BioBlitzing at Hungry Mother State Park

By Monica S. Hoel and Tanya Hall, VMN-Holston Rivers Chapter

​On the weekend of April 23-24,2016, Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, Virginia, celebrated the 80th anniversary of its founding with a 24-hour event called a BioBlitz. State park personnel teamed up with the Holston Rivers Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalist (VMN) to engage area agency specialists and community volunteers to take a complete survey of all living organisms within the area defined as Hungry Mother State Park (HMSP).  The event was part of a larger statewide BioBlitz organized by the Virginia Geographic Alliance and Virginia State Parks.  Some funding for the event came from a Virginia Master Naturalist mini-grant to the Holston Rivers Chapter to support the event as a chapter “focus project.”

Tanya Hall, Chief Ranger at HMSP and a graduate of the Virginia Master Naturalist training class, expressed great pride in the completion of this joint venture. “The results of the biological survey were impressive, and we even found evidence of a few species of plants and animals we hadn’t previously known about.”

Shauna Russell, president of the Holston Rivers VMN chapter, said the project was a perfect way to enlist the talents of local VMN volunteers while also supporting an important partner. “Our local VMN members volunteer all the time at Hungry Mother, but this was a bigger project than usual! It was great to have the chance for VMN to be vitally involved in this historic event.”

One important outcome of the BioBlitz was the finding of the Mountain Redbelly Dace (a small fish) in a small tributary.  Mountain Redbelly Dace are not native to the Holston River drainage and are competitors of the Tennessee Dace, which occur in Hungry Mother Creek above the reservoir.  The most likely reason Mountain Redbelly Dace has established in the stream is because of anglers releasing their baitfish.  Fortunately, sampling in Hungry Mother Creek about the reservoir did not reveal any Mountain Redbelly Dace there.  Plans are being made to remove the Mountain Redbelly Dace from Hungry Mother State Park by a partnership with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Virginia Highlands Community College.  There is a high possibility that without the BioBlitz, resource managers would not have known about the presence of the Mountain Redbelly Dace until it was too late.

The BioBlitz also had important outcomes for the Holston Rivers VMN Chapter.  Various VMN graduates from years past became involved once again, and numerous new recruits experienced their first time volunteering in citizen science.  Many of these individuals stated they want to do this again next year and that they would like to come to Hungry Mother State Park and volunteer throughout the year.  Project leaders think it not only inspired people, but that it also showed individuals what they are capable of.  This project increased their confidence in their skill and knowledge of the natural world and now they know they do have something to offer no matter how big or how small.