Arkansas Native Plant Society Spring Meeting 2014
May 2-4, 2014
Harrison, Arkansas
Featuring the Buffalo National River and vicinity

The town of Harrison, located in Boone County, is our base of operations for the spring meeting this year. We plan to visit the Buffalo National River, Baker Prairie Natural Area, and Sweden Creek Falls Natural Area during the weekend walks. Please plan to join us as we explore some of the most beautiful country in the Ozarks!

Harrison is located just north of the magnificent Buffalo National River, which flows for more than 150 miles through the Boston Mountains and the Springfield and Salem Plateaus. The park offers visitors opportunities to canoe and kayak beneath towering bluffs on the river as well as to explore caves, waterfalls, pioneer homesteads, and (most importantly) native wildflowers on more than 100 miles of hiking trails.

A stone’s throw from the Buffalo River, Sweden Creek Falls Natural Area features glades, dry woodlands, bluffs, and an 80-foot waterfall surrounded by mesic hardwood forest. Baker Prairie Natural Area, located in Harrison, is a 70 acre remnant tallgrass prairie on which a number of plant and animal species of conservation concern occur. Both sites are owned and managed by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (The Nature Conservancy also owns a portion of and co-manages Baker Prairie).

LODGING AND MEETING:

Quality Inn Hotel and Convention Center
1210 US 62/65 N, Harrison, AR, US, 72601
(870) 741-7676
www.qualityinn.com/hotel-harrison-arkansas-AR056

ANPS has reserved a block of 30 rooms at the Quality Inn in Harrison. The cost for each room is $76.49 + tax per night. This rate includes high-speed wireless internet and a breakfast buffet each morning. Please call (870) 741-7676 for reservations. Rooms will be held until April 18. Be sure to mention that you are attending the Arkansas Native Plant Society meeting when making the reservation.

Overflow hotel options include Holiday Inn Express – (870) 741-3636, Hampton Inn (870) 365-0505, Days Inn – (870) 391-3297, and Hotel Seville – (870) 741-2321. 

Meals: A potluck will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings. All other meals are on your own. A Walmart Supercenter is less than one mile north of the hotel, and there are a wide variety of full-service and fast food restaurants near the hotel.

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MEETING SCHEDULE
Friday, May 2, 2014
Quality Inn Convention Center  (adjoining the hotel)

4:00-7:00 pm – Registration, field trip signup, and potluck.

Registration is $5.00 (no preregistration is required). ANPS members are encouraged to bring snacks and munchies to share with the group. Drinks will be provided. Signup sheets for Saturday and Sunday field trips will be available.

ANPS SPRING 2014 Field Trip Schedule  This schedule is TENTATIVE.  Final trip times and leaders will be posted on Friday night.

7:00 pm – Evening program. Dr. Tamara Walkingstick, Associate Director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, is our invited speaker. The title of her talk will be announced at the meeting.

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Saturday, May 3, 2014
Morning

8:30 am – Morning walks, departing from the Quality Inn Hotel parking lot. 

12:00-1:30 pm – Pack your lunch and enjoy eating at one of the public access spots along the river, or buy lunch from one of the local restaurants or river outfitters in the area:

Lost Valley Canoe, Ponca – pre-packaged sandwiches and snacks (organic and gluten-free foods are also available)

Buffalo Outdoor Center Store, Ponca – homemade sandwiches on bread from Neighbor’s Mill, pizzas, and snacks

Low Gap Café – salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes in the old general store at Low Gap

Ozark Café, Jasper – operating continuously since 1909, this Jasper landmark has a soda fountain, an extensive menu, and a salad bar

1:30 pm – Afternoon walks.

Evening

5:00-7:00pm – Registration and potluck. Signup sheets for Sunday morning walks will be available.

7:00 pm – Evening program. Our invited speakers are two University of Arkansas, Fayetteville graduate students who received scholarships/grants from ANPS in 2013:

Eric Hearth, recipient of the Delzie Demaree Research Grant, is pursuing a Ph.D. in invasive botany under the supervision of Dr. Stephen L. Stephenson and Dr. Johnnie L. Gentry. Eric’s research involves examining the habitats of five target invasive species in Arkansas and West Virginia, as well as examining allelopathic effects they may have in the habitats they invade.  He will present the talk, “Examining the Habitat of Target Invasive Plants.”

Ty Murdoch, recipient of the Aileen McWilliam Scholarship, is pursuing a Master of Science degree under the direction of Dr. Cindy L. Sagers. Ty will talk to us about his research, “Transgene escape in Canola and hybridization with a naturalized species, Brassica rapa.”

Business Meeting to follow presentations.

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Sunday, May 4, 2014 

8:30 am – Morning walks, departing from the Quality Inn Hotel parking lot.

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ANPS T-Shirts:  Remember, T-Shirts are only available for sale at the Spring and Fall meetings.  Please do not ask to reserve one or that we mail you one.  We can’t.  For more information about the ANPS T-Shirts, click here. (See website under About)

If you have questions about the meeting, or need directions to the hotel and convention center, please email Jennifer Ogle at ranunculus73@gmail.com.