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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS - MAY 28, 2008 - PAGE 3B
Outdoors
Mountain Bog Restoration Sheds Light On Rare Habitat, Species
In the early-1990s, some con
servation-minded folks had a
vision to protect and restore
one of the last remaining
mountain bogs in Georgia.
The bog was small then; you
might miss it if you weren’t
looking for it. Although about
the size of a dining room
table, this remote place had
something that made it unique:
the last native population
of mountain purple pitcher
plants in the state. Restoring
the bog would become a
20-year effort.
The early days were a learn
ing period for many with
mistakes and successes, but
ultimately the bog began to
flourish again.
On a recent day, about 10
dedicated plant conservation
ists, most from the Georgia
Plant Conservation Alliance,
headed out with loppers and
chain saws to continue the
hard work of restoring the
bog. Geared in boots and
thick gloves, they are ready
for the swamp.
After a rocky ride up the
mountain, bouncing in and
out of mud-filled ruts, the
group unloads to complete
the remaining one-mile trek
on foot.
Carrying packs, water and
tools, members start the
climb.
As they approach the bog,
the sense of anticipation and
excitement is palpable. Quiet
conversation turns to chatter.
The last few hundred yards
veer off the main trail and
the voices grow louder as one
by one the workers climb,
shimmy and clamber through
a jungle of tangled tree-sized
rhododendron branches. It is
almost as if the bog has sealed
itself off from the world.
Within 100 yards, however,
the tangled branches give way
to a clearing.
The group gathers to divvy
up the work. Much needs to
be done and time is short.
Jennifer Ceska of the State
Botanical Garden of Georgia
sets up a GPS unit to take mea
surements from the perimeters
of the original bog and the
restored area. Until recently
this was done by hand. Ceska
consults page after page of
hand-drawn maps to get her
bearings. She explains excit
edly that they have never
delineated the areas with GPS,
and that the expansion of suit
able habitat has been difficult
to measure.
Now with computer models
created from the GPS data,
they can accurately determine
the true impact of the restora
tion work.
David Vincent and Mike
Brod of the U.S. Forest Service
head into the wall of rhodo
dendron with chain saws.
A loud buzz fills the air
as they begin expanding the
clearing. Volunteers from the
Atlanta Botanical Garden,
the Department of Natural
Resources and the State
Botanical Garden don gloves,
grab loppers and follow the
chain saws at a safe distance.
These “swampers” are
responsible for hauling away
the piles of branches and
sticks as they come down.
Mountain bogs are one of
the most critically endan
gered habitats in the south
ern Appalachians. Typically
between a half-acre to 5 acres,
they are associated with seeps,
springs or small creeks, and
provide critical habitat for
the federally threatened bog
turtle and swamp pink, two of
Georgia’s most rare species.
Restoration involves not only
clearing sites but also finding
and taking careful inventory
of potential bogs, safeguard
ing the seeds of rare plants
and monitoring restored sites
for rare species such as the
pitcherplant. Mountain bog
restoration is listed as a high-
priority action in Georgia’s
State Wildlife Action Plan, a
blueprint for conservation.
“See this?” asks Ceska as she
proudly steps on a patch of
fuzzy-looking, spongy ground.
“That’s sphagnum moss! You
may have a wetland, but if you
have sphagnum moss, then
you have a bog.”
Sphagnum mosses are deep
green, red and yellow moss
species that are the prime
indicator species of pitcher-
plant bog habitat.
Pitcherplants can live for
more than 100 years. Although
old, the original surviving
pitcherplants of this bog have
never flowered, lying dormant
in the shade with little if any
natural light due to the con
tinued encroachment by hard
woods and rhododendron. But
in 1998, after much hard work,
the pitcherplants in one area
of the bog flowered again.
And in 2002, the first seed
lings were found, the hall
mark of habitat restoration
success.
Workers hope to encourage
other pitcherplants in the bog
to do the same thing by releas
ing them from their dark rho
dodendron cover.
