What do the American Chestnut Tree, Dr. Seuss, Aldo Leopold, Black Native American Heritage and a Chorus Frog Have in Common?

02/27/2014

Can you make the connection between a famous conservationist, spring amphibians, African American cultural heritage, an endangered tree, and story time for children? 

Jacksonville State University’s Environmental Policy and Information Center (EPIC) can! 

On Saturday, March 1, 2014, there are five different programs and activities being offered through EPIC. Four of these programs will be presented at the JSU Little River Canyon Center.

“We’ll be hitting on all cylinders,” said EPIC and Canyon Center Director Pete Conroy. He continued, “Once again, every room in our facility is booked for public activity including education, science and fun.” 

The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) will host a ceremonial planting of potentially blight-resistant American chestnut seedlings. These seedlings, called Restoration Chestnuts 1.0, are part of a unique breeding program to restore the American chestnut to the eastern forests of America. 

The Canyon Center Gift Shop will present Story Time from The Lorax where children can listen to the story, learn about conservation, make a craft and have a healthy snack.

JSU Field Schools and the Environmental Studies Center of Mobile will present an Aldo Leopold Project Teacher Workshop for twenty teachers funded by Legacy Partners in EE and the Environmental Education Association of Alabama.

National Park Service is showing Black Indians: An American Story which is a film narrated by James Earl Jones to commemorate African American History Month.

The fifth program is nocturnal and a little further south at the Frog Pond in Choccolocco Valley, where JSU Field Schools will host a Frog Pond Adventure near the Talladega National Forest and folks of all ages will learn to identify frogs and newts by their calls and appearance.

For more information about these programs please call 256-782-8010 or 256-845-3548.

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