2024 Annual Meeting – Saluda Shoals Park

We will be meeting at Saluda Shoals Park located in Columbia. The address is:
5605 Bush River Road
Columbia, SC 29212.

It will be in the Environmental Center where we have the auditorium reserved.

Tell the person at the entrance to the Park that you are with the SCAN gathering so you won’t be charged an entrance fee. We have the auditorium reserved from 9am to 5pm. The Park has a good trail system, too. You can bring your own lunch or go downtown to forage for food. Also, the Park has tables and if you want to do a book and gear swap…or just want to get rid of some stuff…bring it in!

This year our 4 speakers are Steve Bennett, James Welch, Becky Brown, and Tom Austin. A great lineup!

Steve Bennett will present a talk about Amphibians and Reptiles in South Carolina: with a focus on less well-known species.

Steve attended the University of Georgia where he worked on both his BS and MS degrees in Zoology. His research for the MS degree focused on amphibian and reptile ecology. Steve worked at the Savannah River Ecology Lab with Dr. Whit Gibbons, his major professor and long-time friend and mentor.

In 1980 Steve took a job with the S.C. Wildlife and Marine Resources Dept., soon to become the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Steve was hired as the Zoologist for the Heritage Trust Program and tasked with the collection of and use of zoological data in the identification and protection of significant natural areas in S.C. He also worked with the Nongame Program on projects involving rare and declining amphibians and reptiles. During his 32-year tenure with DNR, he gradually shifted to his primary focus, and first love, and became the Herpetologist for the agency. During the last 20 years of his career Steve directed projects on the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the gopher tortoise, the gopher frog, flatwoods salamander and other pond breeding amphibians as well as general amphibian and reptile surveys on public land. Steve was also the primary contact for anyone, especially in the midlands, who needed information about amphibians and reptiles. Steve retired in 2012 but still gets out in the field to help his colleagues in ongoing amphibian and reptile conservation projects.

Jim Welch will talk about his years working with Rudy Mancke and co-hosting NatureScene.

Jim Welch spent forty years in broadcasting and journalism as a writer, cinematographer, reporter, news anchor, host, producer and Director of Programming.  He began his career in television at KHON TV in Honolulu, Hawaii, at WIS-TV in Columbia, SC and the South Carolina ETV Network. During his career in TV he covered the Gemini Space Mission following the splashdowns in the Pacific, the Johnson-Ky talks in Hawaii, and the Republican and Democratic National Conventions of the 60s and 70s.  He calls his most rewarding and exciting times the co-host of NatureScene with Rudy Mancke.

Born and raised in Vermont on a dairy farm in the green mountains not far from the Canadian border, he got his first taste of television at the age of 11 as a contestant on the CBS TV quiz show Strike It Rich.  After graduation from Alan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California he went on to study broadcasting at the University of Miami, UCLA and the University of Hawaii.

He was a longtime member of The Explorers Club and served as a past president of the Greater Piedmont Chapter based in Columbia.  He also served on the board of Friends of the Congaree and The Riverbanks Zoo.  In 1998, Lander University awarded him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science.

He retired from SCETV in 2002 and with his wife of 60 years, Ceille, a playwright and author, moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Henderson County, North Carolina. They built a cabin on the slopes of Huckleberry Ridge above Cabin Creek and the Green River where he enjoys a daily saunter on trails in the Pinnacle Falls community.

Becky Brown with SCDNR will talk about two projects she worked on for her master’s degree.  Bats…Looking at hibernation roosting temperature/humidity in a white-nose impacted population and the other, public attitudes towards bats and their management at a recreation site.

Tom Austin will share Tips for Field Expedient Identification of the Intricate Satyr in South Carolina.

Tom Austin is the Land Protection Specialist for the Edisto Island Open Land Trust, President of the Carolina Butterfly Society, Southern Regional Director for SCAN, and the Carolinas’ resident expert on the Intricate Satyr.

This link has the park and trails map:

https://www.icrc.net/parks/saluda-shoals-park/about-saluda-shoals-park