[NHCOLL-L:2301] The Limestone Barrens Project - Limestone barrens: a landscape under stress

[William Douglas Boyce]

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On Monday, May 31, 2004 at 14:19:58 NDT, Christy Vodden 
<cvodden at sympatico.ca> wrote:

Dear CGEN members:  Here's an interesting event.  The Limestone Barrens
Project has brought together artists from Canada and Ireland, scientists and
educators to look at these fascinating ecosystems from different perspectives. 

The concluding symposium will take place in Corner Brook, July 1-6, at the
Sir Wilfred Grenfell Campus of Memorial University.  There will be a field
trip to the Burnt Cape limestone barren, and community presentations by
participants in the Northern Peninsula.  Program and registration details
can be found at: http://www.swgc.mun.ca/limestone/symp.html.

--
Christy Vodden
Secretary-Treasurer, CGEN
398 Hinton Avenue South
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1Y 1B1
telephone: (613) 728-2008
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Limestone barrens: a landscape under stress

Limestone Barrens: a landscape under stress is an international 
symposium that will be held at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College 
campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Its focus will be the 
appreciation and understanding of the fragile nature of the limestone 
barrens and on issues surrounding their stewardship and conservation 
worldwide. The symposium is being held in conjunction with the 
opening at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery of The 
Limestone Barrens Project, an interdisciplinary creative exchange 
between Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ireland that includes 
a major exhibition of photo-based art and creative writing by 
Ontario, Newfoundland, and Irish artists. The exhibition will 
subsequently tour to venues in Ontario and Ireland and will be 
accompanied by a publication.

The first day will include two three-hour panels which present key 
issues relating to the ecology and conservation of the limestone 
barrens, a reception, poetry-reading, and artist presentations at the 
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery. The following three days 
will comprise field trips and presentations in various limestone 
barrens sites and communities along Newfoundland's Great Northern 
Peninsula. Speakers will come from Ireland, Ontario and Newfoundland 
and Labrador and will use the sites along the Northern Peninsula as 
an opportunity to engage the various communities and as a resource 
for the presentations.

The field trips will provide an opportunity to view the unique botany 
of the limestone barrens on the Great Northern Peninsula. These 
barrens contain the highest proportion of rare plants of any area of 
similar size in Newfoundland. In addition participants will view the 
unusual and beautiful frost-patterned soils and erosional features 
that are easily destroyed by careless use; and have an opportunity to 
discuss community stewardship programs with people associated with 
the limestone barrens of Western Newfoundland.

Panel 1: Limestone Barrens: a landscape under stress
This science portion of the symposium will consist of three 45-minute 
talks followed by question and answer sessions. Limestone barrens 
cliffs and alvars are rare habitats. They support a wide range of 
rare organisms with unusual characteristics such as slow growth and 
extraordinary age. Scientists from each of the three regions will 
talk about the geology, geographical features of the areas, and the 
plants and animals that live there. They will address conservation 
and restoration issues that surround these unusual habitats. 
Comparisons will be drawn between the natural and human components of 
the different locales.

Panel 2: Living in the Barrens: Conservation, Education, Stewardship
The conservation portion of the symposium will consist of 
presentations by educators and conservationists from Ontario, 
Newfoundland and Labrador and Ireland. Panels and field trips will 
delve into the opportunities and problems that attend life in a rare 
habitat surrounded by rare plants. Emphasis will be place on the 
importance of developing community stewardship for these fragile 
barrens.

For further information on the Limestone Barrens Project, please 
visit the website at:
www.swgc.mun.ca/limestone

Symposium schedule:

Thursday, July 1:		participants arrive in Corner Brook

Friday, July 2:	a.m.: Panel 1: Limestone Barrens: a landscape under stress

NL:	Trevor Bell, Limestone Barrens Recovery Group
Ireland:	Emma Glanville, The Burren National Park
Ontario:	Jeremy Lundholm, St.Mary's University

p.m.:  Panel 2: Living in the Barrens: Conservation, Education,
  Stewardship

NL:	 Dulcie House, Program Co-ordinator, Limestone
  	 Barrens Stewardship Program
Ireland:	Emma Glanville
Ontario:	Jim Faught, CEO, Federation of Ontario Naturalists

5:00: reception in Fine Arts Atrium, readings by poets, Liz Zetlin 
and John Steffler,
  artist and curator walkabouts

Saturday, July 3:		a.m.: drive to Port-aux-Choix
			tour of Port-aux Choix site by Michael 
Burzynski, Vegetation Biologist,
  			Gros Morne National Park
Sunday, July 4:		drive to Burnt Cape
			tour of Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve
			tour of Cape Norman
evening lecture by Bruce Roberts on Harvard botanist,
     M.L.  Fernald in Newfoundland and Labrador
Monday, July 5:		community presentations in Flowers Cove
			return to Corner Brook
Tuesday, July 6		participants leave


Symposium registration fee: 
Entire symposium including reception and field trips
(but not Corner Brook accommodation and meals):	$375 by June 1; $600/couple
$400 on site registration;
Day fee for Corner Brook sessions and reception:		$25

Accommodations in Corner Brook must be made separately. We have 
reserved 20 chalet apartments at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. For 
further information please contact: Katherine Lockhart at (709) 
637-6255; klockhart at swgc.mun.ca: or visit the website at: 
www.swgc.mun.ca/conference/

Each chalet apartment includes four bedrooms, telephone, kitchen and 
living room at a cost of $119/night/chalet. We will be staying in 
Corner Brook for three nights-July 1, July 2 and July 5.

On the Northern Peninsula we will be staying for two nights and three 
days. This includes travel, two night's accommodation, breakfast and 
brown bag lunches.  Dinner will be the responsibility of participants.

Sir Wilfred Grenfell College is a small, liberal arts college 
situated in Corner Brook on the West Coast of insular Newfoundland. 
Please visit the website at:   www.swgc.mun.ca

To register, please contact:  Charlotte Jones, cjones at swgc.mun.ca

How to get to Corner Brook: (http://www.gov.nf.ca/tourism/)
Other websites of interest:
www.triourworld.com
www.cornerbrook.ca

Image in logo is of the island genetian, a wildflower common to the 
limestone barrens of the Great Northern Peninsula. It is similar to 
the beautiful fringed genetian often seen on the Bruce Peninsula and 
the island genetian of The Burren. As an aside, geologists frequently 
use blue to denote limestone areas on geological maps.
___________________________________________________________
-- 
*Mr. Doug Boyce, M.Sc., P.Geo., Provincial Paleontologist,
Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador
P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL, Canada A1B 4J6
Phone: (709) 729-2163	Fax: (709) 729-4270
http://www.gov.nf.ca/mines&en/geosurvey/aboutus/sections/regional/boyce.stm
http://www.geosurv.gov.nf.ca/education/fossils/index.html
http://www.canadianrockhound.com/summer97/cr9701301_nfld.html
http://www.spnhc.org/documents/fossilprotection.htm
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