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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JULY 1.2021
Grant spurs work to conserve rare Georgia plants
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Mayor’s Message - Building Community
Saturday, June 26, 2021, provided a perfect example of the meaning of building community. In the
downtown Stegall Drive area, a large group of community leaders volunteered their time, their money
and their labor to paint the street, put picnic tables together and prepare planters with gravel and soil.
All of that work was done to create a small area that will allow everyone to enjoy the beauty of down
town Jasper!
In these pictures, you may recognize community leaders Jack Dunn, Amy Leake, Dr. Sonny Proctor,
Folsom Proctor, Green Suttles, Paige Suttles, Anne Sneve, Kay Lawrence, Dr. Robert Keller, Kirk Raf-
field, Chris Leake, John Sneve, Amberle Godfrey, Mayor Steve Lawrence, Karen Proctor, Dave Gamer
and Daniel Briordy, Pendley Creek Brewing. Others participated but were not shown.
The picnic tables were sponsored by:
Community Bank of Pickens County-Two Tables • Pampered Chef, Donna McDonald
LC Taco Bar* WLJA 101.1 F • Designs on Main • Kirk Raffield, Jasper City Council
Rotary Club of Jasper
Large Planters were sponsored by:
Pickens County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center • Reinhardt University
Salon 84 • Windstream Communications, Inc
Small Planters donated by:
Jasper Drag Store • Sheryl Messner, CPA, PC. • Appalachian Grading and Excavation, Inc • Salon 84
Plants:
Ga Power and Renasant Bank are donating money for plants. Home Depot donated supplies and
paint. We appreciate Brad Stephens for donating the use of his track and gravel for the planters. A very
special Thank You to Dr. Robert Keller for partnering with the city in the cost of the safety bollards.
This partnership with the City of Jasper, Downtown Development Authority, Chamber of Commerce,
Economic Developer Green Suttles, Atlantic Coast Conservancy and other downtown merchants and
civic organizations represents the highest and best practices needed to build community!
- Steve, Lawrnwe,, Maypt City, Jabpefc
tions represented at multiple
gardens, some of which may
be new alliance members.
■Atlanta Botanical Garden
will use the leaf tissue to an
alyze the DNA and document
each population’s genetic di
versity - which can help de
termine hairy rattleweed’s
available resources for adapt
ing. The plan is to collect and
analyze three populations a
year, covering all 15 over the
grant period.
Then Thompson and part
ners will take some of the
plants grown in-house and
plant them in appropriate
habitat on protected lands. As
part of the grant, partners are
aiming to start two popula
tions in the wild.
DNR senior botanist Lisa
Kruse considers this the
crowning goal: “to not only
have populations protected at
the gardens, but to bring the
plant back in the wild and
have it thrive.”
“Hairy rattleweed is a re
ally unique part of Georgia’s
heritage, and it represents a
very unique ecosystem,”
Kruse added. “This project
will help us ensure that it
stays in Georgia’s land
scape.”
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tion of natural habitats, ex
perimentation and horticul
tural expertise to safeguard
imperiled plants,” Crase-
Sanders said. “Georgia is a
leader in identifying critical
habitat, imperiled species and
the conservation action
needed to preserve our pre
cious natural heritage in the
southeastern U.S., one of the
most botanically diverse
areas of our country.”
Safeguarding refers to a
complex practice that varies
from protecting a species’ ge
netic stock to propagating the
plants in a nursery and plant
ing them back in the wild.
Combined with protecting
and restoring habitats, safe
guarding is crucial to saving
populations of at-risk plants.
The roles for Atlanta
Botanical Garden, based in
Midtown, include providing
seed-banking expertise and
facilities, leading collections
for six of the target species,
and managing a statewide
safeguarding database.
President and CEO Mary
Pat Matheson said safeguard
ing imperiled plant species is
at the heart of the Atlanta gar
den's mission. “And support
for that strengthens the coor-
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Plant conservation in
Georgia just got a lot more
promising.
