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

Roan Mountain Mohair

65% mohair, 35% fine wool

DK/Sport weight

Approximately 2 ounce/180 yard skeins

Natural color, no dyes

“Green Spun” / Organic Processing by Green Mountain Spinnery (http://www.spinnery.com/)

Our first batch of yarn is in route from the spinnery. Goat adopters and project volunteers get the biggest discount; ATC, SAHC,and Friends of Roan Mountain members also get discounts. Other folks probably

Herding Off Sept. 15th

Shepherds needed! The family vacation is ending, and we are in need of volunteers to assist for the journey home. If you are up for the herding of the goats off the mountain, join Todd Eastin and company at Carvers Gap at 9:00am. The hike out will only take about an hour, to meet up with the goats and lead them back to the trailhead. Helpers are also needed to help carry gear and equipment off the mountain.
questions? jjudkins@appalachiantrail.org

Guided Goat Hike

Guided Goat Hike - Roan Mountain Saturday, August 14 at 10:00 am

Free and open to the public!

Hike Leader: David Hall, Recipient of the 2009 Stan Murray Volunteer Award August 14 (Saturday) - Moderate 5 miles RT

If you missed the last Goat Hike, here is your chance to join SAHC for another grassy balds management/goat-viewing hike on beautiful Roan Mountain! Once again this summer, Jamey Donaldson, leader of the “Baa-tany Goat Project,” is rotating goats through test plots of vegetation on the high-elevation grassy balds of Roan Mountain. We will visit the goats and learn about their role in preserving the grassy balds. The hike will be around five miles of moderately steep terrain. Starts at 10:00am.

To learn more about the “Baa-tany Goat Project” visit:
http://friendsofroanmtn.org/goat%20project/goat%20project.html

Please bring sturdy hiking shoes, rain gear, backpack lunch, water, sunscreen and a camera.
RSVP by Friday, August 13th (5:00pm) to cheryl@appalachian.org or call (828) 253-0095, ext 209.Directions will be sent upon RSVP.

Information provided by:
Cheryl Fowler
Membership Director
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Land Trust Accreditation Commission Accredited
828-253-0095, ext. 209
34 Wall Street, Ste. 502
Asheville, NC 28801

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that works with individuals and local communities to conserve the clean water, unique plant and animal habitat, working farms and recreational treasures of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. In the last 36 years, the Conservancy and its 1,500 members have protected almost 50,000 acres, including key sites adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Highlands of Roan, and more than 3,000-acres of farmland in Sandy Mush near Asheville, NC.

A Very Busy First Month

It has been a hectic 1st month getting the goats settled in and keeping up with the paddock rotation and toting water while monitoring the assorted vegetation study plots. Our 1st surprise came when #211 gave birth to twins (a boy and a girl) the day before we herded the goats across the balds. Ansel and Audrey carried the twins across the balds while the mama goat followed, with occasional stops so the twins could nurse. Mama goat and her babies are doing fine. The little boy has been named (but not yet formally adopted) Gambol in memory of Hank Gamble who volunteered on Roan and elsewhere for many years. Hank was among the best of volunteers, he simply showed up, quietly helped with what was needed, and then often just as quietly slipped away when the work was done. I found out more about Hank’s life away from Roan from his obituary than from him directly.

Our 2nd surprise was during the herding across the balds. #902 veered off to the left while the herd veered to the right. She was last seen in the Rhododendron thicket on Round Bald.
Our 3rd surprise: Yet, being more like the Roadrunner than the Coyote, she showed up at the goat paddock 20 days later and about 1 mile from where she was last seen, apparently fine but obviously relieved to be back with the herd. She slept a lot the first couple of days after coming back.

We have help monitoring the rare Gray’s Lily this year. Joe, an undergraduate honor student at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is doing his senior thesis on Gray’s Lily. Joe has done the bulk of re-monitoring our 12 macro-plots (5 meter radius circular plots) as well as started the very first demography study (tracking the same individuals through time) on Roan Mountain. He plans to track the reproductive plants through this growing season. After the summer is over he will be analyzing the 3 year macro-plot data set as well as the demography study, with hopes of doing a meta-population analysis by including other researchers’ data sets. Sun hats off to Joe for helping get data on a rare plant that may well belong on the federal Endangered Species List.

#230 and her twins from this year are doing fine. #210 is the young billy (his horns are much stouter than his sister’s), and #310 is the young doe. They started out a bit shy, like all the other kids, but soon became more outgoing just like their mother and her twins from last year. The twins spend most of their time together yet never very far from their mother.
G-man, my buddy, is one of #230’s twins from 2009. He survived last year’s hypothermia adventure (read about it elsewhere on the blog) and is the most outgoing ambassador goat of the 2009 kids. He has a rakish twist to his right horn that stands out from the other goats.

Here is an Eastern Photo Point 55mm shot from July 20 (from Harriet Bald viewing west at Jane Bald with Round Bald in the background).

The Return

Walkabout Goat, #902, last seen June 23 on Round Bald in the Rhododendron thicket during the 3rd Annual Herding of the Goats Across the Balds, showed up yesterday afternoon, July 12, at the goat paddock and allowed herself to be let back in. She appears fine and rather relieved to be back with the herd. There had been no reported sightings of her during her ca. 1 trail-mile 20-day walkabout. Nice to have her back.

- The Shepherd