale, Terrestrial Ecologist & Jess Schaner, Field Biologist, North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
This workshop will highlight one of the rarest communities in NC as well as the Southern Appalachians. A physiognomic patchwork of forest, dense grass patches (over 20 species), and partially open woodland occurs across the serpentine site, with dominant rock types, dunite and olivine, influencing the striking vegetation. The serpentine plant communities occupy both east and west-facing slopes extending over 300 acres from 3400 feet elevation along Buck Creek to over 4000 feet elevation atop Corundum Knob. Two endemic plant species have been described; another four species are being investigated. Recurrent prescribed burning since 1995 will be discussed as the primary management tool.
Organizer: Gary Kauffman (Ret.), USDA Forest Service
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
Mountain bogs are rare, groundwater-driven wetlands found in small, poorly drained valleys and gentle slopes of the Southern Appalachians, characterized by acidic, organic soils and complex mosaics of herbaceous and shrub-dominated communities. Unlike glacial northern bogs, these systems are typically spring- or seep-fed and often less than a few acres in size, yet they support a disproportionate concentration of rare and federally listed plant and animal species, including bog turtles and multiple salamander taxa Having experienced significant losses from drainage, filling, and hydrologic alteration, mountain bogs now represent one of the region’s highest-priority habitats for protection, restoration, and long-term adaptive management. This field trip opportunity will allow one or more small groups to tour 3 bog sites and learn about protection, management, and conservation from members of the Bog Learning Network.
Organizer: The Bog Learning Network
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
Join Safe Passage Coalition researchers and partners for a full-day field workshop along I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge. Participants will visit five sites showcasing wildlife crossing infrastructure at varying stages: completed mitigation measures, active construction, and priority locations for future investment, including a potential land-bridge site recently secured through a conservation acquisition. The tour offers rare on-the-ground access to one of the most active wildlife connectivity corridors in the eastern United States.
Organizer: Ben Prater, Southeast Program Director, Defenders of Wildlife
Duration: Full Day
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
This workshop will focus on regional efforts for restoring resilient rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea) to the streambanks and floodplains after floodwaters from Helene significantly altered fluvial systems in the region. This workshop will be led by Dr. Adam Griffith (NCSU Cooperative Extension Agent with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) who studied soils where rivercane grows for his master's degree. Participants will learn how to identify species of Arundinaria and visit multiple restoration sites in the Asheville area where rivercane has been planted using rhizome cuttings. The rhizome cutting and transplanting methods will be described in detail along with the clump transplanting method.
Eric Bradford (Director of Operations at Asheville GreenWorks) will discuss the merits of rivercane as well as their efforts in growing rivercane at scale. Staff from RiverLink, a local rivercane nonprofit advocate, will describe their work to restore this native grass to the banks of the French Broad River. The day will be highlighted by a visit to the largest known monotypic stand of rivercane left in the Asheville area.
Organizer: Dr. Adam Griffith, NCSU Cooperative Extension
Duration: Full Day, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm
Cost: $100
Good To Know: Transportation and lunch will be provided.
Support the people who manage our natural areas and protect biodiversity in perpetuity.
