Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy

History. Art. And the Great Outdoors.

brent martin

May 21, 2023: The History of Franklinia Alatamaha at Winding Stair Nursery

Brent Martin of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy and co-owner of Alarka Expeditions will present The History of Franklinia Alatamaha or Franklin tree, so named after Benjamin Franklin. This event will be held at Winding Stair Nursery in Franklin, NC on Sunday, May 21st. The event starts at 2pm and is free to the public.

William Bartram collected the species in the 1770s and propagated it at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia. The rare species was extinct in the wild by the early 1800s due to cotton farming and the subsequent introduction of the waterborne disease, phytophthora. The species will no longer grow in its natural habitat but does very well here in southern Appalachia.

Martin will talk about his own success in propagating Franklinia, and there will be specimens available for purchase at the nursery. He will also discuss the other two rare members of the Theaceae family in North America, Stewartia ovata (our native Mountain Camellia) and Stewartia malacodendron (Silky Camellia, found on the coastal plain) and how to also grow them in our southern mountains.

Attendance is free, but please head over to the Winding Stair Farm and Nursery website to register to help with planning for this event: http://windingstairfarm.com/nursery/events/franklintree/

May 16, 2023: Highlands Plateau Audubon Society Birding Field Trip

On Tuesday May 16, 2023, Brent Martin will lead a birding field trip for the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society.

Folks joining this trip will meet at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park in Highlands at 7:30 AM to carpool to Jones Gap on the Bartram Trail. Jones Gap is just a short drive from Highlands and a very rich and diverse location with open rock vistas over Tessentee Valley. There are also wildlife fields that attract birds and other critters, making this an ideal place for spotting our feathered friends.

You can find additional information on the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society website – https://www.highlandsaudubonsociety.org/

All events are subject to change. Check the web page for any updates. Also expect Mountain Warbler Buzz email announcements ahead of the event. Binoculars are provided for the field trips if needed. Contact Brock Hutchins at brockhutchins@bellsouth.net if you have any questions.

Bartram Writers Series: Coming into Animal Presence – Q&A with John Lane

We’re excited to offer another installment of the Bartram Writers Series! Please join us for this book release discussion and Q&A with John Lane, hosted by Brent Martin. This event will be held at the historic Rickman Store in Cowee Valley on March 15th, from 6-8pm. Light refreshments will be provided. Copies of this book will be on sale at the event and John will be available to sign them.

Please RSVP below to help with planning and refreshments.

In his latest book, Coming into Animal Presence, John Lane continues his exploration of the intersection of the human imagination with the world of other animals in a companion volume to COYOTE SETTLES THE SOUTH (2016) and NEIGHBORHOOD HAWKS (2019). Each of these fifteen pieces–some more formal essays, some journalism, and some stories of Lane’s encounters with wild animals in wild places–explores the diversity and the mystery of what’s often been called “the more than human world.” In each piece there is always animal presence, sometimes central and sometimes peripheral. In one piece the Columbian mammoth comes back to trouble the contemporary political landscape of South Carolina. In another, he ponders the fate of a wing-shot goose finding a last refuge in the Lane family’s tiny frog pond. In another, Lane ventures into an abandoned Zimbabwean gold mine alone to check on the status of a common genet, a shy carnivore.

John Lane is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, including The Dead Father Poems. His latest, Anthropocene Blues, was released by Mercer University Press. His Abandoned Quarry: New and Selected Poems won the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Poetry Book of the Year prize in 2012. He was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2014. He co-founded the Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and teaches environmental studies at Wofford College there.

RSVP FORM

Reimagining the Bartram Trail Through Photography

Photography can help us see familiar and beloved places in a fresh new way. In the spirit of Bartram, we will explore how photography can be a powerful tool to awaken humility, wonder, and delight. Together we will deepen our connection with the natural world and our photographs so that our photographs can come alive with meaning and beauty.

This dynamic one-day workshop is co-facilitated by Susan Patrice and our own Executive Director, Brent Martin. Open to photographers of all levels (camera phones are welcome), even seasoned practitioners should find value in this unique approach to the medium. Participants will be offered the opportunity to have their photographs juried into the Listening to the Land: Reimagining the Bartram Trail community exhibition in Fall 2023.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer and contemplative artist. Her photography and public installations focus primarily on the Appalachian landscape and its people and feature intimate images that touch deeply into questions of place, belonging, and ecological personhood. She lives in Marshall, NC, where she is the director of Makers Circle and a co-founder of the Kinship Photography Collective.

March 25th, 10 am – 4 pm, Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center, Franklin NC

Please RSVP Below as this workshop is limited to 12 participants. Attendance to this workshop is based on a Sliding Scale Donation to support Kinship Photography Collective. Donations can be made the day of the event or by visiting Kinship’s website.

Explore more

Donate Volunteer Get Trail Maps