Opening the bog up is slow
work. It must be. Too much
too soon and the bog would
flood without the thick trees
sucking up the excess ground-
water that seeps from a natu
ral spring. But since the resto
ration work began in 1995, the
bog has more than doubled
in size.
As the day draws to a close,
the buzz of the chain saws
halts and the workers begin
to pack their belongings for
the hike back to the vehi
cles. They leave the bog full
of hope that the quarter-acre
they cleared will have a last
ing impact on the recovery of
this important site. Plans are
made to return next month
for another workday.
As the last of the weary
workers leaves, the sun
breaks through the clouds and
spreads warm light across the
bog’s pitcherplants, shadowed
in darkness no more.
Bear Sighting Reminders
A black bear sighting in
Roswell recently sparked con
cern among local residents.
The sighting, though a seem
ingly rare experience for metro
Atlantans, comes as no sur
prise given that seasonal bear
activity is increasing.
This time of year, young male
bears are roaming and often
stumbling into what’s con
sidered non-traditional bear
range, including urbanized
areas and suburbs.
When most people think
bears, they immediately think
mountains. Yet, a black bear
sighting in an urban area, espe
cially during the springtime,
isn’t altogether unusual. That’s
because during the spring and
summer, young male bears on
their own for the first time are
experiencing territorial com
petition with other adult male
bears. Adult males typically
force these young males out
of familiar and traditional bear
range-territory.
As a result, young males con
tinue to roam as they try to
establish their own territory,
which sometimes temporar
ily leads them into neighbor
hoods or other more heavily
populated urban areas.
In an effort to curb the
instinctive alarm residents
in these areas may experi
ence when a bear is sighted,
Georgia Department of Natural
Resources’ Wildlife Resources
Division (WRD) biologists
want to inform residents of the
increased possibility of black
bear sightings this spring and
summer and educate them on
how best to react.
“If a black bear is sighted pass
ing through an area, the best
thing to do is to leave it alone,”
said Adam Hammond, WRD
wildlife biologist. “Residents
should never approach a bear
and never, under any circum
stances, feed a bear. Even
worse, attempting to ‘tree’ or
corner a bear in a certain area
often compromises both the
safety and welfare of the bear
and the safety of the residents
in the surrounding area.”
If left alone, these young
male bears, often referred to
as ‘transient’ bears, will eventu
ally make their way back to tra
ditional bear range. Traditional
bear range in Georgia is
defined as three areas - the
north Georgia mountains, the
Ocmulgee River drainage sys
tem in central Georgia and
the Okefenokee Swamp in the
southeast.
It is possible that residents
in north Georgia may see even
more bears as WRD biologists
in this part of the state receive
numerous reports of bear
sightings, indicating that this
portion of the bear population
is healthy and may be experi
encing range expansion.
“Unless there is evidence of
aggressive behavior, or if a
bear is continually getting into
garbage or other non-natural
food sources (i.e. birdseed,
compost piles, grills and pet
food), there’s no real cause for
alarm,” Hammond said.
While there’s no way to pre
vent a young male bear from
wandering into a neighbor
hood, there are a few things
people can do to prevent the
bear from taking up residence.
The following tips are recom
mended to help lessen human-
bear conflicts:
•Never, under any circum
stances, feed a bear. Such
activity is unlawful.
•Keep items, such as grills,
pet food or bird feeders off-
limits to bears. Clean and store
grills when not in use. Keep
pet food indoors and take bird
feeders down if bears are in
the area.
•Convert to ‘bear-proof’ gar
bage containers, or store gar
bage in the garage or other
enclosed area until pick-up
day.
For more information regard
ing black bears, visit www.
georgiawildlife.com or contact
a WRD Game Management
office. The public also can visit
their local library to check out a
copy of an informational DVD
entitled, “Where Bears Belong:
Black Bears in Georgia.”
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