A partnership led by the
state Department of Natural
Resources has been awarded
nearly $780,000 to sample,
grow and save 14 imperiled
plant species. The federal
grant will also boost capacity
to preserve the plants at the
State Botanical Garden of
Georgia, Atlanta Botanical
Garden and the Chatta
hoochee Nature Center, while
spreading that expertise and
support to others in the na
tionally recognized Georgia
Plant Conservation Alliance.
DNR senior botanist Lisa
Kruse calls the impact “ex
pansive.” And that’s not only
for the targeted plants, which
vary from swamp pink to
hairy rattleweed and are all
federally listed as endangered
or threatened.
“The grant is going to for
tify (the Georgia alliance’s)
main partners and build the
diversity and number of
botanical gardens that can
help preserve rare plants,”
said Kruse, referring to the
network of 50-plus universi
ties, agencies, nonprofits and
companies that have com
bined their clout to conserve
plants.
Plants often play second
fiddle to efforts to recover
rare animal species. But
Georgia’s five-year project
landed the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Recovery
Challenge grant on the
strength of its plan to safe
guard the 14 plant species
and add Georgia Plant Con
servation Alliance members
who can do the work.
Jenny Cruse-Sanders, di
rector of the State Botanical
Garden of Georgia, said con
servation horticulture is the
cornerstone of the alliance,
which is coordinated at the
Athens garden, a part of the
University of Georgia.
“It takes careful observa-
Bent Tree Foundation
awards scholarship
to area students
By Debbie Davis & Mike
Moffitt
The Bent Tree Founda
tion, in partnership with the
Bent Tree Tennis and Golf
Community, awarded
$16,000 in scholarships this
year with funds raised
through a variety of success
ful fundraising efforts and the
many generous donations
from Bent Tree residents and
Pickens County community
supporters. Due to health and
safety issues that have con
tinued to affect everyone this
year, the Bent Tree Founda
tion Scholarship reception
was not held. Even though
the students were unable to
be officially recognized for
their awards, the Bent Tree
Foundation wishes to con
gratulate all of the scholar
ship recipients on their hard
work and dedication to their
educational aspirations and
goals.
Bent Tree Foundation
scholarships were awarded to
the following graduates of
Pickens High School:
Raven Holsenbeck, Ken-
nesaw State University;
David Gossett, Kennesaw
State University, funds do
nated by Nancy Davis in lov
ing memory of her husband,
Monte Davis; Breana
Brooks, Kennesaw State
University, funds donated by
Richard and Kathy Hall;
Brett Menard, Georgia
Tech, funds donated by Scott
and Dudley Price; Meredith
Klein, Kennesaw State Uni
versity, funds donated by the
Women’s 18 Holers Group;
Caroline Angelisanti, Uni
versity of Alabama, funds do
nated by the Sunday Golf &
Grins/Carol Carlsen;
Heather Vincent, Georgia
College & State University,
funds donated by the
Women’s Niners Golf Group;
Matthew Campbell, Uni
versity of North Georgia-
Oconee campus, funds do
nated by the “Nine Aces”
golf team/Dino Colston;
Brooke Bell, University of
Georgia; Reagan Harwood,
Berry College; and Tucker
Lowe, Truett-McConnell
College.
Two designated scholar
ship requiring attendance to
the University of North Geor
gia were awarded to Brooke
Quarles, sponsored and
funded by Martha B.
Stephens in honor of her sis
ter, Linda Brown August, a
former University of North
Georgia professor; Penelope
Hobgood, sponsored and
funded by Colin and Sheila
Thompson in honor of their
sons, Christopher C. Thomp
son and Stephen W. Thomp
son, both alumni of the
University of North Georgia.
The Bent Tree Tennis
Community, in partnership
with the Foundation,
awarded three scholarships to
the following students:
Chloe Imbriano, University
of North Georgia; Sarah
Parks, Georgia College &
State University; Madison
Schultz, Coe College.
The Bent Tree Foundation
was established in 2009 and
with its partners has awarded
over $238,000 in student schol
arships and teacher/school
grants to our Pickens County
students and schools. The Bent
Tree Foundation Board mem
bers would like to thank all of
the many volunteers and donors
who have made these awards
possible for the students ofPick
ens County. Those who wish to
join us in this endeavor or to
honor a loved one may do so by
going to our website, www.bent-
treefoundation.org. to find infor
mation on tax-deductible
donation opportunities. As al
ways, we continue to be grateful
for your past support as well as
seeking your future support to
further the Foundation s mission
regarding student scholarships
and teacher/school grants.
