Southeastern Grasslands Institute

The Roanoke team has grown again! Erin Gamst is the newest member of SGI's small but mighty Roanoke-based crew, and will be primarily working on our National Park Service grassland restoration project. So far, Erin has joined the team in visiting a diverse array of sites across Central Appalachia, including the dry sandstone ridges of Peter's Mountain, Shenandoah Valley sinkhole ponds, and the beautiful wet grasslands of the Sinking Creek Valley. The team plans to start field work for the NPS project this winter; stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project!

I speak for all of our volunteers when I ask - "What's with these Milkweed Bugs?"
I was glad to find this fact-filled short about them - Enjoy!

Time to fly away The Fall equinox marks the beginning of my favorite season. This period of waning daylight is a signal to animal life to prepare for harsher environmental conditions. Fall is the season of migratio…

We recently completed a late growing season burn of a grassland restoration project with our partners from the city of Chattanooga natural resource team at Heritage Park in Chattanooga, TN. The goal was to reduce warm season grass cover, top kill woody encroachment, and to promote more herbaceous diversity next year. It was a great day and we appreciate all of our partners. Photos by Jennifer Palmer, Bob Hulse, and Zach Irick. Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Chattanooga Fire Department

Sharing the amazing work being done by Piedmont Discovery Center to research and raise awareness for Virginia’s grasslands.

Appreciate the collaboration with Chattanooga Fire Department and Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors to help restore Jack Benson Heritage Park with a prescribed burn tomorrow!

Parks and Outdoors officials are working to maintain the landscape at Jack Benson Heritage Park by conducting a live burn on Wednesday afternoon (10/16/24). There’s a half-acre meadow at the park that’s planted with native seeds and it is part of the regular maintenance at the site to have periodic burns. Ash trees are encroaching on the grasses and altering the soil moisture. The burn will start at 1 PM because that will be the best time for humidity levels, as well as wind direction/speed. The dog park will be closed during the burn, along with the portion of the walking path that goes behind the area being burned. The operation is expected to take about an hour and during that time, smoke will be visible in the area. There is no need to call 911.

The City of Chattanooga partnered with Southeastern Grasslands Institute to restore and reconstruct a natural grassland community modeled after local remnant grassland sites that historically occurred in this area. It is the third year of the reconstruction process. According to the city’s natural resources experts, the project has reached the point where a prescribed fire can be used as an effective management tool to promote, maintain, and enhance the native grassland biodiversity.

The gate access to Heritage Walk HOA Trail will be locked and inaccessible during the burn. The Chattanooga Fire Department will be on site for the duration of the project. The dog park closure will begin at 10 AM. For safety reasons, the public is asked not to spectate.

Prescribed burns emulate natural fire cycles, playing a pivotal role in preserving ecological equilibrium. These low-intensity burns prioritize safety and are executed solely by certified experts.

WHAT: Prescribed burn happening October 16th on roughly a half acre of space at Heritage Park near the dog park.

WHEN: Fire is anticipated to take place starting at 1 PM on Wednesday.

WHY: Prescribed burns are needed to reduce the risk of wildfire, encourage native plant growth and improve habitat for wildlife.

WARNING: People in the area of Heritage Park should expect to see and smell smoke.

REMINDER: The dog park and a section of the park's walking loop near the burn will be closed.

BREAKING NEWS! Our co-founder and executive director, Dr. Dwayne Estes, was honored to be a TEDx speaker in our hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RADYg2dvZs

Dwayne, aka The Prairie Preacher, describes how 10 years ago he turned his life struggles into a positive force for good to rebuild the grasslands of the eastern U.S. He describes the work that the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI), the organization he co-founded in 2018, with Theo Witsell, is doing to create a new vision for rebuilding the American landscape by harnessing the power of people. Based at Austin Peay State University, in Clarksville, TN, SGI is dedicated to through restoration, reconstruction, preservation, management, research, and education and outreach.

SGI's work started small with an initial 15 acres, thanks to a $35,000 donation from Roundstone Native Seed. Since then, thanks to many partnerships formed and funding opportunities totaling nearly $30 million, they are now working to conserve and restore 10,000 acres of grasslands and open woodlands across more than a dozen states. In that time, SGI has grown from a team of 2 to a team of nearly 50 staff and dozens of volunteers.

In addition to his role as executive director of the SGI, Dwayne is a Full Professor of Biology and Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay, where he teaches a course, Natural History of the Mid-South, and mentors graduate students.

SGI is on a mission to elevate the profile of America's grasslands like never before.

If you are inspired by SGI's work, please consider a donation: https://www.segrasslands.org/give

Saving Southeastern Grasslands | Dr. Dwayne Estes | TEDxClarksville Dr. Dwayne Estes, aka the Prairie Preacher, describes how he turned his life struggles into a positive force for good to rebuild the forgotten grasslands of ...

