The program for SAMAB's annual Fall Conference in Knoxville November 14-16 is nearly complete. It is expected to be one of the best meetings yet, with dozens of speakers covering a variety of topics.
Participants and others planning to attend are urged to make hotel reservations right away. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Knoxville Radisson Hotel. The phone number is (423) 522-2600. The FAX number is (423) 522-7200.
Rates are $54 single occupancy, $64 double, $74 triple, and $84 quad. Reservations received after October 13 will be provided only on a space-available basis.
Those planning to attend should fill in their registration forms as soon as possible. The registration fee is $50 until October 14 and $60 thereafter. The fee for students and retirees is $25 before October 14 and $35 thereafter.
Registration forms will be published in the next issue of the Southern Appalachian Assessment newsletter and also in the conference announcement which will be mailed by the end of September. If you fail to receive either of these, call the SAMAB office at (423) 436-1701. Please make registration checks payable to "SAMAB Foundation" and enclose with your registration form.
The theme of the Fall Conference is "Assessing the Appalachian Landscape: Getting to Action Through Partnerships." It will feature a report on the findings of the Southern Appalachian Assessment. The assessment, to be finished by January 1996, is a cooperative effort of SAMAB members to assess the environmental and economic condition of the region.
The overall purpose of the Fall Conference is to address policy and management implications of environmental and cultural issues affecting the region's ecosystems. As always, it will encourage an interagency, multidisciplinary approach to resolving issues related to environmental protection and development.
The program begins at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Details will be included in the printed program to be mailed to all those on SAMAB's mailing list. Meanwhile, here are some of the highlights of the Fall Conference:
Tuesday Morning, Nov. 14
A plenary session moderated by Karen Wade, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, who will also chair the entire morning program. Invited speakers include Bruce Babbitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, Dr. H. Ronald Pulliam, director of the National Biological Service, and Katie McGinty, who chairs the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
Presentations by Dr. Pete Roussopoulos, director of the Southern Forest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, and Dr. Bob O'Neill, senior scientist in the Environmental Science Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Tuesday Afternoon
A panel discussion on the integration of sustainable development into government policy. It will be chaired by Dr. Milton Russell, director of the Joint Institute for Energy and Environment at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Invited participants include Dave Crockett, Chattanooga City Commissioner; Hugh Morton, owner of Grandfather Mountain, a SAMAB Biosphere Reserve Unit, who also is chair of the North Carolina Year of the Mountains Initiative; and a representative of private industry.
A report on the Southern Appalachian Assessment led by Dr. Cory Berish, Chief Scientist of EPA Region IV, and Dr. Elizabeth Smith, ecologist with the TVA Environmental Research Center.
Wednesday, Nov. 15
A discussion of the National Assessment Program. Participants include Dr. Bob Bailey, program manager for Land Management Planning Systems of the USDA Forest Service; Kurt Ritters, project leader for the SAMAB landscape ecology project; Charles Van Sickle, associate director of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station in Asheville, North Carolina; and Gene Lessard of the USDA Forest Service, Executive Secretary of the National Assessment Program.
Concurrent sessions on the Southern Appalachian Assessment teams for air/water and terrestrial/people. These sessions continue in the afternoon.
Thursday, Nov. 15
Three workshops running until 1 p.m. will be conducted. Topics will be: the Chattooga River Ecosystem Classification program; introduction of the CD-ROM computerized data base from the Southern Appalachia Assessment; and an open discussion exploring the likely consequences of the Southern Appalachian Assessment.
Karl Hermann of the National Biological Service requests suggestions and assistance in planning the workshop on the CD-ROM data base, and also on the conference poster session of which he is in charge. You can call Karl in Norris, Tennessee, at (423) 632-1452, or on the internet by keying in the code, karl@utkux1.utk.edu. Or you can call the SAMAB office. In any case, please do so by October 13.
When you call the SAMAB office in Gatlinburg, you may hear a new voice on the line. Phillip Gibson has joined SAMAB as Environmental Planner and the Assistant to Hubert Hinote in the SAMAB headquarters.
Gibson, who has broad experience in ecological affairs, works directly with Executive Director Hubert Hinote. Hinote expressed appreciation to the Executive Committee for authorizing the position. "It's no longer a one-man show up here," he commented. "Phill has already demonstrated the initiative and ability needed to make this office operate more efficiently."
Gibson, 28, is a graduate of the University of Louisville, with a BA in political science. He attended graduate school at Southern Illinois University, pursuing a degree in Geography and Environmental Planning, and also taught a meteorology course while there.
A native of Cecilia, Kentucky, Gibson is no stranger to the region. He worked on a Man and Biosphere project at TVA's Land Between the Lakes as a research apprentice in 1991-92. He credits Dr. Tom Forsythe of TVA's Land Between the Lakes with sparking his interest in SAMAB.
