Goat Sitters Needed!!

Hello there! We have two weekends still available for goat sitting and need to fill them ASAP! Please contact Jamey Donaldson, tnplanthunter@yahoo.com, and/or Julie Judkins, jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org if you are interested in the weekends listed below:

August 26-28
September 9-11

Thank you for your support!

Goat Sitting Opportunities!

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up for a weekend of goat sitting this summer! At this point, all weekends but two have been spoken for (see above) but we will still need folks in the fall for some Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays. Please contact Julie, jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org or Jamey, http://www.blogger.com/tnplanthunter@yahoo.com if you are interested in weekday dates during the fall. Again, thank you all for your support!

2011 Goat Sitting Schedule- Updated 5/14

Below is the 2011 Goatherd Schedule. We still have some weekend dates available! Please contact Julie Judkins at jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org or Jamey Donaldson at http://www.blogger.com/tnplanthunter@yahoo.com

if you are interested. Once all the weekends are full we will begin scheduling for weekdays during August and September. Thank you so much for your support!

2011 Weekend Goatherd Schedule
June 24-26- Closed
July 1-3 Closed
July 8-10 Closed
July 15-17 Closed
July 22-24 Closed
July 29-31 Closed
August 5-7 Closed
August 12-14 Closed
August 19-21 Closed
August 26-28 Open
September 2-4 Closed
September 9-11 Open

Other 2011 Dates:
June 12: Begin Packing in Equipment
June 17: Goats go into seed-free food quarantine
June 22: 4th Annual Herding of the Goats onto the Balds

4th Annual Herding of the Goats OFF the Balds (Wednesdays):
September 14: probable date
September 21: may stay an extra week if weather is favorable

"Nash"- Appalachian Mountain Photography Exhibition

"Nash" has a smile that everyone loves! Recently at the Appalachian Mountain Photography Exhibition at Appalachian State, this photo of "Nash", by Jeffrey Stoner Photography, won best image in the flora/fauna category. What a great shot!

Jeffrey Stoner

Fine Art Photography

406 Laurelwood Drive
Kingsport, TN 37660 USA

(423) 367-5850

Jeffrey@JeffreyStonerPhotography.Com

http://www.JeffreyStonerPhotography.com

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your support of the Baa-tany Goat Project on Roan Mountain , NC /TN. The goats and their goatherd really appreciate your interest and kind support of this ongoing project. Great progress has been made to stop the spread of the Canada blackberry, and other non-native plants.

Jamey, the goatherd and director of the project, expects to be working with the goats & now 2 great Pyrenees dogs, for at least another 2-5 years. If you are able to support this project, the goats will be happy.

Go to friendsofroanmtn.org, click on "Home", go below the notation for "check us out on facebook" to the bottom of the page, click on Baa-tany Goat Project for the form, and my address.

Joyous Spring to you,

Anne

Save the Grassy Balds and Adopt a Goat

BAA-TANY GOAT PROJECT ADOPT A GOAT

Help Save the Grassy Balds & Give a Goat a Retirement Plan – In 2008, Trudy, a goat owner in northern Virginia, donated 19 goats because she wanted to give them a retirement plan rather than send them to the meat market. These goats are dedicated for ecological restoration work and we will have to provide for them for the rest of their natural lives (it applies to the other goats also).

Working Vacation – goats will work for food and they love blackberries.

PROJECT SUMMARY: The purpose of the volunteer-based Baa-tany Goat Project is to restore Grassy Bald corridors on Roan’s western balds using goats as an experimental management tool. Browsing rotation and vegetation sampling protocols are being developed that can hopefully be applied elsewhere.

Roan’s Grassy Balds are important habitats for many rare and endemic species such as Gray’s Lily as well as species at or near the southern ends of their ranges. The western balds are thought to be natural (predating European settlement). These ecosystems have declined in quality and quantity and immediate actions are needed to halt and reverse this trend.

The project area (about 79 acres) is within the Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests along about 1 mile of the Appalachian Trail corridor from Jane Bald to Grassy Ridge.

OBJECTIVES & METHODS: Goats will selectively browse the invading woody plants rather than herbs. Canada Blackberry is the main target.

