DATE: 9-3-01 CONTACT: Jim Fischer, (864) 656-3141 WRITER: Peter Kent, (864) 656-0937

   
JOCASSEE GORGES -- William Bartram was right. From atop Station Mountain, the view of the Jocassee Gorges is "inexpressibly magnificent and comprehensive."

A group of Clemson University leaders learned for themselves what the famed 18^th century naturalist experienced. Jocassee Gorges is Upstate South Carolina's most special place, a land of clear waters, dense forest and abundant wildlife. Their half-day visit to the gorges Friday was a unique thank-you gesture from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

"We wanted to show our appreciation to Clemson and the two dozen or so other groups that helped sponsor the 16^th annual Eastern Black Bear Workshop," said Sam Stokes, the state wildlife biologist who serves as point man for nearly 40,000 acres of public lands at Jocassee.

Standing on a precipice overlooking Lake Jocassee, John Kelly, Clemson vice president of agriculture and public service, took in the view. "We are delighted that Clemson can be a partner in protecting this remarkable place. I look forward to the university lending a hand in helping to care for South Carolina's natural heritage."

Joining Kelly were Dori Helms, Clemson interim provost, Chris Przirembel, university vice president for research, and Jim Fischer, dean and director of agriculture and forestry research. Accompanying the Clemson group was Jim Timmerman Jr., director emeritus of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Because of his tireless efforts to preserve the gorges, the public lands have been named the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges.

While the group enjoyed the outing, no one met a bear - a meeting occurring all too frequently nowadays. Convened every other year, the bear workshop brings together wildlife researchers from the Eastern United States and Canada. They share data, bear-management strategies and problems - the most demanding is that of human-bear interactions.

"The number of meetings between bears and people is on the rise," said Stokes. "The bears are losing habitat as the number of humans in the bears' range increases. The bears are looking for food and people may offer it, usually from their trash. We have had more than 200 calls about bears over the past year."

Preserving and managing a large tract like Jocassee is vital to the survival of bears. Thanks to a farsighted arrangement among Duke Energy, which owned much of the gorges, state and S.C. congressional leaders, wildlife and environmental organizations, philanthropic foundations and generous individuals, South Carolina residents - human and ursine - have the crown of the uppermost reaches of the state protected. Now, the land must be managed to enhance the habitat for bears, deer, turkey, birds, fish, plants and other life forms that flourish there.

Clemson faculty members play a large role in the effort. Conducting research and serving on committees, university scientists provide data and expertise for planning and policy.

"The water quality is the best in the state," said Barbara Speziale, a Clemson biologist who provides support to state water-quality officials. Through the Clemson University Extension Water Quality Program, Speziale and others at the university work to help keep the 7,500-acre Lake Jocasse and its tributaries clean. The results have been a boon for anglers, with the lake yielding record-size trout and bass.

Upstream, where half-dozen rivers and creeks fill the lake, Clemson forester and avid fly-fisherman David Van Lear has observed brook trout, a rarely seen native of the Southern Appalachians. The water quality and remoteness give the brightly colored, small fish a refuge.

Other Clemson researchers have found at least 191 species of aquatic insects in the major streams feeding Lake Jocassee. Four species of caddis flies seen there are found nowhere else on earth, according to John Morse, Clemson entomologist and director of the university's museum of natural history.

On land, foresters and wildlife biologists study the impact of open areas, which are vital for berries, a major food source for bears and birds. Trail management and public recreation access are other management concerns, as the region becomes a more popular tourist destination.

"Jocasse has tremendous resources: its biodiversity, habitat quality, its beauty and wildness, all of this, must be cared for as a lasting legacy for generations to come," said Fischer. "Solid scientific research is the foundation of sound environmental policy-making, and Clemson, one of the state's land-grant universities, has a responsibility to be a stewardship partner."

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