The Nature Conservancy Celebrates Opening of Angus Gholson Jr. Environmental Learning Center

TALLAHASSEE, FL — May 15, 2008 — Renowned botanist Angus Gholson Jr. of Chattahoochee was honored by The Nature Conservancy today as the namesake of a new environmental center on the Conservancy’s Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in Bristol. At a ceremony attended by people from throughout the region — including botanists, county officials, congressional staff and the Conservancy’s board of trustees — the Angus Gholson Jr. Environmental Learning Center was dedicated.

“Places matter,” said Jeff Danter, The Nature Conservancy’s state director, “This building will help land managers protect the vast biological diversity of this place and this region. We are recognizing what a big difference one person can make. We are proud to name it after a man so respected by everyone, from Ph.D. scientists to weekend hikers.”

Gholson, 87, is a self-taught botanist who developed a vast knowledge of the region’s plants and established a climate-controlled herbarium of more than 15,000 specimens behind the Chattahoochee home where he was born. He volunteered for years at the preserve and discovered a unique blazing star that was named for him in 2002 — Liatris gholosonii.

“He has been a steadfast resource for The Nature Conservancy,” said the Conservancy’s Jon Blanchard, the preserve’s former manager who was instrumental in the learning center’s creation. “He has spent a life’s work knowing his home…this has been a marvel to me.”

Gholson’s love for plants matches the area, which he said is “like nowhere else in the world.” The 6,295-acre preserve includes bluffs as high as 200 feet along the Apalachicola River, rare steephead ravines, and a wide variety of rare plants and animals.

“These steephead ravines open your eyes to another world. They call out to you, ‘Hey there,’” Angus said in accepting the honor. “I’m certainly gratified and please.”

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. With funding from the voter approved Florida Forever program and our generous donors the Conservancy has helped protect more than 1.2 million acres in Florida since 1961. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/florida.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.