1705 news

Mayor attends "Kentuckians in Washington"

Mayor William T. Coooper, Chairman of Buffalo Trace Area Development District, recently met with Senator Jim Bunning and Congressman Geoff Davis in Washington regarding local projects concerning Vanceburg.
Cooper was attending the "Kentuckians in Washington" Conference. Cooper was accompanied by Steve Miller, Executive Director of BTADD, James M. Thomas, Vice Chairman of BTADD, and Amy Kennedy, Programs Director BTADD.

Cooper also had the distinguished honor of introducing Congressman Davis during his meeting in the Rayburn Building at the "Kentuckians in Washington.

Fungus killing dogwoods

AP -- A disease that is slowly killing off white dogwoods has affected more than half of the trees at Mammoth Cave National Park. The fungus has affected about 70 percent of the 82-square-mile park in south-central Kentucky, park officials said citing a recent study.

Of the 2,298 trees selected at random and examined by park officials, 43 percent had been partially affected by the fungus called dogwood anthracnose, while 28 percent had been killed by the disease and 29 percent were healthy, park officials said.

"We are extremely concerned," said Mark DePoy, chief of science and natural resources at the park. "It's a keystone species people look for in the spring.

DePoy said its fruit helps sustain wildlife, including some already-struggling songbirds, and its leaves, when decomposed, are especially helpful at returning nutrients to the soil.

William Jones, an Asheville, North Carolina, based plant pathologist with the US Forest Service, said the disease probably came from an unknown foreign country.

In the last decade, the East has lost about half of its native dogwoods. Kentucky and Indiana have lost about three million since the late 1980s where there were 807 million dogwoods. Now, there are about 505 million, according to estimates from the Forest Service.
Concerned park workers continue to search for a cure. Ecologist Mike Jenkins at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina said park workers have started using controlled fires as a way to thin out and open forests to improve conditions for dogwoods.
Experts say trees that receive more sun and better air circulation are more likely to resist the fungus, which thrives in cool, wet weather and is difficult to control, said forester Diana Olszowy.
"It gets into all parts of the tree -- tree, trunks and the blooms themselves," she said. "It's difficult to control."

Outdoor Club gets donation

The AA Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation presented the Lewis County Middle School Outdoor Club with a donation on April 19.
The AA Longbeards Chapter promotes area youth development in our community, not only with this donation, but also, financing a $500 scholarship to a graduating Lewis County senior each year. The donation to the Outdoor Club helps finance many of the club's activities.
The local AA Longbeards Chapter not only helps financially, many of their members donate their time to help in various ways.
At our March meeting, members Mike Mineer, Kevin Box, Roger Scaggs, Tom Bertram, Todd Sartin and our local conservation officer, Steve Justice, educated Outdoor Club members on how to correctly use turkey calls while sharing hunting tips and experiences for promoting safety during turkey hunting.

Jeff Cunningham, president of the local AA Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, presents the LCMS Outdoor Club with a donation.

In April, AA Longbeard members Jeff Cunningham, Todd Sartin and Kevin Box will judge our clubs annual turkey calling contest.

Photo Catch

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

A pair of robins foraged Sunday after this weekend's late snowfall melted.

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