The 2014 NANFA annual convention will be held June 5-8 at the North Carolina Forest Service Training Facility located on the banks of the Linville River in Crossnore, North Carolina, which is about 30 minutes southof Boone. This place is closely located to the Catawba, Nolichucky (Tennessee) and New River watersheds.While the event runs from 5-8 June, arrangements are being made to stay on the 4th and depart on the 9th for those who want to do this.
There are 5 dormitories available with 45 rooms for a maximum of 88 beds. Most rooms have 2 single beds and a sink. Buildings A and B are closest to the dining facility and each have 14 double rooms and 1 single, all with sinks. Building A, which will be our primary gathering place, has separate men and women’s restroom/showers. Single women would most likely stay in this building, as well as couples. Our registration andauction can be held here. Building B has the same number of rooms but only one unisex shower/rest room. Both have microwaves, refrigerators, and TV. There is a large burn pit outside these buildings for gatherings. The Mountain Lodge sleeps 11 (1 single) and has a unisex shower/restroom. It also has a full kitchen. The River Lodge is the newest and sleeps 9 – one room has 3 beds. No sinks in these rooms. There are 2 shower/restrooms in this building so couples and single females could stay here also. Large gathering room upstairs. The Helitack Building is about a ¼ mile away and sleeps 10, no sinks in the rooms. It has a full kitchen with 2 bathrooms.
Costs to stay here are very reasonable. If you come in on Thursday and leave Sunday, room and meals will be $144, plus registration. Registration will be $75 for members, $100 for non-members (includes 1 year membership), $ 35 for students and collecting spouses, and $12 for non-collecting spouses. All registrations include cook out on Friday. Since the Forest Service needs to know how much food to buy, you will need to send your final payment to NANFA by May 9th in order to allow them to buy the right amount of food (but see below about early registration). Late comers may be able to stay at the facility but keep in mind that numbers are limited and they DO NOT take credit cards.
There are a number of campgrounds in the area including the one at Linville Falls operated by the National Park Service, which is only 6 miles away. Two motels are located in Linville Falls and 1 in Pineola, both about 5 miles away. There are a number of good restaurants in nearby Linville Falls, Crossnore, and Newland. The nearest airport is in Asheville some 70 miles and 90 minutes away.
Friday will consist of collecting/snorkleing in nearby watersheds with arrival back at the facility at reasonable time to enjoy the cook out and auction. Saturday will also be more collecting/snorkeling but there will also be a collecting challenge between 2 teams who will visit the same 4 sites, in reverse order – all catch and release. Numbers will be limited on these teams so when registration opens up, if you wish to compete, be prepared to register. There will an extra fee ($10) for this which will go to the funding of t-shirts for the winning team. Announcement of when registration opens up will be in the first 2014 American Currents and on the Forum. Sunday will be more of the same with some groups heading in different directions on their way home or staying in the area.
We will try and get trip leaders under the scientific collecting permit of the host so no other licenses will be needed unless you decide to collect on your own, before or after the convention.
Below are some of the collecting sites and several endemics I caught last week:
north toe river.jpg 431.18KB
17 downloadsNorth Toe River
south toe river.jpg 272.64KB
15 downloadserSouth Toe River
south fork new river.jpg 372.84KB
6 downloadsSouth Fork New River
pigeonroost.jpg 232.76KB
3 downloadsPigeonroost Creek
Kanawah highlands shiner.jpg 44.01KB
7 downloadsKanawha highlands shiner
Kanawah minnow.jpg 48.36KB
6 downloadsKanawha minnow
New River shiner.jpg 54.5KB
3 downloadsNew River shiner
tonguetied minnow.jpg 54.67KB
5 downloadsTonguetied minnow
kanawha darter male.jpg 60.09KB
7 downloadsKanawah darter - male
Kanawaha darterfemale.jpg 60.45KB
5 downloadsfemale
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