June 5th Walnut Council Field Day to Feature Historic Emporia Camp 5/13/08

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- When consulting forester Gary Naughton completed a timber sale this year for Camp Alexander – the site of the June 5, 2008 Walnut Council Field Day – he had just one comment: “This is the highest quality plantation walnut I’ve seen in Kansas.”

Located a few miles east of Emporia, Kan., Camp Alexander is a non-profit corporation funded by the Hopkins Foundation, United Way and private donations.

Former Slave Made Preservation of Kansas Environmental Education Site Possible
Camp Alexander Near Emporia Hosts Children and Adults

EMPORIA, Kan. -- A grave lies in the middle of a camp near Emporia, Kan. A marker identifies it as the final resting place of E.J. Alexander, who purchased the land in 1886. The camp, now an environmental education site, bears his name.

Alexander was born into slavery in North Carolina.

When he later bought his 90-acre farm in Lyon County, he raised fruits and vegetables to sell in Emporia.

“Evidently, he often shared his unsold food with the poor and needy. Plus, stories still abound about the children who followed his wagon, wanting rides and free apples,” said Bob Atchison, who helped organize this year’s June 5 Walnut Council Field Day at Camp Alexander.

The field day will address today’s best management practices for hardwood forests.

E.J. Alexander willed his savings and property to the “orphaned and needy” of Emporia, Atchison said. But that fact wasn’t known until Emporia attorney James Putnam found the will in the late 1930s.

That discovery, in turn, led to the founding of the non-profit camp in 1945.

Thad Rhodes of the Kansas Forest Service now provides practical, in-field management advice to landowners in the Emporia area – including Camp Alexander’s board and director. But, he doesn’t just applaud what’s happened to Mr. Alexander’s high-quality riparian forests.

“Over the years, the leadership of Camp Alexander has also done a good job of encouraging wildlife and recreational opportunities through the development of trails and bird nesting boxes,” Rhodes said.

More information about Camp Alexander is available on the Web: http://www.campalexander.org/.

“For 63 years, (Camp Alexander) has provided environmental education opportunities for countless children and families,” said Bob Atchison, rural forestry coordinator for the Kansas Forest Service. “The Neosho River snakes through the 90-acre property, and it’s surrounded by impressive bottomland forest. The rest of the camp’s landscape is native upland prairie. It’s a beautiful place.”

The June 5 field day will feature a variety of sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Atchison said. Field day planners have directed the session topics toward landowners and natural resource professionals who want to know more about the management of black walnut and other fine quality hardwood trees.

Many of the session leaders will be specialists from the Kansas Forest Service, Kansas State University Research and Extension, or the Kansas chapter of the Walnut Council.

The council itself is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the culture of fine quality hardwoods by working to help “transfer” science and technology into actual field applications. Some 65 Kansans are members.

Their field day program will include lunch from Bobby D’s Merchant Street BBQ, which the event’s $12 registration fee will help cover. Registration information and driving directions are available on the Web at http://www.kansasforests.org/ (click on “Calendar of Events” and then the June 5 entry).

* How to Sell Black Walnut – Marty Hewins, 30-year consulting forester who recently bought 15,000 board feet of Camp Alexander timber.

* Sustaining the Post-Harvest Productivity of Kansas Forests – Thad Rhodes, KFS district forester.

* Managing Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Riparian Areas – Tom Eddy, Department of Biology, Emporia State University.

* Forest Pests: Existing and Emerging – Judy O’Mara, KSU plant diagnostician, and Ray Cloyd, K-State Research and Extension entomologist

* Riparian Forest Management and Protection – Charles Barden, K-State Research and Extension forester.

* Soils and Sites for Black Walnut – Wayne Geyer, KSU professor of silviculture, and Don Gastineau, soil scientist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

Kansas Walnut Council president Dennis Morriss, said the field day site will provide “an excellent example of good forestry practices associated with the sale and management of black walnut.”

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.