A great week in Manhattan, Kansas as several members of our team presented at the annual Natural Areas Association conference and participated in field trips to the Konza Prairie. It was bittersweet without Reed Noss, our Chief Science Advisor. Please keep Reed and his family in thoughts as his community and property sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Milton and he could not join us.

Missing our inspiration this week. This week many members of team SGI will be in Manhattan, Kansas for the annual Natural Areas Association conference.
We were looking forward to spending the week with Reed Noss — the Godfather of Southern Grasslands. Unfortunately Reed is in Florida which is both still recovering from Hurricane Helene and now getting ready for impact from Hurricane Milton. He had to cancel being here which he hated and we are sad to miss him. Reed we just wanted to say we miss you and you will be here in spirit.

SGI is incredibly honored to call Reed a team member as our Chief Science Advisor but he’s more than that. As most of you know he literally wrote the book on Southern grasslands with his 2012 book “Forgotten Grasslands of the South.” If you haven’t read it get a copy now (see link below).

Reed’s book was the major inspiration for the creation of SGI. Stay safe Reed and Myra.

Our university is helping to raise support for those affected by Hurricane Helene. Please support if you can. Check the link below to give or drop off requested items until Oct. 15.

APSU is supporting YAIPak's collection drive for Hurricane Helene victims in Eastern TN and Western NC.

Items needed: pull ups & diapers, formula, flashlights & batteries, gas cans, extension cords, water filter bottles, crayons & coloring books, and body wipes

You can drop off items now until Oct. 15 at various campus locations. Monetary donations are also available at the link below.

Full details: apsu.edu/ces/hurricane-relief

Are you passionate about ecosystem restoration? Do you want to join a fun and exciting team of passionate individuals? Do you love traveling to National Parks? Do you love plants and want to learn more?

Well, you sound like someone who would fit in here at SGI, and here is your chance to join our team! SGI is hiring a full-time Lead Restoration Technician and a Restoration Technician! These are both competitive full-time permanent positions with great benefits based out of our Clarksville office! These positions will get an opportunity to help restore habitat for federally endangered species, work in extremely rare habitats, float rivers, and more!

The starting salary for the Restoration Technician Is $40,000 a year + Benefits.
The starting salary for the Lead Restoration Technician is $45,000 a year + Benefits.

if interested apply below
https://apsu.peopleadmin.com/postings/16927

Dr. Dwayne Estes, our co-founder and executive director often gets asked the question, “How did you earn the name The Prairie Preacher.” We have the answer!

Dwayne’s colleague, Dr. Amy Wright, a professor in creative writing, heard about Dwayne and asked to interview him. A year later she published in Nov. 2019 a manuscript in the journal Center for Humans and Nature titled “The Preacher of the Prairie.”

“…Here he delivers some of the impassioned lectures that inspired his colleagues to liken him to a member of the clergy. For these homilies, Estes needs no pulpit, because his six-feet-three-inch frame commands attention enough. His voice carries over the wind, traffic, and bird chitter, as he points out rare species that can be found in no other garden in the world. He pinches a leaf of bee balm that grows in only three counties in Kentucky and holds it out to me like a communion wafer. It smells like sweet basil with a hint of lemongrass. Raw bee balm is edible, but I do not eat it. The itinerant orator is already testifying over another plant, and I scramble to follow him.”

Read the follow article here:

The Preacher of the Prairie On this mid-April day, shining bluestar, prairie phlox, and Alabama snow wreath are in bloom, and the air smells faintly candied, as if a fair were being held just out of sight with vendors glazing apples in cinnamon and syrup. A hummingbird drinks from a coral flute of honeysuckle. A gust of wind b...

The First Orchards of Berkeley County
In March of 1774, William Bartlett leased 125 acres in the “Barrens of Bullskin,” then in Berkeley County, now in Jefferson County from none other than George Washington. The lease stated that within seven years Bartlett would plant one hundred winter apple trees forty feet apart each way and one hundred peach trees, and that he would keep them well pruned and fenced in from the animals. This is the first documented orchard in Berkeley County.
In 1851 on Apple Pie Ridge near Gerrardstown, William Smith Miller planted the first commercial orchard in Berkeley County. By the end of the Civil War, Miller had four thousand bearing peach trees. He soon had four thousand apple trees as well. The apple trees were the source of his fortune.
Of Miller’s eleven children, six sons and two daughters were engaged in growing fruit at one time. It is believed that, at that time, the Miller family had the largest orchard interests of any family in the world. By the year 1915, Berkeley County had 11,813 acres of orchards, consisting of 583,637 trees.
By the late 1800’s “capitalists and entrepreneurs” had become aware of the potential for Berkeley County’s apple orchards. Veterans of the cold storage and canning business began planning what would bring two very large apple processing plants to the county. The apple industry would help support the county’s economy for the next one hundred years.
Pictured: Apple Pie Ridge circa 1915.

