Buttonwood Nature Center’s spring speaker series, Feathers, Fur & Fins: Wildlife and Water Habitats continues on Thursday, March 13 with “The Beavers at Gettysburg National Park.”
Presented by Chris Davis, park biologist at Gettysburg National Park, the program is at 7 p.m. in the social room at Church of the Apostles in Waynesboro. Admission is free.
“Visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park come to connect with the profound American history and cultural heritage of one of the most pivotal battlefields of the Civil War,” Davis said. “Beyond its historical significance, the park also showcases a uniquely diverse landscape, blending natural ecosystems and agricultural features that form a vital part of its historic character.”
A noteworthy recent ecological development at the park is the establishment of a beaver complex in Plum Run at the base of Little Round Top—one of the park’s most visited and historically significant landmarks.
Davis will discuss the unique opportunities and challenges of managing dynamic ecosystem processes like beaver activity in a park that is defined by historic landscape preservation.
Davis began his National Park Service (NPS) career in 2010 at Rocky Mountain National Park and has since worked in various NPS roles at parks and regional offices, including Yosemite, the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network, and the Southwest Invasive Plant Management Team.
In 2021, Davis became the park ecologist at Gettysburg, transitioning to park biologist in 2023. With expertise in invasive plant ecology, native vegetation restoration, and ecosystem monitoring, Davis focuses on strategies that enhance biodiversity and ecosystem health while preserving the historic landscape of the Gettysburg battlefield.
The final program in the series, on March 20, is “Waterways of the PA South-Central Region—Fishing, Boating and More,” presented by Sarah Bartle, Waterways Conservation Officer, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
The speaker series is sponsored by Robert and Grace Brown, with additional support from Buttonwood’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; APX Enclosures; Don Gibe and Nancy Erlanson; and the family of the late Carolyn Terry Eddy, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin.
For more information, visit buttonwoodnaturecenter.org, call 717-762-0373 or email to info@buttonwoodnaturecenter.org.