A go getter if there ever was one, John Lambert hit the ground running as a Natural Resources Dept. volunteer. This fall, he realized there was a need for more trail signs for the County Lands trail system and got to work figuring out how to make them. He utilizes the Claremont Makerspace to create professional style trail signage. It was a learning process that required new tools and practice, but he has got it down now and pumps out signs faster than we can figure out what

I first encountered reindeer lichen in the high elevations of the Smokies in Tennessee and North Carolina. It grows on heath balds with sand myrtle, azalea, mountain ash and other plants that survive in places that have little soil nutrients and lots of wind. This lichen grows on bare soil. It has a bushy structure. It is white when it is dry and pale green when it is wet. It is a survivor and lives not only at the top of mountains, but in the northern most latitudes in the b

It may surprise many people, but January is my busiest teaching month! This is because some schools make outdoor learning a priority during winter enrichment sessions. This year, I get to take two schools out to Moody Park for learning each week along with 4 winter field days for other schools. We observe winter habitats, consider what makes a cozy winter home, create our own cozy homes, follow tracks and look for signs of active animals, and explain what they might have been