Plans for SAMAB's annual Fall Conference were rounded out at the Executive Committee meeting July 11 in Chattanooga. The theme of the conference will be, "Assessing the Appalachian Landscape: Getting to Action Through Partnerships."
The conference will be held November 14-16 at the Radisson Hotel on Summit Hill Drive in Knoxville, Tennessee, across the street from the TVA headquarters.
A major objective of this year's Fall Conference will be to share the initial findings of the Southern Appalachian Assessment, scheduled for completion by the end of the calendar year. It will also hear reports on efforts to resolve environmental and economic issues in the region.
The Southern Appalachian Assessment is a cooperative effort of SAMAB members to assess the environmental and economic condition of the region. It has been called the most comprehensive assessment ever in the region.
"The Fall Conference is intended to be an educational event," Hubert Hinote, SAMAB Executive Director, said. "It is a working meeting of scientists, land managers, and the public to discuss regional issues."
A call for papers has been issued. Abstracts should be sent as soon as possible to Hinote at 1314 Cherokee Orchard Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. They can be faxed to (615) 436-5598.
The Executive Committee designated Hinote to head the command team directing preparations for the conference. Robert C. Boone of Chevron Corporation, a member of the SAMAB Foundation Board, will serve as co-chair. Charles Van Sickle, co-chair of the Executive Committee, and Briane Cole of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be in charge of planning and operations.
The chairpersons of SAMAB's committees will assist the command team, recruiting speakers and providing logistical help throughout the conference.
These adjustments in the planning structure for the Fall Conference became necessary when David Cawrse of the U.S. Forest Service, who was originally in charge of conference planning, resigned due to a job change.
Six representatives from SAMAB visited the Czech Republic June 4-11 for what proved to be a mutually valuable exchange of information about the management of Biosphere Reserves.
One important outcome of the visit was a formal agreement to exchange information on various environmental and economic development topics, including air pollution, environmental education, the inventory of cultural and historic resources, risk assessments, more public involvement in Biosphere Reserve activities, and resource monitoring.
Hubert Hinote, SAMAB Executive Director, said the Czechs were particularly interested in planning for resource sustainability and a pubic affairs program patterned after SAMAB's. SAMAB will provide technical assistant to the Czechs in developing materials such as videotapes and printed information packages for educating the public about Biosphere Reserves and their value to the community.
Others attending from SAMAB were Briane Cole, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Asheville, North Carolina, John Peine, researcher with the National Biological Service's cooperative studies unit at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Jim Ryan, retired chief of planning for the Blue Ridge Parkway, Charles Van Sickle associate director of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, and Eugene Cox, director of the Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Cole said the visit was structured like a workshop, with meetings held in the city of Krivoklat, a small town about 30 miles northwest of Prague. Twenty representatives of the Czech Republic attended.
Peine noted that the host Krivoklatsko Biosphere Reserve more closely follows the "classic" pattern envisioned by originators of the concept in that, unlike U.S. Biosphere Reserves, it incorporates nearby communities. He said the Czechs "have some very sophisticated programs in place that we could well use."
Peine added, "I think more people will support SAMAB as they learn what we are doing in the international context."
Ryan, a member of the SAMAB Public Affairs Committee, said he believes SAMAB "will benefit enormously" from the exchange.
The Czech Republic paid the in-country expenses of the SAMAB delegation.
The next Executive Committee meeting will be held August 29 at 9:30 a.m. at the new offices of the Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service in Asheville, North Carolina, at Highland Park just off Broadway.
The SAMAB Foundation Board met June 26 and took action to expand its membership. A special effort will be made to enlist representatives from education, the tourist industry, the forest products industry, private foundations, and other businesses.
Foundation President G. Robert Kerr said the aim is to create a better balanced and more diversified Board of Directors.
Four have already accepted invitations to join the Board. They are:
Paul Pritchard, president of the National Parks and Conservation Association, headquartered in Washington DC. This organization has 450,000 members.
Melinda Taylor, director of the Environmental Defense Fund, Raleigh, North Carolina. This is an environmental organization that among other things helped achieve a consensus on reauthorization of Superfund legislation.
