Botanical Society of Washington – Early April 2009 Field Trips 

Bear Island, Potomac Gorge 
(Montgomery Co., Maryland) 
	            	Saturday, April 4 th- 9:30 am 
Rod Simmons, Trip Leader 

Our 2009 BSW field season opens with two spring field trips, the first to Bear 
Island, in the Potomac Gorge on the Maryland side of the river upstream of Washington, 
Rod Simmons has offered to lead participants along a route including roadsides,
towpath edges, and the rocky, riparian, and alluvial habitats of Bear Island, including a 
substantial segment of Section "A" of the rugged Billy Goat Trail. 

We have learned that there is a 3-year study on Bear Island regarding non-sanctioned 
trails and what to do about them.  Our group is welcome to go to Bear Island, but we need  to
stay out of the roped-off areas, though we  may wander off paths. 

We've been asked to notify the COCNHP annually when our group will be
there for security and communication reasons.

Note that this year's trip is a bit later in the season than we've usually done on Bear 
Island, so we may see a somewhat different sampling of the Gorge's spring ephemerals. 
We will particularly seek and note species in flower (woody and herbaceous), and 
compare our lists with those from previous years.  While we won't be able to visit all of 
the places that we have in past years, we should see a similar richness of localized 
microdiversity as in previous years. 

This trip includes rugged, uneven terrain and occasional rock-scrambling.  No facilities 
are available beyond the parking area. 
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Meet  at 9:00 am in the parking lots at Cropley, across from the 
Old Angler's Inn, 10801 MacArthur Blvd., between the Beltway and Great Falls, 
Maryland.   (http://www.oldanglersinn.com/directions.asp) Do not park in the private lot at the Inn itself! 
 (From Washington, this area is easily reached by taking the Clara Barton Parkway upstream to its end, 
then turning left onto MacArthur Blvd. and continuing to the Old Angler's Inn.)  Bring lunch and water; 
and wear mud-tolerant shoes also suitable for rocky terrain.  

					     * * * * * *

			Turkey Run Park, George Washington Parkway

				Fairfax Co., Virginia

				Saturday, April 11 – Time TBA

				Edd Barrows, Trip Leader

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Background information for Bear Island: 

     Topo map of trip area: 
     http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=38.98448&lon=- 
77.23986&s=24&size=l&u=6&datum=nad27&layer=DRG25 
     Potomac Gorge: 
    http://www.nps.gov/cue/projects/pogo/04_January_Bioscience_Cohn_.pdf 
    http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/maryland/preserves/art6 
62.html 
    http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/6/potomac.cfm 
     Vegetation Ecology of the Gorge: 
    http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/pogotext3.pdf 
     Billy Goat Trail: 
    http://www.nps.gov/archive/choh/Recreation/Trails/greatfallstraildescriptions.pdf 
    http://www.nps.gov/archive/choh/Recreation/Trails/greatfallstrailmap.pdf 
     Species list (year 2000 BSW trips):(2005 trip) 
    http://www.botsoc.org/bearislandlist.pdf , http://www.botsoc.org/bearisland2005.rtf
     http://biodiversity.georgetown.edu/index.cfm
search on the term: chesapeake & ohio national historical park
     Trail closures & frog pathogens: 
    http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/maryland/files/tadpoles 
_and_blazes.pdf 
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Check the BSW web site (http://www.botsoc.org/) for the season's schedule, as well as 
other meeting notices and field-trip announcements.