|
|
News from the Frog Pond HAPPENING ON THE GREENWAY By Kay Coriell 10/08/08 Taking Stock Every once in a while it's good to take stock and count the steps one is taking to reach our goals. We came up with the following during our evaluation. The Little Tennessee River Greenway offers opportunities for historical and cultural enlightenment. This past year we hosted the Cherokee Festival at Big Bear Park, an event at which thousands of participants enjoyed the chance to view the current Cherokee way of life through their celebration, poems, songs, games, dance, and food. We also have a diorama depicting the early Cherokee lives. Through three years of Discovery Walks we have educated many citizens in wildflower, shrub and tree identification, helped them identify invasive plants, see the great variety of birds that live in our area, look at the lovely butterflies up close, observe and taste wild edible foods, and identify our ferns and mosses. The Happening articles in the Franklin Press try to bring those Walks home to those who are not able to attend. These articles also bring situations to your attention to help in your understanding of why we have to set certain rules and policies for Greenway use. The playgrounds at Big Bear and Tassee Parks help to get children out into the fresh air and exercising to help build strong bodies and social skills. The adult exercise stations on Old Airport Trail, and of course the trail itself, provide an open-air gym for those who follow good health practices. We allow many sections of the Trail to appear “wild and uncared for” but in reality we are providing diverse plant and animal communities to secure their survival. We resist paving of large areas in order to reduce runoff and to increase ground absorption of rainwater. Someday we may be able to put permeable surfacing down, as we know gravel surfaces are hard for handicapped folks. We have provided handicapped accessible trails and play equipment. We look forward to working with development along the Greenway that enhances the community network of walking/biking paths with responsible commercial enterprises. We are happy to cooperate with local service groups and have been the recipient of their good works since the beginning of the Greenway: building bridges, laying concrete, doing big clean-up jobs, giving helping hands with events, planting flowers, trees and shrubs and helping to undo the effects of vandalism . Having been recently designated a National Recreational Trail gives the town and county national exposure and could increase tourism. As a North Carolina Birding Trail, we'll soon be listed in the upcoming “Mountains” issue of the N.C. Wildlife Commission's coverage of the state birding trails, where to go, what else to see, where to stay and other things to do. This information will also help our community services, gift stores, hotels, and restaurants in the future. Our Frog Quarters provides a Nature Reference Library, and internet service to visitors, hikers and locals. It also serves as an outlet for local craftmen and women to display and sell their wares, besides being the office for the Friends of the Greenway, Inc. Along with the recent survey of Greenway use showing 20,000 uses a month, it's fair to say the Little Tennessee River Greenway is having an impact on the Town of Franklin and Macon County. We feel we have reached some of our goals. Our newly revised web site www.LittleTennessee.org will show you even more about the Greenway and the Frogs Organization, and if you have any suggestions send them along to our email frogquarters@verizon.net 09/24/08 Rivercane Rivercane is found on the Greenway on the Old Airport Trail in a fairly large stand. Prior to European settlement cane communities covered thousands of acres. Native American populations used fire to encourage the cane growth, as cane needs sunlight and cannot develop well under a forest canopy. It likes to grow where water is available but cannot stand wet feet. It is not often found at elevations above 2200 feet, though there is a species called Mountain Cane (Arundinaria appalachiana) that may be found along mountain trails usually as single plants about 2 feet high. Early peoples found many uses for the stiff, woody canes in storage baskets , spears, arrows, blowguns, fish traps, mats, flutes and tobacco pipes. Shelters could be formed by the long poles. Later peoples found the young cane nutritious fodder for grazing animals, and for light fences. Mature cane became vital for baskets as exchange items. Canebrakes provide habitat for all sorts of wildlife for cover, food and nesting. The dense stands break up flood waters and spread out the destructive forces, thereby curbing erosion. The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee has begun a project with the Cherokee by establishing rivercane plantings on their Otto lands in the hopes of supplying the Cherokee with strong mature cane for their native basket making. Agricultural practices have all but eliminated the native rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea), but invasive species are all too ready to take over. One of these is the Golden Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) from Asia which can be found along many roads in Macon County . This bamboo is more bushy, with alternate leaves 3 to 10 inches long with parallel veins. The stems, called culms, are woody like the native Cane, but have a distinctive channel or flattened area, above each leaf attachment that runs up the stem to the next leaf node. Nodes are solid inside, with the internodes being hollow. Native cane has softer nodes at the joints, which allows for easier working into blowguns and other tube-like needs. Both plants have persistent sheaths that drop off in the fall. Golden Bamboo may grow to 40 feet tall when mature. Flowering is spotty and infertile, as these canes reproduce along their underground stems, called rhisomes, making close compact growth. The culms seem to die back every 7 to 10 years after flowering. A similar plant is the giant reed (Arundo donax) whose 20 foot culms make plumes of flowers in the fall. Each stem dies back in the fall but often remains standing until new spring growth. The culms are cornlike with the leaves clasping the stem. This, too, is an imported plant mostly for ornamental uses, but can become invasive, also. It is wise to investigate the origin of plants and their growth habits of things you would plant around your home so you are not spending time and money trying to eradicate them 5 to 10 years later. Our Water Feature will be shut down within a week as we have had to return various parts to the manufacturer. We hope this will give us time to be ready for your children next spring. We know it's extremely popular. Thanks for your patience during the past few weeks. |
 |
|