Photo/Pete Pattavina, USFWS
Fringed campion is another of the species that conser
vationists hope to not only save in the state’s botanical gar
den but also to increase populations in the wild.
dinated efforts of our South
eastern Center for Conserva
tion,” Matheson added.
“Those efforts, in turn, go a
long way toward educating
the public about threatened
species and the importance of
connecting people with
plants."
Work supported by the
grant has already begun.
Chattahoochee Nature Cen
ter, co-coordinator for the
project in northwest Georgia,
has collected tissue samples
from Morefield’s leather-
flower and Alabama leather-
flower. In Georgia, the
species are known from only
one site each. Sampled plants
have been tagged. Root cut
tings may be next. There are
also plans to collect seeds to
bank at Atlanta Botanical
Garden and grow at the na
ture center.
“Chattahoochee Nature
Center has been working to
preserve endangered Georgia
plant species for over three
decades, thanks in part to the
passion of our senior director
of operations, Henning von
Schmeling,” said DeAnn
Fordham, senior director of
development and marketing
at the Roswell center. “We
are honored to be a part of
this incredible endeavor and
partner with leaders in plant
conservation from across the
state.”
The focus on the grant’s
14 species is important, yet
the need to conserve plants is
great. Georgia has 443 plant
taxa - or group of related
plants - rated critically im
periled in the state; 83 of
those are imperiled globally.
Though often overlooked,
plants purify air and water,
provide raw materials and
stunning beauty, shape cul
tures and economies, prevent
erosion and play vital roles in
our heritage. Kruse noted,
too, that conserving plants in-
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Photo/Lisa Kruse, Georgia DNR
Canby’s dropwort is one of the 443 plant taxa - or group
of related plants - rated critically imperiled in the state in
Georgia; 83 of those are imperiled globally.
volves restoring natural habi
tats, which improves the out
look for animals “up and
down the food chain.”
■ The 14 targeted species
are listed as endangered or
threatened under the Endan
gered Species Act; 11 are
globally ranked imperiled to
critically imperiled. Plants:
Alabama leatherflower
(Clematis socialis); black-
spored quillwort (Isoetes
melanospora); Canby’s drop-
wort (Oxypolis canbyi);
Coosa (or Mohr’s) Barbara’s
buttons (Marshallia mohrii);
dwarf sumac (Rhus
michauxii); fringed campion
(Silene polypetala); hairy rat
tleweed (Baptisia arach-
nifera); mat-forming
quillwort (Isoetes tegetifor-
mans); Morefield’s leather-
flower (Clematis
morefieldii); pondberry (Lin-
dera melissifolia); smooth
purple coneflower (Echi
nacea laevigata); swamp pink
(Helonias bullata); Tennessee
yellow-eyed grass (Xyris ten-
nesseensis); Virginia spiraea
(Spirea virginiana)
population to capture the ge
netic details. The process in
volves strict protocols to
ensure plant populations are
not harmed.
Work with the material
collected will take two paths.
■The State Botanical Gar
den will grow plants from the
seed. The homegrown plants
and seeds will be shared with
other Georgia Plant Conser
vation Alliance gardens.
Over the five-year grant, the
hope is to have all 15 popula
Hairy Rattleweed:
How it works
Using hairy rattleweed as
an example, here is how the
grant-funded project will
work.
Hairy rattleweed is pine
flatwoods perennial that
sports cobweb-like hairs and
seed pods that rustle when
dry; thus, the name. The
species is federally listed as
endangered and found world
wide only in southeast Geor
gia’s Wayne and Brantley
counties. Also not good: Too
few of the plant’s 15 known
populations are protected.
To guarantee hairy rattle
weed survives, DNR ecolo
gist Jacob Thompson and the
State Botanical Garden of
Georgia will collect seeds
and leaf tissue from each
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