The NCAMN Wildflower Meadow Team maintains the Gaston Wildflower Meadow at Bull Shoals-White River State Park from March through December. Team members will work for 2 hours on scheduled Wednesdays. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO VERIFY START TIME BY CHECKING THE WORKDAY EMAIL AS TIME MAY VARY DEPENDING ON TEMPERATURE. The workday email will also list plans for the day and any additional tools that you might need. Always wear gloves and sturdy garden shoes, dress comfortably and expect to get dirty. Volunteers will become familiar with native plants common in north central Arkansas and learn about their characteristics and requirements for growth. Please log your volunteer hours as follows: Activity - Volunteer - Natural Area Maintenance, Sponsor: State Park: Bull Shoals-White River State Park.

Trail volunteers past, present & future are invited to dinner at Cotter Bridge Market, provided by the OKT Endowment. If you might volunteer for trail work in the future, you are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to OzarksKeystoneTrail@gmail.com by April 1.

“First Saturday” trail maintenance, lunch provided. Will drive side-by-side vehicles on 2 spur trails on Seward Point (Gamaliel) paint-blazing trees plus trail maintenance. Volunteers meet in town, collect sack lunch, then proceed to David’s Trail North across Norfork Lake, perform 3-4 hours trail maintenance. The Endowment hosts this event to meet individuals & groups interested in adopting 1 or 2 miles of trail to keep clear for public enjoyment. Volunteers rendezvous between 8 to 8:30 AM at the FSIS Raymond James office in Mtn Home (across from Pizza Hut) … take borrowed tools to trail sections at Norfork Lake, then return tools afterward. You may bring your own tools. Ozarks Keystone Trail Endowment (formerly David’s Trail Foundation) is constructing & completing the 85-mile hiking trail at Norfork Lake from Norfork Dam to Dawt Mill.

Kevin Krajcir, instructor Bring your lunch, snacks, and beverages.

Lynn Foster, instructor

We will meet at Entergy Park at the large portico starting around 10am to prepare for and then observe the solar eclipse. Jerry Simmons and Randy Rowland will lead discussion and observation, including the use of telescopes, and ensure we know safe viewing practices. Lunch will be provided. Bring water, eclipse glasses, and bug repellent.

details TBD

Monthly chapter meeting, followed by a presentation on the ASMSA Pollinator Garden. Lindsey Waddell and Allyn Dodd and students will give us an update on the garden which they discussed last summer.

Grab your clippers and snippers for garden day at Tyler Bend and Buffalo Point! Volunteers will meet at Tyler Bend Visitors Center at 9:00 a.m. to spruce up the gardens. To carpool or caravan meet at Flippin Walmart to leave by 8:00 a.m. We will leave Tyler Bend before noon and those who wish can continue to Buffalo Point Ranger Station for a brief clean up there. What to bring: Work gloves, your favorite weeding tools, leaf rakes, tubs for weeds and debris. Native plant swap: If you have native plants that have spread, pot them up and bring to trade along with seeds and root cuttings of native shrubs. Lunch: Bring a sack lunch and we will picnic in the park. ACTIVITY: Garden Maintenance - NCAMN SPONSER: National Park Service - Buffalo National River - NCAMN

NCAMN members will join members of the Pine Mountain Volunteer Fire Department for their Annual Spring Roadside Cleanup on Saturday, April 13th at 9am. Check-in is at 8:30am. A light breakfast with beverages will be provided. All supplies will be provided. Road sections are assigned to pairs of participants, so registration is preferred but you can just show up too! It will be helpful if you register on the NCAMN calendar and let Melissa know if you wish to work with a friend so that you can work as a pair. Easy volunteer hours!

2nd Saturday of every month trash boom and landscape trash extraction at Benny Craig Park, Little Rock, Gum Springs Road (34.7008091,-92.3298191). Bring your own watercraft (canoe/kayak), if you have one.

Jennifer Ogle and Virginia McDaniel, instructors The morning will be classroom instruction, the afternoon will be an outdoor walk. Dress accordingly Bring your lunch, snacks, beverages for the day. Record time as NiT training, 6 hours, sponsor CAMN

Most of the pollinator field will be sprayed using AGFC sprayer and President Caprio‘s 4-wheeler. The water feature and fence edges will have to be sprayed by hand. We need volunteers with backpack sprayers. There are 1 or 2 extras.

