Your Chance to See Plants Found Nowhere Else on Earth!
Friends of Plant Conservation Annual Meeting – October 4-5, 2024
Learn about the unique and rare plants, animals, and natural communities of Boiling Spring Lakes and the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina.
Friends of Plant Conservation Annual Meeting – October 4-5, 2024
Learn about the unique and rare plants, animals, and natural communities of Boiling Spring Lakes and the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina.
Afternoon field trips on Friday October 4 and Saturday October 5.
Open to the Public. Registration is free. Bring your friends! Book now to secure your spot.
Location of Saturday Meeting: Boiling Springs Lakes Community Center – 1 Leeds Rd., Southport, NC 28461
Field Trip to Shoestring Savanna in Green Swamp Nature Conservancy Preserve
Friday October 4th: 1 pm – 4 pm; Trip leaders Robert Peet and Patrick McMillan
If you have never been to a longleaf pine savanna, you are in for a treat! The 2.6 mile (round-trip) trail traverses some of the most biodiverse and scenic longleaf pine flatwoods, wetland savannas and pocosin habitat in North Carolina. Highlights of the walk will include rarely seen native species such as Autumn Gentian, Pixie-moss, three species of pitcher plants as well as other carnivorous species, large numbers of Venus Flytraps and other rare species, all situated among a brilliant array of autumn wildflowers.
Meet at the Green Swamp Nature Conservancy parking area near the barrow pit. The parking area is located along NC 211, 5 miles north of US17, on the right hand side (east side) of NC 211 when travelling north.
See gorgeous pictures of the Shoestring Savanna here!
(You need to see these, especially if you can't attend!)
Annual Meeting , Presentations, and Field Trip
Saturday October 5th
at Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center – 1 Leeds Rd., Southport, NC 28461
Feel free to join us at any point during the day. The tour of Boiling Springs Lake Preserve will leave from the Community Center promptly at 1:30.
8:30 AM - Coffee, refreshments and social time.
9:00 AM - Welcome and Indigenous land acknowledgement statement – Milo Pyne, President, NC FOPC.
9:15 AM - 30-minute business meeting and elections of vacant board positions.
9:45 AM – 12:30 PM Presentations by an exciting lineup of expert speakers (see brief bios below):
A brief history of change in the coastal plain of the Carolinas and overview of conservation challenges – Patrick D. McMillan, Vice-president, NC FOPC.
A spotlight on plant conservation priorities in the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina – Andy Walker, botanist, NC Natural Heritage Program
Among and under the plants - Important and incredible amphibians and reptiles in the Boiling Springs Lake area—Alvin Braswell
Flytraps and Flytrap Champions at Boiling Spring Lakes – Julie Moore
Patrick McMillan, PhD – Vice-president of NC FOPC. Author, naturalist, botanist, horticulturist and educator. He is co-author of A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina (2022, Univ. of South Carolina Press). Widely known as the host, producer, writer and co-editor of the Emmy-award winning PBS program “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan.”
Andy Walker – Botanist, NC Natural Heritage Program.
Alvin Braswell – Past President of NC FOPC. Herpetologist, and former deputy director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Julie Moore – Botanist & Endangered Species Biologist; Retired US Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist; Chairman of the NC Plant Conservation Program Advisory Board; past president of the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Botanical Society of Washington D.C.; founding board member of the Longleaf Alliance, the B W Wells Association, and more recently, the Southern Conservation Partners where she is coordinator of the “Venus Flytrap Champions.” She is the author of “Managing the Forest and the Trees,” a guide for longleaf forest landowners funded by The Nature Conservancy and the Longleaf Alliance.
12:30-1:30 PM – Lunch Break on your own at area restaurants
1:30 PM –Tour of Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve with Plant Protection Program Manager Julian Wilson
Open to the Public. Registration is free. Bring your friends! Book now to secure your spot.
Location of Saturday Meeting: Boiling Springs Lakes Community Center – 1 Leeds Rd., Southport, NC 28461
Field Trip to Shoestring Savanna in Green Swamp Nature Conservancy Preserve
Friday October 4th: 1 pm – 4 pm; Trip leaders Robert Peet and Patrick McMillan
If you have never been to a longleaf pine savanna, you are in for a treat! The 2.6 mile (round-trip) trail traverses some of the most biodiverse and scenic longleaf pine flatwoods, wetland savannas and pocosin habitat in North Carolina. Highlights of the walk will include rarely seen native species such as Autumn Gentian, Pixie-moss, three species of pitcher plants as well as other carnivorous species, large numbers of Venus Flytraps and other rare species, all situated among a brilliant array of autumn wildflowers.
Meet at the Green Swamp Nature Conservancy parking area near the barrow pit. The parking area is located along NC 211, 5 miles north of US17, on the right hand side (east side) of NC 211 when travelling north.
See gorgeous pictures of the Shoestring Savanna here!
(You need to see these, especially if you can't attend!)
Annual Meeting , Presentations, and Field Trip
Saturday October 5th
at Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center – 1 Leeds Rd., Southport, NC 28461
Feel free to join us at any point during the day. The tour of Boiling Springs Lake Preserve will leave from the Community Center promptly at 1:30.
8:30 AM - Coffee, refreshments and social time.
9:00 AM - Welcome and Indigenous land acknowledgement statement – Milo Pyne, President, NC FOPC.
9:15 AM - 30-minute business meeting and elections of vacant board positions.
9:45 AM – 12:30 PM Presentations by an exciting lineup of expert speakers (see brief bios below):
A brief history of change in the coastal plain of the Carolinas and overview of conservation challenges – Patrick D. McMillan, Vice-president, NC FOPC.
A spotlight on plant conservation priorities in the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina – Andy Walker, botanist, NC Natural Heritage Program
Among and under the plants - Important and incredible amphibians and reptiles in the Boiling Springs Lake area—Alvin Braswell
Flytraps and Flytrap Champions at Boiling Spring Lakes – Julie Moore
Patrick McMillan, PhD – Vice-president of NC FOPC. Author, naturalist, botanist, horticulturist and educator. He is co-author of A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina (2022, Univ. of South Carolina Press). Widely known as the host, producer, writer and co-editor of the Emmy-award winning PBS program “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan.”
Andy Walker – Botanist, NC Natural Heritage Program.
Alvin Braswell – Past President of NC FOPC. Herpetologist, and former deputy director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Julie Moore – Botanist & Endangered Species Biologist; Retired US Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist; Chairman of the NC Plant Conservation Program Advisory Board; past president of the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Botanical Society of Washington D.C.; founding board member of the Longleaf Alliance, the B W Wells Association, and more recently, the Southern Conservation Partners where she is coordinator of the “Venus Flytrap Champions.” She is the author of “Managing the Forest and the Trees,” a guide for longleaf forest landowners funded by The Nature Conservancy and the Longleaf Alliance.
12:30-1:30 PM – Lunch Break on your own at area restaurants
1:30 PM –Tour of Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve with Plant Protection Program Manager Julian Wilson
