Ecotourism trips in Chatham County

Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) and the Chatham Conservation Partnership (CCP) will promote the college’s new Ecotourism program by offering a series of guided field trips this summer.  The trips will highlight Chatham County’s natural areas and opportunities for birding, canoeing, and hiking while emphasizing the importance of conserving natural resources.  Field trip guides will be members of CCP who have expertise in topics related to the trip locations.  These trips are free and open to the general public but please register in advance since minimum age restrictions or maximum group size may apply to some of the trips.  Bring your binoculars for wildlife viewing and camera to take advantage of opportunities for nature photography.  Schedule of field trips include:

Saturday, June 26th from 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon:  Longleaf Pines in Chatham County

Saturday, July 10th from 9:00 – 11:00 AM:  Aquatic Species by Canoe Outing

Saturday, August 14 from 9:00 to 10:00 AM:  Jordan Lake Wildlife Observation Platform

Register for these trips by contacting Central Carolina Community College – Pittsboro campus Continuing Education office.  Registration may be done by calling 919-542-6495 ext 8044, or in person at the Continuing Education office.  Internet registration will be available soon at http://cccc.edu/ecd/registration.

Contact gretchen_smith@bellsouth.net for more information about the field trips. The full press release is at

http://visitpittsboro.com/press-room/news-releases/experience-free-ecotourism-adventure-summer

CCP Conservation Plan Community Meetings

June 23, 2010

6:30-8pm

Central Carolina Community College

764 West Street

Pittsboro, NC 27312

June 24, 2010

6:30-8pm

Western Chatham Senior Center

112 Village Lake Road

Siler City, NC 27344

link to CCP page

CCP conservation plan focus group meeting

link to CCP web meeting page

Date: Thursday, July 15th

Location: CCCC Building 2 Multipurpose Room

Time: 1:30pm – 3:30pm

this is after the CCP quarterly meeting

CCP meeting – Thursday, July 15, 2010

The CCP meets quarterly. Details for our next meeting follow:

Date: Thursday, July 15 , 2010

Location: CCCC Building 2 Multipurpose Room

Chatham_Campuses_Map.pdf

Time: 9:00am – 12:30pm

Agenda:TBA

CCP Educational Workshop/Tour

Saturday, June 26th from 9:00 – 12:00: Longleaf Pines in Chatham County Educational Workshop/Tour

Immortalized in North Carolina’s State Toast, the Longleaf Pine was once the predominate tree in the Southeast but now only about 3% still remain. Learn about this disappearing Longleaf Pine ecosystem, the important role this tree plays, efforts underway to restore this important ecosystem and how you can help. Whether you are a landowner interested in growing Longleaf Pines, or someone who wants to learn more about its history and management, please join us for an educational tour of Longleaf Pine stands in Chatham County. Our guide will be Mark Bost with the NC Division of Forest Resources. Directions to the site: Tour starts at the Jordan Lake Educational State Forest at 2832 Big Woods Road. For a map, go to www.ncesf.org/images/jlesf/jlesfdirmap.gif. If interested in attending, please RSVP to Gretchen Smith at gretchen_smith@bellsouth.net or call Mark Bost at 919-545-4499.

Tick Creek watershed meeting

Next Tick Creek watershed meeting:

May 26

1-3 pm

Chatham Agricultural Building, Pittsboro

weco project page

local leadership tours

The Friends of the Rocky River and the Rocky River Heritage Foundation are hosting tours of the watershed to help local officials learn more about the river.  Contact the organizations for more info.

Rocky River Leadership Tour

The Rocky River Heritage Foundation is hosting a Leadership Tour of the Rocky River, the nationally significant river Chatham can call its own.
From the headwaters downstream to U.S. Highway 15/501, you will see many interesting sights, such as the New Charles Turner Reservoir north of Siler city,
The old Woody’s Mill Dam and the Bear Creek Aquatic Habitat next door, The Dragonfly Riffles above and below the old Steel Bridge on Chatham Church Road.
You will also learn about the cultural history of the watershed.

The tour will last from 9:30 am to 12:30pm on April 24 and May 1, 2010. The April 24th tour is full but there are still a few openings for the May 1st tour. Please contact Kathleen Hundley silvaqua@windstream.net for more information.

Rocky River Conservation Workshop and Dinner May 4th

from the Triangle Land Conservancy

Hello,

You are invited to join Triangle Land Conservancy for a Rocky River Dinner and Conservation Workshop on May 4^th at Bestfood Cafeteria in Siler City from 6:00-8:00pm.  We will discuss the recently developed assessment as well as conservation opportunities for landowners interested in keeping their land available for farming, forestry, and or wildlife habitat.

More information can be found at http://www.triangleland.org/workshops/.

If you are interested in attending please register online by April 23^rd.  Also please feel free to send this announcement along to others who you think might be interested.

workshop brochure