Meet at east end of Ozark Point. Please bring garden tools, clippers, gloves, rakes

Don’t Get Lost—Map reading, Robert Fuhler The Nature Conservancy, Mission and Objectives--Doug Zolner Afternoon at Bluffton Preserve Resource to download: Resources-->Documents-->FAMN Documents-->Resource Materials-->Training Materials and Guides-->FAMN Mapping Class Resource List Class handout located at:

The NCAMN Wildflower Meadow Team maintains the Gaston Wildflower Meadow at Bull Shoals-White River State Park from March through December. Team members will work for 2 hours on scheduled Wednesdays. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO VERIFY START TIME BY CHECKING THE WORKDAY EMAIL AS TIME MAY VARY DEPENDING ON TEMPERATURE. The workday email will also list plans for the day and any additional tools that you might need. Always wear gloves and sturdy garden shoes, dress comfortably and expect to get dirty. Volunteers will become familiar with native plants common in north central Arkansas and learn about their characteristics and requirements for growth. Please log your volunteer hours as follows: Activity - Volunteer - Natural Area Maintenance, Sponsor: State Park: Bull Shoals-White River State Park.

Maintenance of wildflower gardens. Assist staff with special projects and educational programs; general light maintenance; other duties as needed, in a multi-use natural area managed by AGFC.

April 18 Presentation on Monarch Butterfly Adventure In December 2023, four Arkansas Master Naturalists — Lynn Foster, Debbie Milam, Kathy Boone and Ann Owen — journeyed to the oyamel fir forests in Michoacan, Mexico to see monarch butterflies overwintering in their natural habitat. Join us on April 18 to learn about their trip, the biology of the monarch butterfly, why monarchs are in trouble, what people are doing to help, and what you can do. Our chapter will be selling Arkansas Butterflies and Moths books, we’ll have monarch-related door prizes! And as with all Central Arkansas Master Naturalists meetings, there will be pizza! Please RSVP to Ann Owen at 501-960-0063 if you’re planning on having pizza (and whether you have any food restrictions). Please bring your own water bottle or other soft drink. The meeting will be held at Second Presbyterian, 600 Pleasant Valley Dr. in Second Hall, which is most easily accessed through the Northeast Entrance. Pizza time: 6:00 p.m. Program time: 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsors: Ozark Society Pulaski Chapter Environmental Stewardship Ministry, Second Presbyterian Church

THIS IS A RESCHEDULED EVENT (ORIGINALLY 20 APRIL) DUE TO WEATHER AND SCHEDULING OF KEY PERSONNEL. Meet at the Parking Lot of Bluffton House across from Double-Drop Falls Trailhead at 1:00 on Friday, 19 April. Three tree plots have been approved by the TNC to be used for new Ozark Chinquapin plantings that will be planted on this date. The plots have been prepped by selective clearing; the objective is to plant, tube and catalog Ozark Chinquapin seeds that have germinated. One site is easily accessible with the other two sites being off-trail; we will have to travel up the nose of a spur that will be an approximate 100’ elevation change. These are experimental plantings whose sites were chosen by assessing positive environmental factors for natural growth with minimal intervention. The trees will be monitored but mostly left to nature unless conditions may require periodic watering. Steve Bost (Founder and President of the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation) and Doug Zollner (Ecologist and Director of Science and Strategy with The Nature Conservancy) will be joining us for the planting. Please bring water and good hiking boots with ankle support. Directions: About 6.0 miles north of the Hwy 65/09 intersection in Clinton on Hwy 65, take County Road 79/Watergate Road (600 feet north and across from Botkinburg Foursquare Church – Correctly located on Google). Continue down Watergate Road (keep right at the fork) and watch for the Double-Drop Falls sign (35.653407,-92.525950), proceed approximately 50 feet, turn right into driveway and continue to the parking in front of Bluffton House (coordinates: 35.652746,-92.527426 - copy and paste into Google Earth or Maps). Call Robert with any questions or if you would like to carpool/caravan at 501-733-4019.

The main spraying will be done by 4-wheeler, but several members, preferably with backpack sprayers are needed to spray hard-to-reach areas. This event was cancelled on March 13th due to wind.

Our rescheduled Boom Blast from 4/13 happens here, April 20, in conjunction with Impact the Rock and LR Parks & Rec. Still at Benny Craig, all the usual instructions apply.

Leslie Patrick, instructor This class is out of doors, so dress appropriately for the weather. Wear sturdy shoes for the walking portion of the class. Bring your lunch, snacks and beverages.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR 1:00 FRIDAY, 19 APRIL DUE TO WEATHER AND SCHEDULING OF KEY PERSONNEL. Meet at the Double-Drop Falls Trailhead at 10:00 on Saturday, 20 April. Three tree plots have been approved by the TNC to be used for new Ozark Chinquapin plantings that will be planted on this date. The plots have been prepped by selective clearing; the objective is to plant, tube and catalog Ozark Chinquapin seeds that have germinated. One site is easily accessible with the other two sites being off-trail; we will have to travel up the nose of a spur that will be an approximate 100’ elevation change. These are experimental plantings whose sites were chosen by assessing positive environmental factors for natural growth with minimal intervention. The trees will be monitored but mostly left to nature unless conditions may require periodic watering. Steve Bost (Founder and President of the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation) and Doug Zollner (Ecologist and Director of Science and Strategy with The Nature Conservancy) will be joining us for the planting. Please bring water and good hiking boots with ankle support. Directions: About 6.0 miles north of the Hwy 65/09 intersection in Clinton on Hwy 65, take County Road 79/Watergate Road (600 feet north and across from Botkinburg Foursquare Church – Correctly located on Google). Continue down Watergate Road (keep right at the fork) and watch for the Double-Drop Falls sign (35.653407,-92.525950 copy and paste into Google Earth or Maps). Call Robert with any questions at 501-733-4019.

