Bird Walk and Banding Demo + Old Hemlock Farmhouse Tour, July 14: Spend the morning with us at the Old Hemlock property in Preston County for a bird walk, farmhouse museum tour, and optional bird banding demonstration on Sunday, July 14 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. 

Old Hemlock was the home of George Bird and Kathryn Harris Evans. The Old Hemlock property contains virgin hemlock trees and is maintained in its natural state with multi-age woodlands as a nature and wildlife preserve. The property was added to the National Register of Historic places in 2015. Learn more about the history of this property at oldhemlock.org

The excursion will include a gentle bird walk (one mile) through mature and young forest habitat, a tour of the historic house, an overview of George and Kay’s life, a short presentation on the scientific management of 232 acres, and visitors may have an option to stay longer to walk the trails, visit the virgin hemlock forest and watch a bird banding demonstration. This tour will be led by LeJay Graffious, administrator of the Old Hemlock Foundation. We suggest you bring a bagged lunch. Restrooms will be available.

Old Growth Forest Hike and Tree Survey in Tucker County, August 17: Hike to the site of the proposed Upper Cheat River timbering project in the Monongahela National Forest near Parsons, West Virginia, and learn about the old growth characteristics of this site from ecologist and local resident John Coleman of Speak For The Trees Too. We will meet at the Horseshoe Recreation and Campground Area Day Use parking lot at 10 a.m. 

The hike will involve measuring trees to determine their age. A small grove of trees documented in this area are over 200 years old. The hike will require a 0.5 mile hike up a steep ridge. Total time for hike and survey 3-4 hours. We suggest you bring a bagged lunch!

Registration links forthcoming. Mark your calendars! 

Old Growth Forest Hike at Audra State Park, November 9: Visit the old growth tract in Audra State Park near Phillipi, West Virginia, on November 9 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The old growth tract here is easily reached and explored. Naturalist and ecologist Doug Wood will lead this hike.