Angora goats (a fiber rather than a meat goat) are being used. They are more tolerant of these high elevation conditions (5700-6100ft). They will be sheared, treated for parasites, confined, and fed a seed-free food to flush their guts of unwanted and potentially invasive plant seeds prior to being moved to the project area. Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs are their protectors.

0.5 – 1+ acre moveable paddocks will be set up using solar-powered fencing. Browse levels will be monitored and the goats moved into the next paddock once they have achieved the desired results. Water will be carried by hand to the paddocks thus protecting sensitive wetland habitat. Volunteers will be onsite most of the time which will provide better browse level monitoring as well as additional protection for the goats.

At the end of the summer the goats will be going back to their home pasture in Shady Valley, TN, with the hopes that they will be back on Roan’s Grassy Balds in future years.

An intensive VEGETATION STUDY is part of the project. This will allow us to:

A. Assess the effectiveness of using goats for Grassy Bald restoration,

B. Analyze data and distribute reports as well as make comparisons in vegetation changes over 20+ and 70+ year time spans,

C. Determine effects on the rare Gray’s Lily.

FUNDING: This is a volunteer-based project. In 2008 & 2009, we received a grant from the North Carolina Appalachian Trail License Plate Fund that paid for travel expenses and some equipment and supply needs. An anonymous donor also made significant contributions to the project. However, additional funds are needed for a proper and thorough multi-year implementation and evaluation of this project.

PARTICIPANTS: This is a collaborative project involving several agencies and organizations that have made “in kind” contributions to the project. However, most of

their contributions are in planning rather than funding for field implementation. Participants include:

Appalachian Trail Conservancy USDA Forest Service Friends of Roan Mountain US Fish & Wildlife Service North Carolina Natural Heritage Program Tennessee Division of Natural Areas Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club The Nature Conservancy

Appalachian State University East Tennessee State University Wake Forest University

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Please consider joining our GRASSY BALD RESTORATION MEMBERS’ COOPERATIVE by adopting a goat. This money will be dedicated for losses (possibly vandalism & / or “Acts of God”), excess expenses, and data management (reports, data entry, data analysis) during this third year. Follow- up vegetation sampling will be needed whether or not the goats are back on the mountain (but of course we hope they will be back on the mountain but that will depend on funding).

Consider giving an Adopted Baa-tany Goat to the Nature Lover in your life.

WHAT YOU GET IF YOU ADOPT A GOAT:

1. An adoption certificate, lock of mohair, and picture of your goat letting you know how much it likes the blackberries and spending time in the Grassy Balds,

2. The chance to name your adopted goat (the goats only have numbered ear tags right now),

3. The satisfaction of knowing you are helping save a unique ecosystem by helping us further develop and refine a model protocol for using goats in Grassy Bald restoration.

COST: For 2011, we are planning on a 3 or 4 month field season (June to September). You may adopt a goat for 1 month, the entire 2011 summer season, and / or for the 2012 summer season (or longer).

$20 per month; $50 for the 2010 summer; $50 for the 2011 summer.

If you cannot Adopt a Goat (or perhaps in addition to Adopting a Goat), then please consider volunteering your time and energy with onsite work such as:

1. Helping carry equipment to the project area and setting up paddocks (>1 mile from Carvers Gap),

2. Being a goat sitter for a weekend or two; we encourage low impact Leave No Trace (www.LNT.org) camping for 24 hour onsite protection of the goats,

3. Helping carry water from the nearby springs to the goat paddock, etc.

We will provide information and training for all volunteers participating in the onsite implementation of the project.

Thank you for considering being part of this project.

Jamey Donaldson, Project Leader & Goatherd Todd Eastin, Chief Coordinator of Caprine Conservationists

This is a tax deductible contribution, please make checks payable to the Friends of Roan Mountain and note on the check that it is for the Roan Goat Project:

Friends of Roan Mountain Anne Whittemore 208 Mark Drive Johnson City, TN 37615

For more information about this project, Friends of Roan Mountain, and the Appalachian Trail, please contact:

www.FriendsofRoanMtn.org and / or jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org 828-254-3708 www.appalachiantrail.org