Dear Friends,
When your 40th wedding anniversary and a similarly monumental birthday fall in one month, it brings your daughter home from Colorado. That's what happened in July at our house.
For nearly two weeks we rode bikes, kayaked, swam, walked the dogs along the ever-changing shoreline at Gould's Inlet, dipped in to look at old gravestones in Gould's Cemetery, stood staring in awe at John's Tree and the marsh along the John Gilbert Nature Trail, weeded the herb garden, re-staked the tomatoes, admired the new potting bench our friend Doug built for me, cooked together, ate, talked, laughed, hugged, and squabbled. It was wonderful -- the best ten days of the past year and a half.
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It was also a reminder of why we love this island and why I'm honored to be involved in land conservation on St. Simons. The dunes that the Land Trust is helping to protect near Gould's Inlet are where this same daughter, now in her early thirties, collected shells and crabs as a child. The wide, tide-hardened beaches are where she learned to ride her bike, dug her toes in the surf for sand dollars that later decorated the Christmas tree, and sold summer lemonade from a Red Racer wagon with her cousins. Having lived in New York, New Orleans, New Mexico, Europe, Nashville, the Big Bend desert of SW Texas, and now Colorado, our peripatetic singer/songwriter/musician daughter has -- when all is said and sung -- moss in her hair and salt air in her lungs.
This island and the north Georgia mountains are where she fell passionately in love with nature, where she became a dedicated environmentalist. She and her husband are headed back to the coast in October, having had enough of winters in the Rockies, partly to be near not-so-young parents, but mainly to be part of this community and be part of, as she says, "the solution." She wants to protect and preserve this sacred land as much as I.
She probably won't be in Georgia forever, or maybe even for long. Just like in that old song she used to cover, "Goodnight, Irene" by Lead Belly, wanderlust is part of her soul and I would never be foolish enough to ask her to "stop rambling." For now, it's enough that she's coming home. And for that I owe a great debt to St. Simons. Thank you!
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Emily Ellison
Executive Director
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NEW DATE
OYSTER ROAST 2022
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Photo by Chris Moncus Photography |
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Please update your calendars and save the date of
January 22, 2022
for the Land Trust's annual
Oyster Roast!
As business and organizations begin planning their fall and winter events, we have done our best to schedule this much-loved event on a date that does not conflict with any other major community activities. We are all learning that the concerns of 2020 may not be completely behind us and that monitoring the pandemic is an ever-evolving process. But this final date is solidly set in the sands of Gascoigne Bluff, and we're looking forward to once again gathering for a magical night along the river and under the stars.
Details regarding ticket sales, entertainment, and menu items will be provided over the coming months. But in the meantime, please ink in your calendars for January 22, and
get your shucking knives ready!
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And speaking of COVID and navigating changes in health and safety protocols, we wanted you to know that WE'RE ON IT! Although we do not at this time anticipate another closure at Cannon's Point Preserve, we are being proactive and daily monitoring the CDC website, local health departments, and staying abreast of what is being advised by leadership of the Glynn County Schools.
Before making plans to visit Cannon's Point Preserve and other local hiking and biking venues, please be sure to check in with hosting agencies and confirm that all properties are open to the public. |
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Pouli Sikelianos, Brianne Innusa, and Caleb Redick
at Cannon's Point Preserve
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Purdue University graduate student Brianne Innusa, along with Caleb Redick (also from Purdue University) and Pouli Sikelianos (New Mexico State University), spent one week at Cannon’s Point Preserve in July working on maritime forest restoration. The group worked in phase 5 of this groundbreaking research collecting important data including vegetation cover and removing dense vegetation from around 700 planted live oak seedlings, and collecting leaves for a foliar nutrient analysis. The hardy individuals (trees and researchers) endured southeast Georgia’s natural environment including biting insects, heat and humidity.
“I love this weather! I wanted my research to involve coastal climates and live oaks,
so this is great.”
--Brianne Innusa, Purdue University
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We all look forward to the next few years of working with Brianne and her dedication and enthusiasm for this important research. |
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Education Task Force members Gene Keferl, Stacia Hendricks, Steve Kipp, and Adam Mackinnon
Not pictured: Preserve Manager Stephanie Knox
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The Cannons' Point Preserve Education Task Force met earlier this week and among other topics, the group discussed ways to make the Preserve more interactive for visitors of all ages. Stay tuned for more information!
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A note from the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources
The Georgia DNR is on the lookout for a mysterious illness that is killing backyard birds across the Mid-Atlantic and in parts of the Southeast. And you can help!
The disease has not yet been documented in Georgia, so the DNR is not recommending taking bird feeders down. However, the agency continues to strongly recommend that people regularly clean bird feeders and bird baths and maintain safe and healthy feeding areas.
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Adult blue jay
Photo by Todd Schneider/DNR
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Marcie and Dave Kerstetter have been volunteers with the Land Trust for the past seven years. They give their time to both the annual Oyster Roast as well as educating locals and visitors by serving as Docents at Cannon's Point Preserve. They were awarded with the Land Trust's Top Volunteers status in 2020.
The Kerstetters relocated to Georgia in 2014 from Bedford, Pennsylvania, where Dave was a pediatrician and Marcie was a registered nurse. During those years, working together in the same medical practice and raising their family, they often vacationed on St. Simons with their children. They were drawn to the island for its beauty, live oaks, Spanish moss, marshes, beaches, and its fascinating history and culture.
