THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701060225
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 138 lines
It began with a 50,000-acre donation of private timberland in 1974.
And in the past two decades, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge has become a federally protected haven for countless species of plants, animals and fish - and a window into the country's natural history.
About 35 speakers will gather at Old Dominion University's Mills Godwin Building in Norfolk this week to make presentations to anyone interested in the state of the swamp and its inhabitants.
The free symposium aims to provide general information on a range of topics, such as the swamp's roots as a commercial timber tract, the ecology of black bears and spider habitats.
This is the third such gathering of experts since the early 1900s, when formal biological studies of the area began.
``It will bring all types of interests together to show where we are on the management of the ecosystem, explain wildlife management and cultural history, update what's been accomplished in the 20-plus years since the last symposium,'' said Lloyd Culp, the refuge's manager and a symposium speaker.
``We hope anyone with an interest in the Dismal Swamp comes out.''
Robert K. Rose, an ODU biology professor, pushed the idea of another symposium and recruited many of the speakers.
``It's a useful thing to do,'' he said. ``I thought it was time.
``The purpose is to inform people of what has happened and what is happening in the Dismal Swamp area,'' Rose said. ``The boundaries of the swamp are actually a matter of dispute. What's left in the refuge is just a fraction of what the swamp used to be. It's gone through huge changes over the last 300 years.''
The refuge now occupies about 107,000 acres in Chesapeake and Suffolk.
Rose said the first day of lectures covers mainly historical and management aspects of the swamp - what it used to look like and what the land managers are doing to restore its natural features. The second day delves into the plants and animals of the area.
Each lecture will last 20 minutes. Members of the public can choose lectures of interest to attend.
AGENDA
Monday
9-9:20 a.m. - Opening remarks by ODU College of Science Acting Dean Frank E. Scully
9:20-9:40 a.m. - Early citizens and public support for preservation of the Dismal Swamp, a historical perspective by William Ashley of Suffolk
9:40-10 a.m. - A decision for conservation: The watershed decision by Union Camp Corp. to ensure the preservation of the Dismal Swamp by Joseph H. Stutts, retired from Union Camp Corp., Franklin.
10-10:20 a.m. - The biological surveys of the Dismal Swamp, 1895-1898, by Charles O. Handley Jr. of the Smithsonian Institution
10:20-10:50 a.m. - Break
10:50-11:10 a.m. - Pre-settlement fire regimes in vegetation of the Dismal Swamp region, by Cecil C. Frost of the North Carolina Agriculture Department's Plant Conservation Program
11:10-11:30 a.m. - The lake of the Dismal Swamp, by Gerald F. Levy of the ODU biological sciences department
11:30-11:50 a.m. - The natural features of the Dismal Swamp Natural Area, North Carolina, by Harry E. LeGrand Jr. of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
11:50-12:10 p.m. - Natural regeneration of Atlantic white cedar in the Dismal Swamp, by Susan Moore of North Carolina State University's forestry department and Robert Kellison of the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation
12:10-1:50 p.m. - Lunch
1:50-2:10 p.m. - Computer simulation of forest succession in the Dismal Swamp, by Robert Heffner of the ODU biological sciences department
2:10-2:30 p.m. - A developing geographic information system for the Dismal Swamp, by Robert H. Giles Jr., K. Hassouna, D. Morton and J. Waldon
2:30-2:50 p.m. - A survey of contaminants in the Dismal Swamp, by Cynthia M. Kane of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in White Marsh.
2:50-3:10 p.m. - Refuges and ecosystem protection, by Lloyd Culp, swamp manager
3:10-3:40 p.m. - Break
3:40-4 p.m. - Visions of public uses in the Dismal Swamp, by Teresa Cherry of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
4-4:20 p.m. - Dismal Swamp ethnobotany, traditional plant uses, by Vickie Shufer of The Wild Woods Forum in Virginia Beach
4:20-4:40 p.m. - 25 years of teaching in the Dismal Swamp, by Harold Wiggins and Walter Bulmer of the Natural Science Division, Annadale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College
Tuesday
9-9:20 a.m. - Spiders of the Dismal Swamp, by Barbara Abraham of Hampton University's biology department
9:20-9:40 a.m. - Dynamic of plant organic matter in the Dismal Swamp, by Frank P. Day Jr. of ODU's biological sciences department and Patrick Megonigal of George Mason University's biology department
9:40-10 a.m. - Ecology, conservation and management of black bears in the Dismal Swamp, by Eric C. Hellgren of Oklahoma State University's zoology department and Michael R. Vaughan of the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
10-10:20 a.m. - Conservation of bear habitat on private lands in the Dismal Swamp ecosystem, by Michael Lane of Davis Environmental Consultants, Virginia Beach
10:20-10:50 a.m. - Break
10:50-11:10 a.m. - Plankton composition in the Dismal Swamp Canal, feeder ditch and Lake Drummond, by Harold G. Marshall of ODU's biological sciences department
11:10-11:30 a.m. - Fishes of the Dismal Swamp, by Mitchell D. Norman, Richard T. Eades and Gary L. Swihart, of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
11:30-11:50 a.m. - Herpetofauna of the Dismal Swamp, by Joseph C. Mitchell of the University of Richmond's biology department and Christopher A. Pague of the ODU biological sciences department
11:50-12:10 p.m. - Movements and ecology of the canebrake rattlesnake in relation to the forest clearing in the historic Dismal Swamp and surrounding areas, by Alan H. Savitzky, Barbara A. Savitzky and Christopher E. Petersen, of the ODU biological sciences department and Christopher Newport University
12:10-1:50 p.m. - Lunch
1:50-2:10 p.m. - Birds of the Dismal Swamp, a look at the studies, surveys and notable sightings over the past 20 years, by Donald J. Schwab and Thomas M. Gwynn III of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
2:10-2:30 p.m. - Breeding birds of two Atlantic white cedar stands in the Dismal Swamp, by Karen Terwilliger of Resource Management Associates, Locustville.
2:30-2:50 p.m. - The Dismal Swamp as a refuge for mammals, W. David Webster of the biological sciences department at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington
2:50-3:10 p.m. - Small Mammals of the Dismal Swamp region, by Robert K. Rose of ODU's biological sciences department
3:10-3:40 p.m. - Break
3:40-4 p.m. - Swainson's Warblers of the Dismal Swamp, Gary Graves of the Smithsonian
4-4:20 p.m. - The log ferns, genus Dryopteris, in the Dismal Swamp, by Kerry D. Heafner of ODU's biological sciences department
4:20-4:40 p.m. - Bats of the Dismal Swamp region, by Thomas M. Padgett of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and ODU's biological sciences department
4:40 p.m. - Closing remarks to end the symposium, by Lytton J. Musselman, chairman of ODU's biological sciences department ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
AT A GLANCE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]