An article by Karen Chávez in the June 1 Asheville Citizen-Times about the May 31 Hall Mountain Celebration, the history of the important tract and the collaborative project undertaken by LTLT, The Wilderness Society and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to return ownership of the tract to the Tribe. Read the full article.

Press Release:

A partnership of organizations is seeking volunteers for the fourth year of a volunteer breeding bird monitoring and education program that will be conducted this spring and early summer at two early successional habitat sites along the Little Tennessee River.

From May to August, Southern Appalachian Raptor Research (SARR) will conduct eight monitoring samples at LTLT’s Tessentee Bottomland Preserve and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians’ (EBCI) Cowee Mound property. Volunteers are needed to assist in any aspect of the survey work during any of the survey dates. No experience is necessary and volunteers will receive training and supervision from SARR field staff. Interested adults and adults with curious children are very welcome to participate!

The program is a partnership between the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT), SARR, and the Fisheries and Wildlife Management program of the EBCI. Funding is provided by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation’s Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources (RTCAR) initiative.

The monitoring work is based on the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) protocol. MAPS is a nationwide program coordinated by the Institute for Bird Populations in Point Reyes, California. The MAPS program includes a continent-wide network of over 500 mist netting stations and is designed to monitor productivity, survivorship, and population trends of breeding birds throughout North America. Analyses of the resulting banding data provide critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of North American landbird populations, and the factors responsible for changes in their populations.

The first sampling date is May 18^th at the Tessentee Bottomland Preserve. For a calendar of sampling dates, please visit http://bigbaldbanding.org/calendar/. For further information, please contact [email protected] or call (828) 736-1217.