The beautiful flute-like call of the wood thrush, the unmistakable gobble of the male wild turkey. Lovely clandestine wild orchids, threatened by incursions of invasive plants such as Japanese grass, privet, and kudzu. These and many others were the animals and plants heard about by those attending the annual meeting of Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation (AFORR) on Tuesday evening, June 13, 2000, in the Oak Ridge Mall Community Room.  The almost 50 attendees -- including Democratic Congressional candidate Will Callaway of Chattanooga and Linda Ponce, manager of Congressman Zach Wamp's Oak Ridge office  --  listened to Drs. Dev Joslin and Larry Pounds discuss birds and plants on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR).

Joslin's well-documented message was that the ORR provides habitat for numerous bird species, many of which are  in decline regionally or nationally, including several that are not otherwise common in the area. For example, of the almost 200 bird species found on the ORR (more than on any other single tract in East Tennessee), 28 species are considered "of conservation concern" by international organizations. Fourteen of those migratory songbird species of concern are among the 40 most common birds on
the ORR. Familiar examples include wood thrush, scarlet tanager, bobwhite quail, and yellow-billed cuckoo, plus 17 species of warblers. In contrast, the bird species most frequently found in surveys in nearby Knox County are common and widespread urban/suburban/agricultural species such as European starling, common grackle, and American crow.

The ORR's  abundance and diversity of bird species, Joslin noted, is largely a result of the large areas of unfragmented forest and other specialized habitats present. These large forest expanses provide protection from predators (including house cats), from nest parasitizing cowbirds, and from aggressive non-native birds that compete for nest sites.

Surprisingly to many, perhaps, Joslin said that early successional "old field" habitats, created in part by devastations of pine stands by the southern pine beetle, are uncommon in the region and provide habitat for some declining bird species, such as prairie warbler and yellow-breasted chat.

Dr. Larry Pounds focussed on the problems of exotic (non-native) invasive plant species on the ORR and in the surrounding region. Pounds noted that these invasive species occur far less frequently on the ORR than in surrounding areas, largely due to the relatively unfragmented, undeveloped nature of the ORR. Nonetheless, incursions of privet, kudzu, Nepal grass, and non-native honeysuckle are important in designing management strategies to conserve native plants for research, education, and recreation.
Accordingly, there are many opportunities on the ORR for further research and for management actions concerning invasion by non-native plants and conservation of native plants, communities, and habitats.
 
In the business portion of the meeting, Ellen Smith reviewed AFORR's activities and events over the past year. Highlights included participating in a forum on the future of the ORR; holding a public meeting on the proposed ED-3 lease; making comments on the future of the Boeing property; attending meetings with public officials; and writing letters relating to the future of the ORR.

Following the presentations by Joslin and Pounds, a lively discussion ensued regarding future  goals and actions. Strategic initiatives proposed and discussed were as follows:

• Support initiatives to promote economic growth and vitality without developing more ORR land;
• Conduct activities to inform the community about the value of the ORR;
• Support initiatives to compensate local governments for adverse impacts, direct costs, and lost potential revenues caused by DOE and its predecessors.

• No more land transfers from the ORR unless they are consistent with a comprehensive land-use plan that DOE agrees to develop through an open public process.
• Permanent federal status and protection for the ORR and other DOE National Environmental Research Park sites -- under DOE management, thus allowing continued manipulative research and providing sites for future federal missions.
• [alternative] - Permanent federal protection for the ORR and other DOE National Environmental Research Park sites -- under the management of an agency with an explicit natural resource mission.

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