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Highlander's Library of Contributing Writer Articles...
Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center Preservation Committee
The primary goal of the Preservation Committee is to educate the public on the importance of preserving the incredible diversity of native plant species living in our Southern Appalachian Mountain Region. In addition to the development of the Ethno-botanic Sanctuaries at the GMREC, the Preservation Committee provides public education and outreach, and Plant Rescue support...click here to read their articles...
Primitive Survival Skills in the 21st Century?
The physicality of satisfying our essential needs today is virtually effortless – like strolling through the aisles of a grocery store or turning a knob to heat an oven. So why turn back history and roam forest and field to dig up edible roots? Why twirl a stick in your hands to near exhaustion in the quest for fire? Isn't all that ancient lore out-dated? No. And here are three reasons why....continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
Hemlocks, Gift Giver of the Standing People
The gifts of the forest are legion. Today those gifts are thought of as arcane anecdotes to a fast and furious culture disconnected from its environment. Just five centuries ago, the lore of plant foods and medicines and craft materials was the mainstay of the everyday. Every man, woman and child held this knowledge with an intimacy born of pragmatic use and reverence....continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
Primitive Survival Self Made Shelter
The earth giveth. And the earth taketh away - especially when it comes to body heat. The cold ground saps a mammal of its precious warmth. When you need to stay overnight in the wild unexpectedly, you need to know how to protect yourself from hypothermia. The materials necessary to accomplish this are abundant, waiting in the forest. So once again, the earth giveth....continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
A Light in the Forest, Seeking the Company of Fire
"A Light in the Forest ~ Seeking the Company of Fire" On the list of what to do in an emergency wilderness survival situation, building a fire is often assigned a low priority by survival experts. Here in the Southern Appalachians, two factors have convinced me to change my mind about that. One, the humidity. And two, the lowly chigger...continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
The Lost Instinct of Knowing what to Eat
"Lost Instinct of Knowing What to Eat" Have you ever heard that old adage: watch what the animals eat and you'll know what to eat, too? Well, forget it. It's simply not true. The fact is that there was a time when no one had to teach us what to eat...continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
Primitive Survival Skills in the 21st Century?
Purity, your second most immediate need in a survival situation. Sixth in Mark Warren's series on Primitive Survival. Can you name the three physical intakes - in their order of immediacy - necessary to keep the human body functioning and alive? read on...continue story...
by Mark Warren owner and director of Medicine Bow Wilderness School, teaching nature classes and Native American survival skills in the mountains of North Georgia
Fishing, the Pathway to Nature
It pains me that some children don't experience nature as I have. A recent book by Richard Louv, called Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, has brought into the national dialogue the condition of today's children and in particular their poverty of outdoors experiences.
The Cornell study of 2,000 adults by professors Nancy Wells and Kristi Lekies revealed in the journal, Children, Youth and Environments, that kids that fish and have unstructured time outdoors grow into adults who care more about conservation and the environment...continue story...
by Dr. Mamie Parker, Assistant Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington DC, an avid angler, and member of the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame
The Meaning of Christmas
The first thing Santa said to me as we warmed our hands in front of the fire is that he does the Christmas thing to keep children believing. "Yes," he said in a somber voice, "without hope for the future and a bit of joy in their lives, children suffer."
He worries that the world is not always a hospitable place for children; that Princes and Princesses and Kings and Queens and Presidents are all failing to buffer children from the discontents of their elders....continue story...
by Dr. Ellen Rudolph
Liz Nicholas, Wildlife Rehabilitator
Meet Liz Nicholas, a legally licensed Wildlife Rehabber that assists with injured or orphaned wildlife as deemed by state and federal wildlife agencies.
Liz has wonderful stories to share about helping local wildlife that received injuries due to a variety of situations caused by human encroachment on what use to be open land...click here to read her first story...
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