President’s Message

by Jeff Nelson, KNPS President, 2022-2024

Past president, Tara Littlefield, leading the “Search for Sweet Pinesap” near Gray’s Arch in the Red River Gorge during Wildflower Weekend 2022. Spoiler alert, the search for this rare, KY native was successful!

The Kentucky Native Plant Society has had a busy and exciting few weeks recently. From April 8th through the 10th, over 100 native plant enthusiasts came together to enjoy KNPS’ first, in-person, Wildflower Weekend since 2019. Although temperatures were cool and skies were damp at Natural Bridge SRP, spirits were high as folks dressed for the weather and enjoyed 14 different native plant walks led by an incredible group of expert botanists. Saturday night, a large group of KNPS members and friends met in the Woodland Center for presentations by Ted Brancheau, Nick Koenig, and the keynote speaker, Mike Homoya. We are working on articles for May’s Lady Slipper all about Wildflower Weekend 2022, but for now, you can read about the events on the Wildflower Weekend page.

Leading up to Wildflower Weekend 2022, from April 2 through April 8, KNPS organized a week-long BotanyBlitz project on iNaturalist. This was our second year for this event and the KNPS Wildflower Week 2022 Botany Blitz exceeded all expectations, with over 4,600 observations of 539 different plant species across Kentucky. Look for Vanessa Voelker’s article about the 2022 BotanyBlitz in next month’s Lady Slipper.

To educate the public about iNaturalist and to promote the KNPS Wildflower Week’s BotanyBlitz iNaturalist Project, on Saturday, April 2, eleven tutorial hikes, led by experienced iNaturalist users, were held in parks and natural areas across the state. These hikes were geared towards beginning iNaturalist users and taught them how to make observations and navigate the app. Look for Rachel Cook’s article about the tutorial hikes in next month’s Lady Slipper. Until the article comes out in May, you can see the list of these hikes in this article from last month, Kick-off BotanyBlitz 2022 with an iNaturalist Tutorial Hike!

Our successful Wildflower Weekend 2022 and the other Wildflower Week activities would not have been possible without the hard work of so many folks. KNPS Vice President Heidi Brauneiter and her WW2022 committee put in many hours making Wildflower Weekend happen so well. Vanessa Voelker and Rachel Cook organized BotanyBlitz and the iNaturalist Tutorial hikes and were instrumental in getting so many folks participating this year. Thanks go to those 200 folks on iNaturalist that helped identify the many observations made during BotanyBlitz. We also have to thank the amazing botanists and naturalists who led the walks and hikes and answered our questions, as well as KNPS board members and volunteers who staffed the registration tables. Finally to our partners at Natural Bridge SRP, thank you for hosting the KNPS Wildflower Weekend for the 30th time. All of these folks came together to produce a fun and educational experience with Kentucky’s most beautiful native plants. Thank you.

Prior to the presentations on Saturday night, there was a short KNPS membership meeting where the results of the online election for our KNPS officers were announced. Officers for 2022-2024 are; President, Jeff Nelson, Vice-President, Heidi Braunreiter, Secretary, Kelly Watson, Treasurer, Steele McFadden, and Directors Wes Cunningham, Jen Koslow, Jess Slade, and David Taylor. I am honored and excited to be elected president of the Kentucky Native Plant Society and look forward to working closely with the other board members and the KNPS membership to continue to advance the KNPS mission; “to promote education, preservation, and protection of native plants and natural communities.

Liz Neihoff & Jeff Nelson at Metropolis Lake SNP, McCracken Co.

A little bit about me. I was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Sunnyvale, California. I received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. My wife Liz, our son Aaron, and I moved from California to McCracken Co., Kentucky (Liz’s home), in 1987. After building a house on our 10 acres, we have spent the last 30+ years restoring the property from farmland to a native woodland. We have been members of the Kentucky Native Plant Society since the early 1990s and I have been on the Board of KNPS since 2017. Since 2019, Liz and I have shared responsibilities as Nature Preserve Monitors at Metropolis Lake SNP in McCracken Co. As lifelong amateur naturalists, we love exploring Kentucky and learning about the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s many ecosystems.

I cannot end this message without a big, personal thank you to Tara Littlefield. Tara recruited me to serve on the Board in 2017. Her love of, and commitment to, the native plants and ecosystems of Kentucky has served as an inspiration to me and everyone who knows her. Tara’s service to the Kentucky Native Plant Society is long-standing, serving in many roles, most recently as President for the past five years. Although leaving the office of President, Tara remains on the Board as the Immediate Past President and as the Chair of the Plant Conservation Committee so we will continue to have the benefit of her skills and botanical knowledge. Thank you, Tara.

Beginning my two-year term as President of KNPS, I am confident that the Society will grow and continue to be a leader in promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora. If you have any thoughts about what KNPS can and should be doing going forward, or if you just have a question about our native plants, email me at jeff.53chevy@gmail.com .

Thank you — Jeff Nelson