"Thankfully the Land Trust was created to preserve all of these wonderful assets of our island. [We] feel strongly that green spaces need to be preserved and not overrun with high density building . . . [We] hope to continue supporting the mission of the Land Trust
for many years to come."
--Marcie and Dave Kerstetter
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Land Trust Ambassadors Justin Callaway (middle) and Haley Watkins (right) with Kids Port Museum board member Kaitlin Carpenter
at First Friday activities in Brunswick
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Land Trust Ambassadors Justin Callaway and Haley Watkins were recently featured in the July issue of Elegant Island Living for their participation in Downtown Brunswick's "First Friday" activities in May.
Using the Land Trust's Passport to Preservation (that they helped to envision and create in their work as Ambassadors), Justin and Haley educated children and adults about the importance of coastal conservation on Georgia's barrier islands. Thank you to Elegant Island Living -- a Pennies for Preservation partner and Land Trust 2021 Sponsor -- for the feature on these great folks!
To become a member of the dedicated family of SSLT Volunteers, please sign up HERE or email Marty Moody at mmoody@sslt.org. |
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Our friends and partners at Our Daily Planet recently shared a new study indicating that nearly half of the nation's salt marshes are at risk of being destroyed by sea-level rise.
More than ever before, as sea levels continue to rise, the Land Trust is grateful for the stunning and environmentally beneficial living shoreline at Cannon's Point Preserve.
This project was recently featured by the local online news organization The Current. Among other aspects of preserving shorelines and marshlands, the article included information on how living shorelines have proven to be resilient buffers against the effects of storm surge and rising sea levels and that they help increase the abundance, health, and diversity of coastal plant and animal species.
Photo by Eliot VanOtteren
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Did you know that Spanish moss offers refuge to a wide variety of coastal Georgia species such as birds, lizards, snakes and insects? Clumps of the plant offer ready-made nests for many birds, while other bird species pluck strands of Spanish moss to line or camouflage their nests.
Although many people believe Spanish moss to be parasitic, we're happy to report that it is actually an epiphyte - a plant that grows on another plant - and absorbs nutrients and water through its own leaves from the air and rainfall. The only time Spanish moss may become harmful to a host tree is when it gets too thick and blocks sunlight from reaching leaves. Thankfully, naturally occurring wind and storms help with this issue.
So, the next time you consider removing this plant from the native oaks, pines, and other trees in your yard, keep in mind how ecologically important it actually is to coastal birds, reptiles, and pollinators. Instead, look up and enjoy the graceful way the moss moves each time ocean breezes blow.
Photo by John Krivec Photography
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Member John Keller
with Ms. Elsie Lou
Southern Adirondacks
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Member and Volunteer
Bob Sattelmeyer
Gould's Inlet, St. Simons Island
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Members Shelby and Lucas Roberts
Grand Canyon National Park
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SSLT hats continue to don the heads of our members, partners, and volunteers as they work and play locally and across the country. Make sure to pack your Land Trust cap when you travel over the next few months, and let us know where in the world you are. If you don't plan to leave the coast this summer, we would still love to see you in your SSLT hat, and we hope you'll enjoy the great outdoors on Land Trust properties. Send us an email or tag us on social media at @stsimonslandtrust to be featured!
Don't have a hat? Let's fix that!
Call our office at (912) 638-9109 to order yours today.
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The Land Trust's tenth and final 1% Wednesday Industry Grouping highlighted our dedicated Pennies for Preservation restaurant partners who are known for serving up wonderful DINNERS. Learn more about each locally owned business and ways to support them by clicking HERE. Read more about the individual businesses by clicking on the links or images below.
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Let's Keep it Local!
Please remember to continue supporting our Golden Isles businesses
and the Land Trust's dedicated Pennies for Preservation partners.
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Participating businesses raise contributions by either:
1) Collecting a voluntary 1% or specific dollar amount donation from their
customers' receipts/invoices.
OR
2) Donating 1% of their companies' proceeds or services.
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Thank you to all participating Pennies for Preservation businesses,
their teams, and their patrons!
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SSLT BOOK NOOK - STAFF PICK |
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This month, the Land Trust's "Staff Pick" is the second book in Eugenia Price's St. Simons Trilogy,
In this book, the author gives us a story of faith and courage that follows the struggle of James Gould's son Horace in finding his own place in life. Filled with romance, hardship, and adventure, this sequel to Lighthouse vividly portrays the antebellum South while revealing an independent man's search for happiness. Read more HERE.
Visit local bookstore G J Ford Bookshop to purchase the books in this trilogy and many other captivating reads about St. Simons. Not currently on the island? You can purchase the trilogy online HERE.
by visiting many of the landmarks she mentions in her books,
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August 12-13 -- DNR Georgia Climate Conference, Jekyll Island Convention Center. Preserve Manager at Cannon's Point Preserve, Stephanie Knox, will make a presentation on
"Living Shorelines - A Landowner's Perspective." This event is SOLD OUT.
January 22, 2022 -- SSLT ANNUAL OYSTER ROAST, Gascoigne Bluff, SSI
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Staff and raptor from the Center for Birds of Prey
Photo courtesy of Coastal WildScapes
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THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 SPONSORS: |
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AS ALWAYS,
FROM ALL OF US, TO ALL OF YOU,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!
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