EENC's 16th Annual Conference: Renew Your Sense of Wonder

November 5, 2006  Field Trips
Fort Bragg, NC

Earn EE Certification (Component II) and Teacher Renewal Credit

Unfortunately, you have to choose just one of these incredible adventures. When registering,  rank your field trip choices from 1 (highest priority) to 3. You will be registered for a field trip according to your rankings and availability at the time you register. Any instructions relevant to your trip will be included in your confirmation letter.

 Choose from the field trip destinations below. Transportation will be by carpool. Following the field trip, you will travel home.

Blanchie Carter Discovery Park at Southern Pines Primary School, managed by County school system 
Blanchie Carter Discovery Park is a four acre outdoor learning environment located at Southern Pines Primary School. The project began in 1995 in order to transform a barren, unsafe playground into an outdoor classroom where children learn through play and investigation of living environments. The park, designed by our keynote speaker, Robin Moore and his Natural Learning Initiative, serves the dual roles of a model educational center and a community park.

Camp Rockfish privately owned church camp
Check out Camp Rockfish as a possible field trip site for your students. Students from first grade through high school enthusiastically learn the skills needed for kayaking, rock-climbing, horseback riding and their favorite sports. Campers tackle obstacles on a low or high-ropes course then can take on the climbing wall and “zoom” down the 350' zip line. Lazily tubing down Rockfish Creek is a special treat. Outdoor living skills such as archery, campfire cooking, and orienteering are also taught. Field trip led by EENC Conference Committee member, Fred Booth. Hike and discuss the issue of the replacement of a storm damaged mill dam.  Driving Directions to Camp Rockrish

Carvers Creek, managed by the NC Nature Conservancy
One of the most diverse, but endangered ecosystems in the country, the remaining Longleaf habitat faces multiple threats - conversion to loblolly pine plantations, development and fire suppression. To protect North Carolina's largest and most intact Longleaf communities, in 2001, The Nature Conservancy purchased the Carver's Creek Preserve, north of Fayetteville. The preserve protects a mosaic of communities, including pine/scrub oak,  wetland seeps, stream pocosins and a small swamp. Red-cockaded woodpeckers and Sandhills pyxie-moss thrive there.

Lighterwood Farm, privately owned and managed by Jesse Wimberley
Read about Lighterwood Farm, scroll down to sections headed “Wonderful Wood Product” and “Do Something Good”
Lighterwood Farm near the town of West End has been in the family of owner, Jesse Wimberley, since the mid-1800's. Mr. Wimberley lives there, and has used regular burning to return the Longleaf forest to what it once was. He delights in showing visitors and students the variety of plant communities that inhabit the hillside Sandhill seeps, Longleaf forest, and active beaver pond. Of special interest is the Lighterwood (resin-soaked and preserved heartwood) remaining from the last century, which inspired the name of the farm. If you missed the Friday Workshop at Lighterwood Farm, this is another chance to visit this special place and meet its environmentally conscious owner.

Raft Swamp Farms, nonprofit farm incubator, Louie and Jackie Hough, co-founders Plus presentations by Cecelia King of Screech Owl Farm School and Trudy Matheny of Genesis Farm School
Down at Raft Swamp Farms, have some hands-on fun with farm activities. This 150-acre sustainable organic farm is an incubator with a mission of nurturing farmers by providing training in organic methods and farm equipment use, farm management, and marketing. Farm facilities, a working windmill, natural habitats, and Revolutionary war history provide endless educational opportunities. Participants will go on a Hay Ride! Cecelia King of Screech Owl Farm School will discuss Rare Breed Livestock, Genetics, Living History and her farm school. Trudy Matheny of Genesis Farm School will offer EE programming about growing food, animal care, and being immersed in nature.
**No Tobacco products of any kind allowed at Raft Swamp Farms.**

Weymouth Woods Nature Preserve, managed by NC Division of Parks & Recreation  
A 898 acre natural preserve between Southern Pines and Fort Bragg, Weymouth Woods portrays the natural features unique to the Sandhills region. Walk sandy paths beneath the canopy of stately 400 year old trees. Listen to the musical sounds of its Longleaf woodlands. Discuss nature writing and add notes and sketches to your nature journal. Greet Charlotte Gantz, 97 year old treasure and author of Discovering the Forest, a trail guide to Weymouth Woods. Stroll around the Boyd house and gardens, a popular wedding setting. Imagine it as a writers' retreat. The role of fire and its impact on the flora and fauna of the longleaf pine are just a few of the subjects nature teaches in this fascinating ecosystem.