When: July 12, 2024 @ 9:00 am
Discover the fungi that live in your backyard!
Join us for a morning of fungal fun! We’ll wander through the Needmore Game Lands, searching for fungi of all shapes and sizes. We’ll discuss the basics of mushroom identification and ecology, and catalogue our findings in order to contribute to scientific research. Beginner and expert mycologists alike are welcome to attend- let’s learn together!
This hike will be led by Gina Patton, Naturalist and Environmental Educator for Balsam Mountain Trust. Gina particularly loves to explore the intersection of nature and art. She enjoys leading interpretive hikes and has led workshops on Mushroom Spore Printing, Botanical Drawing, Dyeing with Plant Materials, Botanical Hammer Printing, and Nature Writing. Fungi are some of her favorite things in the world! Please note that we will not be foraging or collecting specimens unless the leader deems it necessary for identification purposes. Let’s get out there and enjoy the incredible variety of fungi Western North Carolina has to offer!
This event is part of our Needmore Bioblitz Series. A Bioblitz is a sort of “biological census,” aiming to capture a snapshot of all the species living in a particular area. Observations collected during this event will help drive future conservation in this area, fill gaps in scientific knowledge, and maybe even document a critter that hasn’t been observed here before!
Please bring water, a snack, and weather-appropriate clothing. Download and login to the iNaturalist app before this event. We will be using this app to record our observations. If you have never used iNaturalist, here is a brief tutorial.
We will meet at the Brush Creek Boat Launch off Lower Needmore Rd in Bryson City just before 9:00am on Friday, July 12th. See map below for exact location. This event will run until around noon. Be prepared to walk 2-3 miles along unpaved woods roads, and potentially a bit off trail. This event is weather-dependent. Please leave pets at home. Email Skye at [email protected] with any questions. Fill out the form at the bottom of this page to register for this event.
Why the Needmore? This over-5,000 acre chunk of public land in between Franklin and Bryson City encompasses a fascinating array of rich, low-elevation habitats, including 30 miles of river frontage. Mainspring has contributed over 3,000 acres to these Game Lands, and we continue to carry on the legacy of protecting this area’s unparalleled beauty and biodiversity. When the Fontana Dam was installed in the 1940’s, it flooded what would have been the lowest elevation ecosystems of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and many other low-elevation areas in the Little Tennessee River watershed have been developed. The Needmore contains a special set of unfragmented ecosystems that is not well-represented in our landscape.
Please treat your registration as a formal ticket. Read this event description thoroughly and ensure that the date, time, and location work for your schedule. We monitor event sign-ups, and restrict group size to ensure you have a quality experience out in the woods with us. If you register and can no longer attend, email Skye at [email protected] so we can pass along your tickets to someone else. Thank you!
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