Natural beauty still has its spots

Despite Georgia’s rampant development and land clearing, numerous little-known natural places of amazing beauty —- untouched by chain saw or bulldozer —- still exist in the state and take my breath away when I first see them.

Such was the case last weekend when my botanist friend Ed McDowell of Warner Robins took me to a 140-acre hardwood forest bordering Wolf Creek in Grady County in southwest Georgia. The forest, Ed said, harbors “the most spectacular bloom of trout lilies you’ll see anywhere.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. On a gentle, north-facing slope along Wolf Creek west of the city of Cairo, near the Florida state line, acres of yellow-flowered trout lilies carpeted the forest floor. Everywhere I looked, as far as the eye could see through the woods, thousands of trout lilies were in full bloom.

I have seen mass colonies of flowering trout lilies elsewhere in Georgia (they should be in peak bloom this weekend along trails in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta), but nothing like this. Discovered a few years ago by southwest Georgia botanist Angus Gholson, the Wolf Creek forest is now called the greatest expanse of trout lilies in the world.

What also makes this mass blooming so unusual is that the trout lily is considered a rarity in South Georgia —- and even endangered in Florida. The plant, whose name comes from its speckled leaves resembling a trout’s skin, is much more common in North Georgia, where it thrives in moist, cool, rich soil —- and is a harbinger of spring because of its February bloom time.

The trout lilies, though, weren’t the only early bloomers at the Wolf Creek site last weekend. Also in bloom were scores of relatively rare spotted trilliums (Trillium maculatum) sporting their eye-catching maroon flowers. Other wildflowers of note (but not blooming last weekend) at the site include three wild orchid species —- crane fly, green fly and twayblade orchids.

Wolf Creek’s botanical richness prompted conservation groups —- the Georgia Botanical Society and the native plant societies of Florida and Georgia —- to work for permanent protection of the tract.

Toward that end, the Georgia Land Conservation Program in 2008 contributed $342,000, half of the property’s purchase price. Most of the rest has come from donations. However, $52,000 still is needed to complete the deal this spring. If it isn’t forthcoming, the state could revoke its grant and preservation of the site could be in jeopardy, Ed said.

More information: www.flwildflowers.com:80/wolfcreek.

Land protection

On any given day, similar land-preservation efforts are under way all over Georgia. In 2008, the Georgia Land Conservation Program helped protect several other natural areas, including:

> McLemore Cove in Walker County, one of the South’s most beautiful mountain valleys. Protection will come through 1,565 acres purchased by the state Department of Natural Resources, 295 acres by Walker County and 740 acres in conservation easement.

> Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area, which protects 8,430 acres of longleaf pine forest and wetlands along Lake Seminole in southwest Georgia.

> Paulding Forest Wildlife Management Area, which protects a 6,865-acre swath through which runs the Silver Comet Trail.

> Pine Mountain, Harris County. A 2,131-acre conservation easement purchased by the Georgia Forestry Commission and 150 acres purchased by Harris County —- adjacent to FDR State Park —- will help protect ridges and slopes.

> North Marsh, a 21-acre tract on St. Simons Island, encompassing salt marsh and maritime forest, that will protect the scenic and historic integrity of Fort Frederica National Monument.

> Lost Corner Preserve, a 24-acre Sandy Springs city park that protects a forest of mature loblolly pines and century-old trees, and springs and a creek that feed into the Chattahoochee River.

> Flint River near Albany. Two tracts totaling 397 acres will protect 1.5 miles of riverfront.

For other groups, the save-the-land battles continue. We visited the site of one of those efforts last weekend —- the 200-acre Lost Creek forest in Thomas County in South Georgia.

A local citizens group is trying hard to persuade the tract’s owners —- the County Commission and the Thomasville City Council —- to protect it as a natural preserve rather than develop it into an industrial park.

Helping lead the battle is Beth Grant of Thomasville. As she led us through the forest last weekend, she pointed out beech, white oak and chestnut oak trees more than a century old —- evidence that the hardwood forest probably has existed for centuries. “It makes no sense now to turn it into an industrial park,” she said.

In the sky

The moon will be first quarter on Tuesday night —- in the south at sunrise, says David Dundee, astronomer with the Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter are low in the east just before sunrise. Mercury and Mars also will appear close together tonight. Venus is low in the west just after sunset and sets shortly thereafter. Saturn rises out of the east just after sunset.