Natural Resources
MRATC Coordinator: Carol Broderson
Ongoing opportunities for learning about plants, going on wildflower hikes, and training to be a plant monitor are announced in MRATC newsletters. We welcome your participation.
The Mount Rogers ATC Club participates in the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s efforts to document rare plants using the National Park Service monitoring protocols and to identify threats to plant populations, with action taken as needed in coordination with the regional office. Interested members of the Club are trained in how to work with rare plant monitoring and may help on group outings or “adopt” a particular plant to monitor regularly. More than 80 rare globally rare species can be found on or near the Appalachian Trail, and within the Mount Rogers area that we monitor there are 20 rare species, including Great Indian Plantain, Blue Ridge St. John’s Wort, and Long Stalk Holly. See our gallery of plants linked below.
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If you’re interested in plants and would like to learn to help monitor, we’ll set up a training session at your convenience after you fill out our Volunteer Form!
Links
Gallery of Rare Plants and Brief descriptions in the MRATC section.
The Club also participates in the collection of data for the U.S.A. National Phenology Network.