LMNGNO Annual Gathering 2024 - October 11-13
Join other Naturalists for a fun and educational weekend at Bogue Chitto State Park.
Accommodations and Registration Fees
The registration fee is $40. The fee to sleep in the lodge (large dorms with bunk beds; indoor restrooms and showers) is an additional $10 for Friday and Saturday nights. This is optional - participants are free to make other arrangements. Registration grants access to any and all activities and meals throughout the weekend. Single-day tickets are not available.
What to Bring
If you are staying overnight you will need to supply your own sheets, blankets, pillows (or a sleeping bag) and towels. Check our list of suggested items.
The weekend begins Friday afternoon and continues through mid-day on Sunday. See the agenda for all activities.
Agenda
| FRIDAY | |
| 2-4 PM Tree identification | Leaders: Byron Almquist *Meet at the Group Camp |
| 4-6 PM | Check-in |
| 5:30 PM | Welcome and overview of the weekend |
| 6-7 PM | Dinner |
| 7-8 PM | Nature photography Speaker: Bill Van der Meer |
| 8:15 PM | Night hike and owl prowl Leaders: Lana Dessauer and Janna Wisniewski |
| SATURDAY | |
| 6:30-8 AM | Birding Self-directed |
| 7:30-8 AM | Opening of the moth trap |
| 8-9 AM | Breakfast |
| 9-11 AM | Phenology Leader: Jim Grice |
| 11 AM- 1 PM | BioBlitz and reading the environment Leaders: Janna Wisniewski and Bob Thomas |
| 1-2 PM | Lunch |
| 2-4 PM | Mammal bone lab Leader: Craig Hood |
| 4-6 PM | Free time |
| 6-7 PM | Dinner |
| 6:30-7:30 PM | Native plant communities of the Bogue Chitto Speaker: Tammany Baumgarten |
| 7:30 PM | Bat walk Leader: Craig Hood |
| SUNDAY | |
| 6:30-8 AM | Birding Self-directed |
| 7:30-8 AM | Opening of the moth trap |
| 8-9:30 AM | Breakfast and pack up |
| 9:30-11 AM | Animal tracking Leader: Becky Larkins |
Still have questions? Email Janna.
At Bogue Chitto State Park, visitors will experience a diversity of natural habitats on one of the most dynamic and scenic river systems in Louisiana. The 1,786-acre site includes small streams, cypress-tupelo swamps, a hardwood forest, upland forests and a rolling landscape.
Fricke's Cave, which – despite its name – resembles more of a gorge, possesses
delicate sandstone spires created when water erodes the surface underneath pebbles. The pebbles remain perched atop the spires, while over time water splashes on the sandstone surface, forming the two-foot-tall fingers of sandstone that shoot up from the now-lowered surface. Boardwalks have been built so that visitors can admire the sandstone creations from afar, as the formations are too delicate to allow visitors to walk among them.
Map and Directions
Bogue Chitto State Park is located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, ten miles north of Folsom on LA 25 or about an hour and 15 minutes from Metairie. Park phone (985) 839-5707