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Spring Picnic at Cotton Hills Farms
The Katawba Valley Land Trust and the Nation Ford Land Trust will hold a joint picnic with farm tours at Cotton Hills Farm in Lowrys, South Carolina on Saturday, April 6. The day will begin with lunch at 11:30 a.m., followed by walking and wagon ride tours of the farm, conducted by Jeff Wilson and his sons, JEB and Peter, owners of Cotton Hills Farm. The picnic Lunch is sponsored by Duke Energy
Cotton Hills Farm has operated continuously since 1882 when the original 100-acre home place was given to Theodo-sia Abell Wilson as a wedding present. Jeff and Carol Wilson and their children are the fourth generation to work the land, now producing many acres of cotton, peaches, pumpkins, vegetables, and timber.
Jeff and his family have a strong conservation ethic dem-onstrated by the granting of a conservation easement on the farm in 2007. Both KVLT and NFLT hold easements on the property.
The day at Cotton Hills Farm promises to be both fun and educational. The Wilsons have a grist mill and sawmill on
the farm, and grind both grits and cornmeal at the mill. Many conservation practices characterize farming at Cotton Hills and these will be highlighted in the tours. In addition to farm-ing, the Wilsons provide educational tours to hundreds of school children in the fall.
The cost for the event is $5.00 per person, which covers the picnic lunch, with children under 10 free. You must regis-ter by Tuesday, April 2, by emailing or calling the land trust office at either [email protected] or 803-285-5801. For directions and more information about Cotton Hills Farm visit their website at www. cotton-hillsfarm. com.
Sunflowers at Cotton Hills Farmsby Barry Beasley
KVLT has an exciting series of outings planned for 2013, beginning with a hike at Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve Sat-urday, May 4, led by Wofford Professor, Terry Ferguson. This hike will focus on the geology of Forty Acre Rock and the surrounding area. It should be an informative and beautiful hike with the vernal pools on the rock alive with the color of wild-flowers. The hike will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the main parking lot at Forty Acre Rock and will be limited to 40 people. Call
the office, 803-285-5801, or email Barry Beasley at [email protected], to register for this hike. On April 20, we will have the annual spring bird count, followed by the Lily Fest on May 19 at Landsford Canal State Park, where we will lead a history hike and a nature hike. The KVLT 2013 Annual Meeting will be held at the farm of Joanna Angle and Bill Altman in Chester County on Sunday, September 29.
KVLT has planned two exciting paddling outings again in 2013. On May 30, we’ll kayak through the spider lilies at Landsford Canal State
Park. On November 2, hopefully with rich fall colors, we will kayak on Stumpy Pond near Great Falls.
Look for more details about these outings and others as they are posted on our web-site and Facebook page.
2013 Promises Exciting KVLT Outings
A KVLT group enjoys a day kayaking on Stumpy Pond
KVLT 2013 Events
The annual KVLT Bird Count is set for Saturday, April 20. We hope you can join us as we document the war-
blers and other birds that use our protected lands as migra-tion corridors. Target areas will include Landsford Canal State Park, the KVLT Lancaster Greenway Preserve, KVLT
Great Falls property along Rocky Creek and the Flat Creek/Forty Acre Rock area. Bird count leaders are Josh Arrants, Irvin Pitts and Bill Rogers. Most groups will meet at the Ca-tawba Fish Camp on Hwy. 9 at 7:30 a.m. You do not have to be a bird expert to join us. The event is free and open to both members and the public, but registration is required. For more details and to register for the event, contact us at [email protected] or (803) 285-5801.
On Saturday, May 11, the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is sponsoring a cleanup of Cane Creek. The cleanup will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 12:00. Participants will meet at the Hwy. 9 boat landing on the Catawba River at 8:30 a.m. and will need to furnish their own boat. This will be a good oppor-tunity to see KVLT’s new conservation property on Cane Creek and help in the much needed cleanup of Cane Creek. The cleanup coordinator is Tam Minton. For more information or to register to participate in the cleanup, email Tam at [email protected].
2013 Spring Bird Count
Cane Creek Cleanup
Master naturalists are individuals who take a 12-week course offered through Clemson University that provides a compre-hensive overview of natural resources, similar to Clemson’s Master Gardener Program. Master naturalists are trained in all aspects of natural history including plant, animal and insect identification, as well as the value of ecosystems and the importance of conservation. After completing the training, students are expected to volunteer to share their expertise in the community.
The Catawba Master Naturalist Association, formally led by KVLT Board member Gere Engel, has volunteered to assist the land trust in conducting ecological assessments of its fee simple properties. Thus far, assessments of four properties have been completed. The project will continue in 2013. “It is a tremendous service to the land trust to have a group of trained natural-ists assist us in this critical work. It helps KVLT make sure we are maintaining the conservation values on these properties and assists us with the long-term management of KVLT conservation lands,” said KVLT Executive Director, Barry Beasley.
Master Naturalists Alumni Association Assist KVLT
The 2013 KVLT Speaker Series begins on Tuesday, April 16, with Dr. Stephen Davis, Associate Director of the research Labo-ratories of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The lecture will be held in the Carol Ray Dowling Health Services Center Community Room at 7:00 p.m. The lecture is co-sponsored by the York County Historical Society and the Native American Studies Center at USC-Lancaster.
Dr. Davis’ lecture is titled “A Decade of Archaeological Investigations in the Old Catawba Nation.” The lecture will outline Catawba history during the 18th and early 19th centuries and then discuss the University of North Carolina’s archaeologi-cal research over the past decade in York and Lancaster counties. These investigations focused on six Catawba settlements -- Nassaw-Weyapee, Charraw Town, Old Town, Ayers Town, New Town, and the Bowers site -- that were occupied between about 1750 and 1820.
The rest of the 2013 speakers are:
June 6 - John Cely, one of South Carolina’s leading ornithologists and naturalists. John will focus on the history of the ivory-billed woodpecker in South Carolina.
August 8 - Amanda McNulty, host of SCETV’s “Making It Grow.” Amanda will focus on gardening in South Carolina.
November 14 - Dr. John Lane, author and Associate Professor of English and Envi-ronmental Studies at Wofford College. John will discuss his recent book, Paddle to the Sea, a book-length narrative about important Southeastern water issues framed by a kayak trip from his backyard in the South Carolina Piedmont, 200 miles to the Atlantic Ocean through the Broad/Congaree/Santee River Basin.
2013 Speaker Series Begins April 16
Barred Owlby Bill Stokes
Great Blue Heronby Bill Stokes
