Tickets on Sale Now!
Join us for our 2022 Spring Growers meeting. There will be food, educational presentations, networking and more! Tickets are now on sale now, for this in-person event for just $20. This is a real bargain that includes: coffee, light snacks in the morning, lunch, music, and three stimulating presentations.
Where: Allen Theatre, 36 E Main St, Annville, PA 17003 — Google Map
When: April 2nd (8:30 AM to 2:00 PM)
Tickets: $20
Buy tickets online. Please note: When purchasing tickets you will see a couple of
extra fees at checkout on the ticket platform we are using. The first is an optional credit card processing fee. You can choose to cover those fees for the Chapter or not. The second is a donation to to the BetterWorld.org platform that is hosting our ticket sales and online auction. To opt out of this click on the ? for the drop down description and click on the here link. Both of these additional costs are optional to the ticket buyer.
Or order tickets over the phone or email, and pay by check. Contact Jean Najjar Monday through Thursday and she will help you place your order.
814-933-7192 | mail@patacf.org
Tentative Schedule
8:30 am – 9:15 am Coffee Social (coffee/light snacks)
9:15 am — 9:30 am Opening Comments: Rick Hartlieb, Board President
9:30 am —10:20 am Speaker — Kimberly Bohn
10:20 am – 10:35 am Break
10:35 am – 11:35 am Speaker — Doug Tallamy
11:35 – 11 :50 am Book Signing
11:50 – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm Speaker — Sara Fitzsimmons
Featured Speakers:
Doug Tallamy, Ph. D.
TA Baker Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology
University of Delaware
Douglas Tallamy is a nationally recognized author and sought-after speaker. He is a professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware and a major advocate for biodiversity and the role of plants in sustaining natural systems. He has established the non-profit, Home Grown National Park, a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks.
Presentation: Nature’s Best Hope
Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us. Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue our current standard of living on Planet Earth. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. Tallamy will discuss simple steps that each of us can- and must take to reverse declining biodiversity, how the American chestnut will be a valuable tool in this regard, why we must change our adversarial relationship with nature to a collaborative one, and why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope.
Kimberly Bohn, Ph.D.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Forestry
Penn State Mont Alto
Chair, PA Division of the Society of American Foresters
Presentation: Challenges of Artificial Regeneration of Hardwoods
Artificial hardwood regeneration has been utilized in the northeast for a variety of purposes including reforestation and restoration but can often be challenging because a number of external factors can hinder survival and growth. Some factors affecting artificial hardwood regeneration include long-term issues such as deer browsing and increasing competition from non-native plants. This presentation will cover a range of challenges to artificial hardwood regeneration as well as strategies for improving establishment in context to American chestnut restoration in a variety of landscapes.
Sara Fitzsimmons
Director of Restoration
The American Chestnut Foundation
Presentation: What Will it Take to Restore the American Chestnut?
The Appalachian forest ecosystem is vastly different now than it was over 100 years ago when American chestnut was often the dominant species of a stand. Invasive and exotic vegetation, introduced diseases and pests, ravenous and excessive deer herds, overdevelopment, and threats of climate change, add to the challenges facing a species made effectively dormant by introduced disease.
Given all those hurdles, one might think working toward chestnut restoration is simply a setup for defeat. Luckily, current research suggests populations of the American chestnut could be self-sustainable, despite changing pressures, within the next 50 – 100 years. We will cover some of the strategies TACF will be implemented to overcome the many challenges which will appear during this audacious, species restoration process.
Please keep in mind that the in-person audience may be limited by social distancing requirements and masks may be required. We are monitoring the CDC and State recommendations for public health recommendations and all in-person meeting plans are subject to change.
Refund Policy: Please contact our office directly for refunds.
Contact Jean Najjar 814-863-7192 | mail@patacf.org
Refunds requested by Feb. 17th — 100% refund of ticket price minus fees
Refunds requested by March 10th — 75% refund of ticket price minus fees
Refunds requested by March 31st — 50% refund of ticket price minus fees
The PA/NJ Chapter covers almost 54,000 square miles, and this makes it difficult for our staff and board to have sufficient personal contact with our members. DLs can help to bridge this gap as local representatives. The primary mission of the DL is to engage the membership. An engaged membership is more likely to sustain interest in TACF’s mission, volunteer for local projects, and interest others in forest and chestnut conservation and restoration.
