Spring Break Field Trip

Horticulture students used part of their spring break time to travel to Knoxville to visit two gardens. The University of Tennessee Gardens is located in the heart of the main campus and is used for evaluating new plant varieties. The Knoxville Botanical Garden is located on the site of the old Howell Nursery. This nursery opened in the late 1700's and continued operating in some capacity for over 200 years. It was responsible for introducing a number of significant landscape plants including Burford holly and Cherokee Chief dogwood.

6th ANNUAL WILD GAME DINNER A GREAT SUCCESS!

On Friday, March 2^nd, the HCC Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society hosted its sixth annual Wild Game Dinner at the Haywood County Fairgrounds. The event was a great success, with over 500 people in attendance despite a tornado watch that evening. Attendees enjoyed a wide selection of delicious wild game dishes, including venison, beaver, wild boar, duck, grouse, a variety of fresh fish, fantastic stews and soups, casseroles and veggies, and some tasty desserts.

The event featured great live music by No Show Jones and the Wildermen (an all-wildlife student band), a game calling competition, door prizes, a silent auction, and a live auction.

Door prize and auction items included wildlife-oriented art, photography, fishing and hunting gear, and much, much more. In addition, there were special grand prize drawings of four guns and a North Carolina lifetime hunting and fishing license.

The funds raised will be used to cover the costs of travel to the 2012 Southeastern Student Wildlife Conclave at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and for professional meetings and other club activities.  In addition, 10% of the total will be placed in a scholarship fund for HCC wildlife students.

The wildlife club would like to thank the many friends, family, and community members who turned out for the 6th annual Wild Game Dinner. Your support is greatly appreciated! Special thanks are due to the many individuals and businesses that donated door prizes, auction items, services, food, supplies, and money. Thanks also to instructors Steve Kirton, John Mark Roberts, and the students in the Electrical Technology program for adding additional electrical circuits at the fairgrounds. In addition, the club would like to thank the arboretum, maintenance, and information technology staff that provided assistance and equipment. Finally, the club would like to thank the Haywood County Fairgrounds for generously allowing the use of their facilities.  (Post by Shannon Rabby, Fish & Wildlife Instructor).

Landscape Management Project

Members of the Landscape Management class recently completed a hardscaping project down at the horticulture complex. An unsightly gravel bed was converted into a more attractive area by adding brick pavers. The site was excavated and backfilled with a sand base. Next, forms were built to contain the pavers. Students then broke into small teams to design and install their own section. This will be an ongoing project as new students who enter the program in future years will make their own contribution to the area.

Sophomores Mark Boundaries on School Forests

Sophomore students in Forest Management and Wildlife Management were taken to two of the school forests, the Beaty and the Fowler, to mark the entire boundaries of those tracts of land to meet requirements for the new land owner protection policy recently established. The Fowler tract, 320 acres, took two full days to reach the 5,500 foot summit, so we took one lab section up the east most boundary to the top, and another day took the second lab group up the west most boundary to the same point we finished a day earlier. The Beaty forest is 53 acres and not nearly as steep. The policy states that a purple stripe 8” long and 4” wide, at approximately 4 feet high on the tree, and spaced 100 feet from each marked tree, alerts the public that the land inside of the boundary that has been painted, is not to be entered without written approval from the land owner. This gave the students the opportunity to experience boundary making with the new guidelines and to locate boundaries with aerial photos, and the metes and bounds deed descriptions of those properties. These forests were surveyed over 12 years ago for the Beaty forest, and 20 year ago for the Fowler forest, so students had to search for iron pins of the turning points and witness trees that help orient where turning points were located. Forestry instructor, Bob Pinkston is the only staff member to have been around the entire boundaries of each forest and the only one to have been to the summit of the Fowler, and has done so numerous times. Wildlife instructor Chris Graves also supervised students with Bob on both forests to become knowledgeable of the schools boundary locations. Only one other group of students has ever marked the Fowler and reached the summit, the Forest Recreation class of 2005. The class of 2012 signed a plastic posted sign on the summit in honor of this prestigious trek. A great learning experience for all as well as a very tough physical challenge. Classes involved were, Aerial Photo Interpretation/Surveying, Wildlife Maintenance Techniques, and the capstone class for forestry students, Forest Management (post by Bob Pinkston).

Falconry

The Wildlife Ornithology students enjoyed an amazing field experience with one of our second-year Fish and Wildlife Management students, Trevor Besosa, who is a licensed falconer in NC. Trevor hunts with a beautiful male red-tailed hawk! The students learned many details about falconry, human-wildlife interactions, and the history behind recovery efforts for various species of birds of prey in this great nation. This was a grand opportunity to see a live, wild bird of prey in action. It is probably safe to say that there are not many other Ornithology classes in North America who have had a similar field experience as this one! Thanks Trevor!! (post by Chris Graves)

Flying Squirrel Box Construction

The Wildlife Management Techniques class worked in the construction shop this week to build nest boxes for the Carolina northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus). The students gained valuable training (i.e. safety, orientation, and hands-on experience) with a variety of shop tools and equipment used on many types of construction related projects that they will encounter throughout their careers. The semester has gotten off to a fun and fast start for students in the techniques course! Just three weeks into the semester, they have received hands-on training and experience with habitat inventory methods, wildlife radiotelemetry, boundary posting related to the new Landowner Protection Act, and construction.

Special thanks to John Mark Roberts, Instructor for the Building Construction Technology program, for his continued willingness to provide a quality educational experience for our Fish and Wildlife Management students! (post by Chris Graves)

Wetland and Upland Habitat Management Field Trip

The sophomore Fish and Wildlife Management students just returned from an outstanding trip to Tennessee. Highlights included wetland management for waterfowl and other wetland wildlife, private lands management, refuge management for sandhill cranes, and an oak-savanna restoration project on the Cumberland Plateau. Also, special thanks to Jessie Birkhead and Dr. Heath Hagy for their outstanding presentations to the group! Jessie’s latest research was on native warm-season grass management options for livestock farm operations. And, Dr. Hagy presented his research on waterfowl and wetland management. This trip could not have been possible without the support of Billy Minser, Frank Potts, Bill Smith, Wally Akins, Max Cox, and Rob Klippel. Thank you all! (post by Chris Graves)