Events

Wild Ones of Central North Carolina Chapter and the North Carolina Sierra Club Foothills Group, in collaboration with the Town of Lewisville, NC and the Gateway Nature Preserve in Winston-Salem, NC, are pleased to invite you to this extraordinary program focused on the importance of ecological restoration. 

This multi-event program on November 8-9th, 2024 consists of:  

1. A lecture, titled Oaks, Fire, and Climate Change, by renowned conservationist and author, Heather Holm.

2. A panel discussion, titled What’s the Buzz about Ecological Restoration, with Heather Holm, Dr. Ken Bridle, President of the NC Native Plant Society, and Dr. Gary Gunderson, Professor of Divinity at Wake Forest University. The discussion is moderated by Dr. Stan Meiburg, Executive Director, Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC. 

3. A tour of the Gateway Nature Preserve in Winston-Salem, NC led by Salvador Patino, Co-Chair of the Preserve.

4. A tour of the grounds of the Mary Alice Warren Community Center led by Jon Hanna, Director of Public Works for the Town of Lewisville, NC.

Heather Holm’s lecture, titled Oaks, Fire, and Climate Change, examines the past to understand grassland systems at the time of Euro-American settlement and discusses how Native Americans managed and influenced the composition of these grassland systems with their regular use of fire. Heather will also discuss the impacts of fire as a strong selective pressure on keystone plants and bees. Pivoting to look into the future using projected climate modeling, Heather will address the ecological conditions today, focusing on oak ecosystems and grasslands, then paint a picture of what a functional, biodiverse, and resilient landscape may look like in the future, and what actions are needed to achieve these outcomes.