Dave Butler's Fantastic Adventure November 19, 2016

Dave Butler has the calmest tone of anybody I know. Even, soothing, unflappable. Perfect for the green space restoration expert that he is, accustomed to working with deadlines measured in seasons and years. Nothing hasty. So I knew something was up when a voicemail came through recently. 

He was almost breathless.  I heard "amazing" and "fantastic." Dave? Was he smoking something?  I played the message again. 

Dave Butler in his birding cap shares a tale along the Cheshire Farm Trail with South Fork Board Chairman Bob Kerr.

"I am out here at Zonolite...saw the folks working on the pollinator garden up front.  First time I've actually seen it.  Looks great. Nice to see that vision actually come out looking good."

He had run into the Floataway volunteers tending the six-month-old garden at the trailhead. After years of talking about attracting birds and bees, the blossoms in just six months were a bright bouquet.  And carefully tended and watered by people who love the new park.  For an experienced project manager like Dave, having volunteers actually performing what we all too easily promise to do, and don't,  can be surprising.  Maintaining something? Wow! 

Then he kept talking.  

"But also, more amazing is the number of birds out here in the wetland and field, because of the grasses and plants that have grown up over here. Literally hundreds of birds are out here this morning. Flocks flying over, some in the trees, but a lot in that growth."

Dave loves birds. I first saw him with binoculars in both hands, on a DeKalb County public school trip to Ossabaw Island. He really knows birds. Here he is, former Audubon Board member,  cooing over the bird habitat Zonolite's restoration created. "That growth" means the waist high wild grasses going to seed along the trail through the meadow. Some might see an un-mowed rough. I saw an orange band of broom sedge. Dave saw the homes and dining tables for birds. 

"Which is the perfect situation... I mean this is just a perfect example of what we are trying to accomplish."

I stared happily at my phone. Was this really Dave? Saying "Perfect example?" Then he topped himself.

"Fantastic to see this!"

It is fantastic these days when projects take forever to get approval, and cleaning up $2 million worth of asbestos pollution requires a bankruptcy judge to say yes. Then agreeing with neighbors on a best plan for a wildlife corridor that includes people. Of course, how often do volunteers consistently show up?  How carefully does the county actually mow the meadow? Dave Butler and dozens of other wildlife lovers from Trees Atlanta, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Audubon and Park Pride are steering the rare creekside woodlands in metro Atlanta back to a safe harbor. Even more rare is an urban floodplain meadow. Keeping it a meadow, and not letting kudzu and privet return? That requires persistence. 

"I just spoke to Adam from Audubon, and we had discussed before the cutting that may need to be done to keep the woody vegetation down. And when best to do that."

As the South Fork trails mature and connect, we will all have ideas about maintenance. When to mow? When to leave for seed production? How to keep sight lines open? Who will pay? These are the conversations we are beginning with all our partners. The answers will allow us to grow with grace and respect for our vision of connected corridors for people and wildlife, laying lightly on the land. All of that is ahead. Now, the thrill in Dave Butler's voice reminds me to pause and enjoy what we are already doing.

"Fantastic to see this!"

Thanks, Dave.

Julia Chandler Named South Fork Conservancy Treasurer

Atlanta (Nov. 2016) – Julia H. Chandler, CPA, has joined the board of the South Fork Conservancy as Treasurer. It’s the latest step forward for the nonprofit organization, which is restoring and conserving habitats along Atlanta’s Peachtree Creek, while building trails to provide more access to the natural environment.

Chandler is Vice President and Treasurer of the Carlisle Companies, a $3.5 billion multinational company. She recently relocated from Charlotte to Atlanta.

“The trails are very beautiful and the potential is exciting,” Chandler said. “I am very interested in the efforts to conserve this area within Atlanta and to create natural walking spaces in the city.  I’m also interested in contributing my background while learning from the rest of the board members about the many other disciplines that make this come together.”

Chandler’s responsibilities include monitoring the nonprofit group’s overall financial soundness, as well as helping guide its capital campaign, which recently got a $500,000 infusion of cash from The Kendeda Fund.

“After learning of Julia’s interest and reviewing her qualifications we were very eager for her to join the Board of Directors,” said Board Chair Bob Kerr. “She provides incredible financial and business experience and will fit seamlessly into the role of Treasurer. I’m eager for her to begin the process of adding more rigor and transparency to our financial management.”

Chandler earned her MBA from Carnegie Mellon University with a concentration in Finance & Accounting. She received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Amherst College.

For information on donating, or visiting South Fork’s urban wilderness trails, visit www.SouthForkConservancy.org. Check our Facebook page for updates.

About South Fork Conservancy

South Fork Conservancy is actively developing walking trails along Atlanta’s Peachtree Creek. Its goal is to conserve the urban waterway, connect existing and future trails, and restore the area’s natural beauty. SFC’s first phase is to create a trail system that connects Buckhead, Atlanta’s upscale business and residential center, with Emory University’s campus. Open trails include The Confluence, Cheshire Farm and Meadow Loop trails in Buckhead, and Zonolite Park in DeKalb County.  

South Fork with Sally: Teamwork Builds a Trail!

Co-founder Sally Sears reports from Peavine Creek, near the Emory University campus. 

At the Emory Village Alliance Streets Alive event, I made wreaths - from kudzu that South Fork Conservancy yanked from the creek - and decorated them with flowers.

I got so involved twisting them onto the heads of young boys and girls I didn't notice a young man studying the proposed trail maps on the poster behind me. At first, I thought he might be a little old for a wreath. But his comments were the crown of my day. 

He introduced himself as Lance Harden, cross country coach for Emory's runners. He says his team runs the trails along Peavine and the South Fork daily. And they'd like connections between the existing trails. He loves Zonolite, Herbert Taylor Park and Peavine's shorter trail. Could the trails connect so the runners could use them without having to drive? He offered an upcoming public service day for the team. Could they help?

COULD THEY HELP?

Photo by South Fork Conservancy Executive Director Kimberly Estep

Two weeks later, with big approvals confirmed by David Payne, Jimmy Powell and others in the Emory hierarchy too high or low to name here, this happened. Notice Dave Butler, in the green cap on the right. Certified arborist, former Greenspace manager from DeKalb County, wise in the ways of volunteer management. He got the materials to the site, across the green space from 1456 Emory Road, NE. Note the shovels from the Tool Bank are Emory Blue. 

Lance Harden and some thirty of his finest runners showed up on the dot of 9:00 a.m. (College kids on the dot? Wow! What discipline!) And off they went, carving a good running trail from the privet along Peavine Creek, adding some 200 yards of green trail to the Peavine Trail already well used, and installing nine of the dozen expected steps to let the rest of us ease on down the slope to the trail.

The Emory students opened the new trail with a ribbon-cutting using hedge clippers. 

Curious neighbors showed up. They helped drag unwieldy litter out of the woods. Enthusiast and landscape architect Kit Eisterhold stayed with Dave Butler, Lance Harden and the crew for the morning's work. Now we have more trail, more trail users, and a well-done day of public service by a winning Emory team.

How great is that?

Thanks, all, for the opportunity provided by Emory Village Alliance Streets Alive to further the South Fork Conservancy's vision of connected creeks and neighborhoods. I'm cheering for the Home Cross Country Team!

Sally