VOLUME 33, NUMBER 7 APRIL 2002

WARIOTO AT A GLANCE
REGULAR MEETING: "Planning the Future Warioto Audubon" Thursday, April 4, 7:30 p.m., E-106B, Sundquist Science Building, APSU.

HOSPITALITY: Post-meeting refreshments are provided by Gloria Milliken.

BOARD MEETING: No board meeting this month, but board members should attend the regular meeting at 7:30.

FIELD TRIP: Sat., April 27, to Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY for hiking, bird watching and wildflower viewing. Leave at 7:00 a.m. from McCord Parking lot. Return to Clarksville by mid to late afternoon. Article below.

State Parks Issue

Contact your Tennessee state senators and representatives to make your opinion known!

1. Source: Kathleen Williams of Tennesseans for State Parks (tenngreen@earthlink.net)

Planning Session "Planned"

As you noticed from the Warioto at a Glance, a formal program is not scheduled for April. We will use our April meeting to plan activities, discuss future programming, and take nominations for next year’s officers and board. This is NOT meant to be a session just for the officers and board members. The goal of this meeting is to give all the membership an opportunity to help set priorities for the chapter. I will make the same plea as I did last year at this time: Please consider volunteering some of your time this year to be an officer or board member!! Hope to see you there.

Earth Day Activity

Warioto Audubon Chapter will have a booth at the Lucus Elementary School Earth Day celebration on April 19^th. If you would like to help with this booth please call me at 931-387-4071.

Gary Tuttle, the city forester for Clarksville, presented our March program about trees and wildlife. Although he discussed many ways to make your yard more inviting to birds and wildlife, I will try to list some of the more important facts. Red horsechestnut is a small tree that is the only tree to be grown around here that attracts hummingbirds with its bright red flowers. Dogwood is a beautiful native tree that also feeds up to 86 species of birds with its berries. Although a fungal infection (anthracnose) has greatly affected dogwoods in many parts of the country, Gary still encourages the planting of dogwoods. Unlike their natural forest relatives, dogwoods in yards usually receive more sunlight and thus should be less susceptible to moisture-loving fungi. Hollies (remember only females have berries), southern magnolia, and the eastern red cedar are all valuable for their edible berries and wildlife cover. Eastern hemlock and osage orange are also good cover trees. Oaks are valuable for their acorns. Fruit trees such as crabapples and mulberries will provide a delicious meal for birds and other wildlife. Just don't park your car under these trees. Gary also mentioned that although Bradford pear trees are common around here, they have almost nothing to offer wildlife.

During the Q&A time, Gary discussed the problems with tree topping. Topping causes wood rot, susceptibility to disease and an almost certain early death for the tree. Although trimming trees is certainly needed, the cut should be made where one branch meets another, not in the middle of a branch.

The April program was going to be about invasive exotic plants, however, there has been a scheduling change. Thus, we will be developing an alternative program for April. See you there.

Due to poor weather, the March field trip to Cross Creek NWR was canceled. Maybe next year.

The next field trip is scheduled for Saturday, April 27 and will takes us to Audubon State Park, in Henderson, KY. This beautiful state park (Kentucky’s are still open!), is an easy two-hour drive north of Clarksville. At this time we will have the opportunity to see a tremendous variety of wildflower and birds at the peak of spring migration. John James Audubon himself lived and worked in this community for many years. At the November 2000 Warioto Audubon potluck banquet, Don Boarman, Curator of the Audubon Museum at the park spoke on the life and times of America most famous birders.

We are planning to hike some of the 6.5 miles of trails to observe the wildflowers and look for the spring migrant. Others may choose to tour the J.J. Audubon Museum. I do not know the cost for the museum visit, but I have taken it and I thought the cost was well worth the price of admission. The museum opens from 10:00 to 5:00 so there will be plenty of time to take the hike and tour the museum.

We will meet in the McCord parking lot on College Street and will leave at 7:00 a.m. Bring your binoculars, bird and wildflower books, and walking shoes. Also, I suggest you bring water for the hike and a picnic lunch and drinks for after. We plan to get back to Clarksville in the mid to late afternoon. Please join us. It is always a great trip.

It now appears there will be a vote on ANWR on April 8. The House has already passed a measure opening the Refuge to oil drilling, and the President fully supports drilling as well. It's up to the Senate to protect the Refuge. That means the next couple of weeks are critical in trying to persuade enough senators to vote against drilling ANWR. The pro-drilling interests are gearing up. They are financed by powerful and rich corporations. Please do your part to counter their influence by contacting your senators and expressing your opposition to drilling ANWR. By now, you are all familiar with the arguments against drilling. The fact that ANWR cannot provide the US with energy security, that it will not lower costs, and that it will not even be on line for 10 years. Only fuel efficiency, alternative fuels, and innovative transportation technologies can solve our energy security problems. All of these options have positive instead of negative environmental consequences, will provide more energy security, and are available immediately.