For this month’s Mappy Hour we teamed up with the Maryland/DC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (world’s largest conservation organization) to not only share our passion for the outdoors but also learn more about how to protect the places we love. The featured presenter of the night was Deborah Landau an ecologist for the Maryland/DC Chapter of TNC. She spoke to us about local conservation and restoration work including her specialty prescribed burns in nature preserves. Deborah talked about how some plant species need fire for their life cycles. She told a story about finding a rare orchid (which bloomed soon after a prescribed burn) that hadn’t been seen in years. Turns out the flower needed fire in order to thrive!
The rest of the night was spent hanging out, listening to live music, and of course sharing our upcoming trip plans. A few photos:
We can’t wait to see everyone next time! Plus: get involved with TNC in DC/Maryland by emailing Kate Arion at karion@tnc.org.
