Roan Mountain Fall Naturalists Rally

63rd
ANNUAL

Roan Mountain
Fall Naturalists Rally
SEPT. 19 – SEPT. 21, 2025
Sponsored by

The Friends of Roan Mountain

Featured Speakers
FRIDAY EVENING PROGRAM:
“The Hidden Life of Trees” Jerry Faulkner

SATURDAY EVENING PROGRAM;

“Roan Mountain, History of an Appalachian Treasure” Jennifer Bauer

http://www.friendsofroanmtn.org

FRIDAY EVENING PROGRAM:
“The Hidden Life of Trees” Jerry L. Faulkner
Jerry L. Faulkner is a life-long Tennessee resident. He has Masters and Doctoral degrees in botany and ecology from
the University of Tennessee. After serving 28 years in the Tennessee community college system, he and his wife
Wanda retired to live full time in Townsend. He and Wanda are education resource volunteers in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, lead hikes during the annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, and are active in the
Tuckaleechee Garden Club and Maryville Rotary Club. Jerry and Wanda are members of Bethel Baptist Church.
SATURDAY AFTER LUNCH PROGRAM:
“Restoring Native Orchards for Wildlife & People” Cade Campbell
For millennia, an incredible diversity of native fruit trees have supported our resilient ecosystems in the Southern
Appalachian Mountains. Cade Campbell, M.S. student at Western Carolina University, will share the ecology and
cultivation of some once abundant, but now unconventional, native tree species that will not only feed you, but help
conserve our region's wildlife in the process.
SATURDAY EVENING PROGRAM:
“Roan Mountain, History of an Appalachian Treasure ” Jennifer Bauer
The highlands of the Roan have attracted people over time in addition to providing unique high elevation habitats
for specific species requiring these natural conditions. Tonight’s program will take us on a journey back to days of
early settlement to the present. Sharing stories and images that date back into the late 1800’s, during the Cloudland
Hotel era, we will be discussing and viewing images of the natural habitat, along with impacts created by people
through time. In addition, some of the most loved and uncommon specie unique to the Roan will be included

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

FRIDAY September 19: All activities take place at Roan Mountain State Park Conference Center.

5:30 PM REGISTRATION
6:30 PM BUFFET DINNER – requires PREPAID reservation by deadline of Tuesday, September 16

7:30 PM PROGRAM
“The Hidden Life of Trees” Jerry Faulkner

9:00 PM Night Walk (E, Kf) Cade Campbell

SATURDAY September 20: Field trips will carpool from the field adjacent to the cabin area entrance.

7:00-8:00 AM Moth Viewing (Meet at the conference center) (Kf) Larry McDaniel
8:30 AM FIELD TRIPS
1. Birds (E) Lee & Lois Herndon Chapter TOS

2. Beginning Birds (E) Lee & Lois Herndon Chapter

3. Wildflowers (E) Guy Mauldin

4. Useful Plants (E, Kf) Marty Silver

5. Mushrooms (E) Cindy Fowler & Ken Crouse

6. Spiders (E, Kf) T. J. Jones

7. Snakes (E, Kf) Philip Hylen

8. Stream Ecology (E, Kf, W) Gary Barrigar & Janet Brown

11:00 AM – 1:30 PM Conference Center activities:

1. Fossil Casting for All Ages (Kf) Mick Whitelaw, ETSU Dept. of Geology and Geoscience Club

2. Flint Knapping – Demonstration of ancient method of fashioning tools from stone. (Kf) Bob Estep
Lunch Time Slide Show Marty Silver

12:00 PM Lunch – Bag lunches at Conference Center by pre-paid reservation only (deadline Tues, Sept 16)
or you are welcome to bring your own lunch.
12:30 pm – Program
“Restoring Native Orchards for Wildlife & People” Cade Campbell

2:00 PM FIELD TRIPS:
1. Dynamic Forests (E/M, Kf ) Jerry Faulkner
2. Geology of Roan Mtn. (M) Mick Whitelaw

3. Wildlife Tracking (E, Kf) Marty Silver

4. Mosses & Liverworts (E) Jim Goldsmith

5. Salamanders (E, Kf) Jeremy Stout

6. Appalachian Cove Forest Exploration (E, Kf) Cade Campbell

7. Butterflies (E, Kf) Philip Hylen

5:45 PM Annual FORM membership meeting

6:30 PM BUFFET DINNER – at Roan Mtn. State Park Conference Center: requires PREPAID Reservation by
deadline of Tuesday, September 16
7:30 PM PROGRAM
“Roan Mountain, History of an Appalachian Treasure ” Jennifer Bauer

9:00 PM Night Walk (E, Kf) Cade Campbell

SUNDAY SEPT 21: Field trips will leave from the field adjacent to the cabin area entrance.

7:30-8:30 AM Moth Viewing (Meet at the conference center) (Kf) Larry McDaniel
9:00 AM FIELD TRIPS:
1. Birds (E) Lee & Lois Herndon Chapter TOS

2. Rare Plants of the Roan Highlands (E) Gary Kaufman
3. Salamanders (E, Kf, W) Dale Ledford

2:00 PM FIELD TRIPS:
1. Butterflies and Other Insects (E, Kf) Lance Jessee
2. Mushrooms (E) Coleman McCleneghan

KEY: E Easy
M Moderate
S Strenuous
Kf Kid-friendly
W May get wet