Other previous experiences include the National Wildlife Federation (Washington, DC), the Ecological Society of America's Sustainable Biosphere Initiative (Washington, DC), Zabel Wastewater Filter, Inc. (Louisville, KY), and the Center for Sustainable Systems (Berea, KY).
The Blue Ridge Parkway celebrated its 60th anniversary, dating from start of construction, on September 10 with a mountain festival at Cumberland Knob that featured music, dancing, and speeches.
Two bands were on hand to provide the music for traditional mountain dancing. There were craft demonstrations and a parade of antique cars.
Author-lecturer Wilma Dykeman was the featured speaker. Parkway Superintendent Gary Everhardt also addressed the crowd
Public Affairs specialist Ina Parr coordinated planning for the celebration.
The National Biological Service (NBS) has published its first major report, entitled "Our Living Resources." It is a collection of nearly 200 articles on the distribution, abundance and health of biological resources across the country. The handsome publication is illustrated with colorful charts, graphs, and photos.
H. Ronald Pulliam, NBS director, announced the publication. "We have made a great effort to find contributors from a wide variety of sources including NBS, other federal and state agencies, academia, and nongovernmental organizations," Pulliam said. "This partnership style is and will remain a hallmark of how NBS conducts its scientific activities."
The 530-page report is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 20402. The document's stock number is #024-010-00708-7.
Comments on the report may be sent to: Michael J. Mac, Status and Trends Report Manager, Mailstop 3660-MIB, 1849 C. St NW, Washington DC 20240.
At its meeting in Asheville, the Executive Committee authorized Executive Director Hubert Hinote to write a letter supporting the U.S. Geological Survey's Critical Ecosystem Program for Southern Appalachia. The central objective of the USGS initiative is to provide scientific information as a basis for a better understanding of relationships between human-induced disturbances and habitat degradation.
The SAMAB Executive Committee will hold its next meeting Monday, November 13, at 1 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel on Summit Hill Drive in Knoxville. This is the day before the SAMAB Fall Conference opens.
Funding has been obtained to produce an education package on the black bear, it was announced at the Executive Committee meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, August 29.
Karen Wade, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reported this development. She spoke for Gene Cox, chairman of SAMAB's Environmental Education and Training Committee, who was unable to attend the meeting.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Conservation Association, the Natural History Association, and Friends of the Park have donated funds to produce the materials.
The package will include posters and signs for campgrounds. The objective is to educate park visitors and others on the dangers of contact with the wild bears. It provides tips on how to dispose of food and garbage and not attract the animals.
It is tremendously gratifying that recent reports by the Interagency Ecosystem Management Task Force and the President's Council on Sustainable Development both recognize the importance of the SAMAB Cooperative as a model for others.
Teams from both these organizations visited Southern Appalachia last year to gather information on ecosystem management. Their reports now confirm that they were impressed with the fine example of interagency cooperation found in SAMAB.
The Task Force report is entitled, "The Ecosystem Approach: Healthy Ecosystems and Sustainable Economies." Here are just a few of the things it says about SAMAB:
"The organization facilitates cooperation among federal, state, and local agencies. The vision for the region is stated in general terms - the achievement of a sustainable balance between the conservation of biological diversity, compatible economic uses, and cultural values across the Southern Appalachians. [SAMAB] intends to achieve this balance by collaborating with stakeholders through information gathering and sharing, integrated assessments, and demonstration projects aimed at solving critical regional issues."
The report cites examples of what works and what does not, and commends SAMAB for its "extensive public education and outreach program that uses different media to reach diverse publics." It adds:
"Because of its nonpartisan reputation, the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere program can bring to the table groups that had not participated previously."
In another section, the report notes:
"[SAMAB], although containing federal agency partners, has developed an identity separate from the agencies. This gives the Cooperative a unique ability to forge cooperation in all aspects of science and information dissemination. Many interviewees viewed the Cooperative as a resource and facilitator. Individual management agencies might, by contrast, be viewed as a threat. The Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Cooperative has become an accepted translator of technology. It facilitates science by increasing awareness among agencies of other agencies' missions and functions. It also helps eliminate duplication of effort ... "
The report from the President's Council on Sustainable Development does not specifically mention SAMAB or other agencies. But it lists 10 national goals to put the country on a path toward sustainable development. All of the goals fit within the SAMAB mission. Notable in this regard are the goals of achieving a healthy environment, economic prosperity, sustainable communities, and civic engagement.
The report identifies five themes for sustainable development and related policy topics, and these too fit our model.
All of this demonstrates that SAMAB is a recognized model for interagency cooperation and that it gets results.
*** On other matters:
A presentation about SAMAB is on the agenda for a conference at Appalachian State University that is sponsored by the Appalachian Consortium. The conference will focus on North Carolina's "Year of the Mountains" initiative.
The national Man and Biosphere program has increased funding for its Biosphere Reserve Directorate, which I chair. The additional funding will support publication of a MAB brochure and a small grants program to assist Biosphere Reserve Units across the country. For details, watch for the next issue of the U.S. MAB Bulletin.
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