Please join us in congratulating Jared (aka wildlander) on an amazing milestone! SGI botanist, Jared Gorrell, joined our staff full-time in May 2024 and now works as part of our science team. Jared is also an avid user of iNaturalist.org and uses it regularly both as part of his job and personally. Recently, he made his 100,000th observation and he has observed 11,373 species.

Jared is a walking encyclopedia. He literally knows almost all plants and animals that he sees on sight. He loves all things living, and is good at identifying plants, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, dragonflies, butterflies, and more. Jared we are proud to have you on our team and congratulations on your 100,000th observation.

The SGI-Chattanooga team has been working to research and restore a highly degraded cranberry bog in Ducktown, TN. They recently held two work days with project partners and volunteers to finish up the restoration work for the year. Next year they will out plant cranberries and tawny cotton grass into the restored bog habitat.

The Roanoke team recently flew to SGI headquarters in Clarksville, TN to get trained up on various restoration techniques that are used daily by the Clarksville crew. Jeremy, Hope, and Megan taught the team about basal-barking to quickly treat woody vegetation in sensitive sites, hack-and-squirt for killing larger trees, spot-spraying with a backpack sprayer, and even provided a helpful crash course on chainsaws. After a week of training, the Roanoke team drove back home with a brand new work truck and trailer in tow. Alaina, Hailey, and Ben are very excited to hit the ground running on the NPS grassland restoration project using these new skills! They also managed to see a few cool species along the way: Vernonia missurica (Missouri ironweed) and Asclepias hirtella (tall green milkweed) at Guthrie Prairie.

We love watching the landscape change colors with the seasons. Below are some of our most vibrant scenes from the grasslands of the Southeast, which color palette is your favorite? 🍂🎨

1. Allegheny Mountains Bog
2. Blue Ridge Mountains
3. Ozark Plateau
4. Ozark Highlands
5. Cherokee Prairie Natural Area

Last week, SGI staff and volunteers reintroduced plugs of the rare Silphium laciniatum (Compass Plant) at three different restoration sites in Montgomery County, TN—the Spring Creek Prairie, Dunbar Cave State Park, and a more secure site near the natural population. We hope to both increase the diversity at our restoration sites and establish safeguarding populations for this increasingly rare plant. Seeds were collected last year from a vulnerable site in the region and then sent to Ironweed Native Plant Nursery to propagate.

Our latest free public program is coming up on November 13. 🍃Mark your calendars. For more information please visit our website tnvalleywildones.org. 🍂

"On the drive home, I reflected on the necessity of grasslands, both ecologically and for the human spirit," writes SGI Central Appalachian Grasslands Coordinator Alaina Krakowiak. "Whether a boglet or an expansive prairie, open spaces like these have a way of quieting the mind."

Read more about the team's four-day survey in the Cumberland Gap in search of rare plants, including the federally endangered white fringeless orchid: https://www.segrasslands.org/blog/cumberland-gap-bog-bioblitz

National Park Service Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves

Cumberland Gap “Bog Bioblitz” Finds Rare Plants and Quiets the Mind — Southeastern Grasslands Institute While botanists have been exploring the Cumberland Gap for decades, some areas remain seldom visited. Martin’s Fork, a boggy tributary to the Cumberland River which originates in the higher elevations of the park, is one such area. During a 2021 survey of the area, SGI’s Southern Appalachian Gra...

This is a busy time for SGI that involves a lot of partnership meetings, meeting with donors, speaking events, filming, interviews, and fieldwork. In October and November SGI executive director, Dwayne Estes, is traveling to Corpus Christi, Roanoke, New York City, Atlanta, Tuscaloosa, and Jackson. We are on a mission to spread the word about the need for more grassland conservation. Preach on Prairie Preacher!

Did you know SGI’s region extends north to Long Island, New York? The island was once home to tens of thousands of acres of prairies and savannas called the Hempstead Plains. They were once home to now extinct Heath Hens, cousin of the Greater Prairie Chicken. Today, SGI co-founder and executive director, Dwayne Estes, was the keynote speaker at the “Celebrating Grasslands” conference hosted by the North Shore Land Alliance. This included a tour afterwards of a 24-acre Hempstead Plains remnant grassland, the last of what remains from a once 68,000 acre grassland. Many Southern grassland species occur on Long Island or once did, such as Northern Bobwhite. It is sad that less than 0.01% of this ecosystem remains. But it is heartening to know that are many people and organizations on Long Island that are actively working to conserve and restore grasslands.