Category: Upcoming Events

How many species of living thing exists on planet earth? The fact is, we don’t know. Scientists estimate 1 trillion, with only a fraction of them known to humankind. But what we do know is that extinction, in truth a natural phenomenon, is today happening at an unnatural accelerated rate. And we’re pretty much the cause.

Rescuring Biodiversity: The Protection and Restoration of a North Louisiana Ecosystem tells the story of one man’s efforts to make a difference in the conservation of biodiversity. Come hear Johnny Armstrong talk about his work this coming Sunday, Aug. 13, at 2 p.m. at the Union Parish Library, 202 W. Jackson St., Farmerville.

Armstrong, a pathologist by trade, set out to learn everything he could about restoration ecology in order to put it to work protecting and restoring his family property, Wafer Creek Ranch, near Ruston, LA.

In this part of the state, the shortleaf pin-oak-hickory woodland once dominated the landscape. Today, Wafer Creek Ranch is protected by The Nature Conservancy and recognized as the best existing example of this type of plant community. But that doesn’t mean Armstrong is finished!

Come hear about this ongoing saga and be inspired by Johnny Armstrong’s passion for conservation: Sunday, Aug. 13, 2pm, Union Parish Library, Farmerville.

BTW, I’m bringing my copy of the book to get it signed!

Photo at the top of the column: Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)

Calling all members and friends: Join us tomorrow (Saturday, 3/11) at St. Thomas’ Episcopal on the Bayou for our First Quarter meeting and to work on our project there at the church. We begin at 1:30 p.m. in the pavilion next to the church.

As guest speaker, Bette Kauffman will describe the scope of the project we began last year of adding educational natural history signage to the walking path and will lay out a plan for completion. The part of the project we will do tomorrow is to inventory and map the trees. This data will be used on the signage and be the basis of our decisions about how many trees to label, which ones and where.

LMN-NE will be joined in the day’s work by several members of the church and some students from Canterbury@ULM, the campus group that meets at St. Thomas’ and previously contributed by planting native plants along the walking path. Canterbuy@ULM received a “Care of Creation” grant from the Episcopal Diocese of over $6000 to pay for the signage.

Canterbury@ULM is also providing pizza and beverages to be shared while LMN-NE has its Second Quarter meeting after the work is finished.

The weather tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, and the site is certainly beautiful. Please come, bring a friend who might be interested in LMN-NE, and join in the adventure of figuring out how to inventory trees on a two-city-lot natural area! St. Thomas’ is at 3706 Bon Aire Dr.

But of course, in keeping with who we are, some of our partying will be educational and natural history oriented.

We meet at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at Heartwood Natural Area near Rocky Branch, La. We will begin our festivities with a guided walkabout of this upland hardwood forest conserved by Kelby and Amy Ouchley. If you need directions to this location, please contact me at bjkauffman@gmail.com.

Hot dogs and all the fixings, including chili, will be provided but you might have to roast your own around an open fire. These will be followed by s’mores! If you would like to bring a side dish or holiday goodies, please do.

If you would like to participate in our gift swap, bring a $15-$20 item, wrapped or bagged. Those who participate will draw a number and pick a gift. I can’t promise but bartering might ensue after the initial distribution!

And please do RSVP. Again, you can email me at bjkauffman@gmail.com. We need a headcount to buy hot dogs, buns, etc.

We will also squeeze in a business meeting. I’ll try to keep it short, but we do need to elect officers, introduce some new members, and take care of a few things in order to get 2023 off to a good start.

BTW, you are not required to be a member to attend this event. If you are interested in what we do, come find out!

Dec. 11, 1:30 p.m. – Our Christmas Party and 4th Quarter meeting will be at Heartwood, the wonderful natural area Amy & Kelby Ouchley call home. We’ll begin with a guided hike around Heartwood, then party and meet. Details coming soon in another post.

We have a few new members interested in becoming certified Master Naturalists, and several long-time members who were interrupted in their progress toward certification by the pandemic. Therefore, I am working very hard on lining up 4 or 5 certification workshops mostly on second Saturdays in the spring. Here’s what I’m planning and have so far:

Feb. 11 and March 11, 2023, 9 am–3 pm – One of these days will be Basic Field Skills and I hope the other will be mammals, but I have not been able to pin that down yet.

April 15, 2023, 9 am–3 pm – This will be Aquatic Life, with Dr. Anna Hill instructing at Black Bayou Lake NWR. (This is the third Saturday of the month because the second Saturday is the one before Easter.)

May 13, 2023, 9 am–3 pm – This one will be Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee’s basic Ecosystems workshop. We’ll begin at Kiroli Park, meet in the public library for his lecture then go to Restoration Park–all in West Monroe.

June 10, 2023, 9 am–3pm – Possibly Geology.

To the extent possible, I have chosen topics that people in the process need to finish. However, anyone willing to pay the $25 workshop fee will be welcome to enroll. I for one am looking forward to repeating these, as I know I didn’t absorb everything the first time through.

Please put these dates on your calendar. I will update the Events list in the right hand column on this page as soon as I get confirmation from a workshop leader.

The certification workshop we had planned for Saturday, Oct. 29, had to be cancelled. We will meet anyway, at 9 a.m. at Black Bayou Lake Environmental Education Center. This will be a free “family fun” day. All are welcome.

David Hoover will present his certification project called “Snakes Alive.” It is fun and informative, and if you have a bit of a snake phobia you want to get beyond, this presentation will help you do that.

After David’s talk, we will ask the refuge volunteer, Jim, to get one or two of the Louisiana pine snakes out of their tanks for anyone who would like to try touching or holding a snake. I will fill in a bit of information about the current plight of the Louisiana pine snake: Why it is a valuable snake and how it became an endangered species.

We will also go for a walk on the refuge and share information about what we see. Black Bayou Lake NWR never disappoints! There’s always something fun and interesting to see and talk about.

Bring your own snacks, lunch and water. Dress to be outdoors and walk. The weather is predicted to be beautiful: mostly sunny with a high in the 80s.

This will be a relaxed day with no obligation to stay to the very end.