‘Friends of’ groups support local environment

You have probably heard of a number of “Friends” groups, such as “Friends of State Parks,” or “Friends of the Library,” or any of a number of other groups. These groups are typically nonprofit organizations formed to help support the work of a local, state or federal government agency. These groups don’t have to be large to make an impact, or be focused on huge parks like Yellowstone or Yosemite. In fact, several Friends groups are working right here in our region.

I am on the board of the Friends of Plant Conservation (FOPC). This is an all-volunteer nonprofit that supports the state agency called the Plant Conservation Program (PCP) in its mission to protect imperiled plants in North Carolina. These are any plant species that are listed as rare or endangered in our state. PCP owns and actively manages preserves across the state to the benefit of these rare plants. In the Uwharries the group has three preserves: Harvest Field, Densons Creek (separate from but near the Town of Troy’s nature preserve), and Long Mountain. These sites benefit Schweinitz’s sunflower, Georgia aster, mountain camilla, and a number of other unique and native plants. Other preserves in the Charlotte region are the Mineral Springs Barrens in southern Union County, Redlair in Gaston County, and Morgan’s Bluff in Stanly County. (For more about Redlair, see “A win for Redlair’s rare bigleaf magnolia.”)

FOPC organizes a lot of great field trip opportunities to see these special places. You can learn more at www.ncplantfriends.org.

Friends of Morrow Mountain State Park frequently hosts trail work days and hikes. On Nov. 15 the group will host a fall foliage hike, and on Sunday, Dec. 7, the group is offering a geology hike 2-5 p.m. The starting point for the geology hike will be at the head of the Quarry Trail, at the lower end of the picnic area parking lot past the swimming pool. The hike guide will be Steve Teeter, a retired high school/university earth sciences educator. It should be an informative outing for anyone interested in the geologic history of the Uwharrie region and the evidence in the park for volcanism. It will focus on the old Argillite quarry on the Quarry Trail and then will proceed to the top of Morrow Mountain for a study of the meta-rhyodacite rock. Please contact Ken Knight at kbknight17@gmail.com for more information. You can read more about their events and how to attend at www.morrowmountain.org.

There is also a newly formed Friends of the Uwharrie National Forest. The group just received its nonprofit status this year, but is already doing great work, particularly on the mountain bike and OHV trails in the forest. The group says its goal is to “work to bring all recreationists together to help preserve and protect this wonderful resource now and for future generations.” You can learn more at http://friendsofuwharrie.org.

Friends groups do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to preserve our natural resources and make our public recreational and natural areas more open and safe and accessible for all. Check out the groups working in your area, and consider joining one today. Getting involved with a Friends group is a great way to make new friends and give back to your local community.