University of Tennessee Forest Resources Research Center

Have you noticed the new walking trails under construction at the UT Arboretum?

It is all due to a grant received as part of the Recreation Trails Program, sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, in Nashville, TN.

You may have already enjoyed our newest addition, the Cemetery Ridge Trail, with its restful benches, or observed the various new trails under construction, or perhaps you noticed your favorite trail has been recently renovated for your enhanced enjoyment. Some of this work was done by our talented staff, but a great deal has been through the efforts of our extremely valuable volunteers.

We have been fortunate to have the assistance of local Boy Scouts of America troops, as well as local engineers, graphic artists, biologists, and people just like you who volunteer their time and energy to enhance everyone’s visit to the UT Arboretum, and it’s many walking trails.

We are still looking for Trail Rangers to assist with the trail maintenance. Classes were pushed back for a time, but we hope to have our first training session soon. Would you be interested? Please call our office, 865-483-3571, and leave your name and contact number. We would be delighted to have you join us in our effort to provide a wonderful place to enjoy nature, in the heart of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Weather Station at the Arboretum

The UT Forest Resources Research and Education Center, in partnership with the Oak Ridge Office of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (NOAA-ATDD), is hosting the newly established weather measurements and recording station for Oak Ridge, TN. This "weather station" is located on an exposed knoll of Chestnut Ridge near the TVA Power Line corridor and is within an area of the UT Arboretum.

ATDD's main function is to perform air quality and climate-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance. ATDD began as a Weather Bureau Special Projects research office established in 1948 under the Atomic Energy Commission sponsorship in Oak Ridge, and still serves as a source of meteorological information and expertise for the US Department of Energy and its contractors in Oak Ridge.

According to Richard Evans, Forest Resources Center and Arboretum Director, "Weather/climate information is an important variable in evaluating the performance of both native and ornamental plants, as well as environmental conditions associated with studying wildlife and plant communities. Given the mission of the Center and Arboretum in supporting a wide array of natural resources research and plant evaluation trials, having an on-site weather station is an immense asset to the faculty and students who are conducting research at this location."

At present this NOAA-ATDD weather station is instrumented to collect data on basic environmental stress factors. Over time, however, the station will be outfitted with more environmental and atmospheric data collecting instruments for broader and more elaborate measurements of environmental stress parameters. Oak Ridge NOAA-ATDD will soon provide on-line historic and current weather reports via their web-link at http://www.atdd.noaa.gov.

Summer 2008 News

Recreational Trails Program

Weather Station at the Arboretum