James B. Coykendall, head of the planning commission for Pittman Center, Tennessee. This community has become a model for others seeking to maintain its cultural and historic identity in the face of tremendous pressures for tourism development.
Lynn Leopper, director of marketing of WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, which as a SAMAB cooperator produced several award-winning television shows fostering balanced development and environmental protection.
A reception is planned in September to greet all new members of the Foundation Board and to begin briefing them on current activities of SAMAB, including the Southern Appalachian Assessment.
In other actions, the Foundation Board voted to have Robert C. Boone of the Chevron Corporation serve as cochair of the sixth annual SAMAB Fall Conference. Boone is a member of the Foundation Board.
Cory Berish of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the Southern Appalachian Assessment is now in a very intensive period of activity as it moves toward completion by the close of 1995.
At the SAMAB Executive Committee meeting July 11, Berish said the assessment is on schedule. He cited two key issues for SAMAB to begin considering: (1) how best to get results of the assessment out to the public, and (2) how the assessment's Human Dimensions Team can best integrate all the information being gathered from the hundreds of assessment workers.
Berish provided copies of reports, including timelines, for each of the teams and subteams working on the assessment. These teams and subteams include Policy, Aquatic, Atmospheric, Forest Health, Plant and Animal, Forest Products, Human Dimensions, Recreation, and Roadless Areas/Wilderness.
A printed report of assessment results is expected to be published in January, 1996.
From the Executive Director
Can SAMAB Help Improve Small Streams? SAMAB has been asked to consider adopting a project to improve conditions in small streams in the region. It would be patterned somewhat after the "adopt-a-stream" program and would depend largely on the efforts of citizens whose property borders these small waterways.
The suggestion was made to SAMAB by William O. McLarney. McLarney directs a joint project to develop monitoring criteria for an Index of Biotic Integrity on 32 streams that feed into the Little Tennessee River.
McLarney said he has found that most of these streams are badly degraded and abused. But he adds that with better public awareness and some badly needed guidance, they could be cleaned up considerably. He suggests that SAMAB support this kind of program on other small streams in the region.
McLarney's suggestion, I believe, merits consideration. At the suggestion of the Executive Committee, I have referred this proposal to the Resource Management Committee and asked it to respond in time for the Executive Committee to consider it at its next meeting.
On other matters:
The Renew America organization has nominated SAMAB for an Environmental Sustainability Award. The Public Affairs Committee is responding to this.
The national MAB program has published a handsome brochure containing 12 case studies of U.S. Biosphere Reserves. SAMAB's Biosphere Reserves and TVA's Land Between the Lakes Biosphere Reserve are both included. Copies of the brochure were handed out at the Executive Committee meeting.
The Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) has published a brochure explaining its work in improving air quality in the region. SAMI, you may recall, was organized as an outgrowth of the 1991 SAMAB fall conference.
Terry Seyden, chairman of the Public Affairs Committee, will chair one of the sessions of the Appalachian Consortium meeting November 3-5 in Boone, North Carolina. Your executive director will be among the speakers.
Briane Adams of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who serves as chairman of SAMAB's Executive Committee, says his agency is evaluating its priorities in Southern Appalachia to support SAMAB agency needs as part of the agencies' management responsibilities."
A workshop was held in Atlanta June 22 for federal agencies to begin developing a list of information needs from USGS. Participants included representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, National Biological Service, Department of Energy, Corps of Engineers, TVA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Environmental Protection Agency.
The workshop's purpose was to define priorities and the kinds of information these agencies need from USGS. These needs were identified in various categories, including geology, hydrology, water quality, aquatic habitats, erosion potential, maps, etc.
Adams, Acting Program Officer for the USGS Southeastern Region and developer of the initiative, said work should be completed by September 1. Final draft proposals will be submitted to SAMAB for a final prioritization, based on the level of available funds. The proposals will then go forward to USGS national Headquarters.
If anyone has questions about this, Adams said they can call him at (404) 409-7700.
Hubert Hinote, Executive Director of SAMAB, said the USGS initiative will be most helpful to SAMAB. "No doubt other agencies, facing similar issues, can use the USGS procedure as a model for setting priorities and improving efficiency.
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