Wednesday April 24, 9:30 to noon at Oak Forest Community Garden. Putting in 12 bare-root seedlings and 7 sapling trees. Also laying cardboard & newspaper & mulch to keep the wildflowers from taking over. Save our Planet by Saving our Native Trees & Native Insects Kate Spontak KateTree.CAMN@gmail.com 501-500-3434 201-410-4454

Please consider joining us for a planting event of the Ozark Chinquapin at Bluffton Nature Preserve (TNC) on Wednesday, April 24 at 10:00. We will be planting around 20 germinated seed at the Preserve. This planting will be relatively rugged off-trail and will involve carrying in equipment and seeds (to include rebar and tree tubes). Please bring water and wear hiking boots with ample ankle support. For anyone who is not feeling up to the trek into the nether-regions, we will also be planting a few more Chinquapins behind Bluffton House (which is flat and relaxing); after which, just relax on the patio and send out moral support! Either way, please register for this event. Directions: About 6.0 miles north of the Hwy 65/09 intersection in Clinton on Hwy 65, take County Road 79/Watergate Road (600 feet north and across from Botkinburg Foursquare Church – Correctly located on Google). Continue down Watergate Road (keep right at the fork) and watch for the Double-Drop Falls sign (35.653407,-92.525950), proceed approximately 20 feet, turn right into driveway and continue to the parking in front of Bluffton House (coordinates: 35.652746,-92.527426 - copy and paste into Google Earth or Maps). Call Robert with any questions or if you would like to carpool/caravan at 501-733-4019.

Location probably Bean Bluff in Gamaliel, finest overlook on Norfork Lake.

Pop-Up Hike at Walnut Creek
When and Where: Thursday, April 25 at Walnut Creek Starting at the Low Water Bridge on USFS road 47 off Crystal Springs Road. The hike will start at 10:00 a.m. The short version will take approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The longer hike will be 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Directions will be at the end of the email.

Smithsonian‘s Gary Graves will lead a group bird watching on a trail at FB. Gary always has wisdom to share and is remarkable at identifying birds by their sounds. If you‘ve never made it to one of his walks before, try to make this one. We‘re lucky he spends some time with family in our area each spring. Start time is subject to change.

Around 75% of the world‘s flowering plants rely on animal pollinators, with over 200,000 pollinator species involved. One in every three mouthfuls of food we eat are delivered by pollinators! Join DLAMN Master Naturalist Karen Hicks as she explores the hidden world and importance of pollination. You will view pollinators up close, learn fascinating facts about the plant/pollinator connection, and focus on how we can protect this valuable resource for the future. This class will take place in the board room at the Arkansas School for Math, Sciences, and the Arts. Following the class, we will take a tour of the school‘s student developed pollinator garden, led by Dr. Allyn Dodd, biology instructor.

Naturally Arkansas Bringing Nature to Your Yard Saturday, April 27 10:00am - 1:00pm Are you wanting to plant native plants to bring more wildlife to your yard and help nature? Learn what you need to know and buy the plants at CALS 2nd Bringing Nature to Your Yard event. Learn how to bring native bees, butterflies, & birds to your yard--how to select native species--how to start a pollinator garden--how to buy plants--and what plants not to buy--from experts who will be on hand to answer your questions! Learn about environmental groups and programs from exhibitors! Buy native plants from eight local sellers! And bring your kids, because library staff will offer a variety of children‘s activities!

Why Work to Restore Habitat? Larry Price Chapter meeting with lunch Afternoon, What’s that tree? Tree Identification.

State Park Team Last Tuesday of the month, 8:00 AM until 10:00 AM. Give a helping hand to Bull Shoals White River State Park. Gather to help out with a variety of easy maintenance chores, often easy painting of fences and signs. A specific chore list will be sent about one week ahead of the work date. We‘ll volunteer 8:00-10:00, subject to change with the weather. Category: Volunteer, Natural Area Maintenance; Location: BSWRSP; Contact: Karen Tietmeyer. tietka8@gmail.com; 209-834-7969.