The Land Connection
Spring/Summer 2022
The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust (GPLT) protects land where you live, work and play.
We protect land that supports healthy habitats where wildlife thrives and people can connect with nature.
Our land conservation benefits you and future generations of Georgians. Help us continue this important work by donating today.
Rocky Face Ridge Park
A Place for Outdoor Recreation
and History in Whitfield County

GPLT is proud to partner with Whitfield County in its new park, called Rocky Face Ridge Park. The Grand Opening is scheduled for Monday, July 25, at 4:30 pm. Although the park has been open from dawn to dusk since spring 2021, officials held off on having a grand opening until all the park amenities could be completed.
In 2014, the county acquired the 301-acre Grant Farm, which abuts approximately 650 acres the county already owned. Together, the two properties comprise the new park. This was the site of two Civil War battles in 1864 and also of Confederate encampments when the Confederate Army spent the winter of 1863-64 in Dalton following the Battle of Chattanooga.

Funding came from a variety of sources including the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program, private groups and foundations such as the Lyndhurst Foundation in Chattanooga, the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, the Riverview Foundation in Chattanooga, Save the Dalton Battlefields, and Whitfield County. Additionally, the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) representatives helped design the mountain bike trails and provided funds for their construction. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources provided a grant to build the walking trails, and the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund provided a grant to build a parking lot, pavilion and restrooms.

GPLT holds a protective conservation easement on the property. Working in concert with the state’s Historic Preservation Division, the easement requires GPLT to approve uses on the site, ensuring that the property remains in a natural state, and its historic and archeological values are protected.
A Showy Slipper
The spring season in the Piedmont and northern Georgia features a quiet riot of color and plants, known as ephemerals, since they experience their entire life cycle each year during this short period. Then they “disappear,” with rootstock or seeds going dormant until the next spring. This is the time of year when plant lovers keep their eyes on the ground, since these species frequently are small or hidden in leaf or pine litter.

One particularly showy example is the Pink ladyslipper or Moccasin flower (Cypripedium acaule), a member of the orchid family. A single flower sits on a bare stem from 6 to 15 inches tall; two large oval leaves lie on the ground. 

This orchid variety grows in partial shade under pines and in mixed hardwood/pine woodlands, including areas that have transitioned from the agricultural activity of earlier centuries into forests predominated by oak, pine and hickory. This forest habitat is key to the existence of Pink ladyslipper since the plant forms a complex and essential relationship with underground fungi in these areas. Pollination is achieved by bees; ladyslipper flowers have adapted to this activity. After a seed capsule matures, the seeds are penetrated by a soil fungus which provides nourishment. Because of this delicate and very localized relationship, they are vulnerable to land conversion and development. Pink ladyslippers are best left in place; they don’t transplant well.

One of the joys of a springtime visit to properties protected by the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust is the opportunity to view and photograph this very special orchid.

(Sources: The Natural Communities of Georgia/Edwards, Ambrose, Kirkman, 2013. Nature’s Melody/Benson, 1994. A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina/Porcher, Rayner, 2001.)
The Consummate Forester

Long time GPLT board member Dale Higdon, a retired Forester, has forestry in his blood. He spent his career working as a Community Forester for the Georgia Forestry Commission. As a retiree he continues his forestry work as a volunteer.

Not only does he lend his expertise to GPLT but he participates in workshops educating younger generations, is a board member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, and established and stewards numerous hybrid American Chestnut orchards for research.

In a recent interview he discusses the importance of forestry in urban communities.
How can I support GPLT?
Protecting important lands is what we do. But we cannot do it without you. Please support our mission with a donation today.
Photos Courtesy of Hank Ohme, Carol Hassell & Dale Higdon