BBC Snippets

Link: http://www.freelists.org/archives/bristol-birds/02-2008/msg00110.html

(left to right) Bob Burleson, Mary Fern Behrend, Linda Behrend Akard and children, Dr. Lee R. Herndon and Frank Robinson.

It was especially fitting that the dedication of Bear Wallow Trail in Roan Mountain State Park to the memory of the great mountain naturalist, Fred W. Behrend (1896-1976) took place Saturday, Sept. 10, 1977 at the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally.

Freddie, as many of his friends knew him, created the rally in Sept 1963. The rally has thrived for 45 years.

This snippet is not about Fred Behrend, it is about the history of how the Bear Wallow Trail dedication and memorial marker came about.

It is important to at least say he was not only recognized as the expert about natural history of Roan Mountain but, along with Stephen M. Russell, he discovered and charted the migration flight lanes of hawks in the Southern Appalachians, including the Mendota hawk watching location.

Along with his wife, Mary Fern, they were charter members of the Elizabethton Bird Study Club, organized in February 1944, which, shortly thereafter became the Elizabethton bird club we know today.

Fred was a hiker beyond compare. If memory does not fail us, he went hiking alone on Lynn Mountain near Elizabethton and suffered a stroke on the afternoon of June 12, 1976. It took awhile to find him and, after being hospitalized for more than two months, died on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1976.

Two weeks later on Wednesday, Sept 6, 1976, Charles R. Smith at Cornell University wrote Dr. Lee R. Herndon at Elizabethton stating that he had an idea he wanted to share with Herndon and the Elizabethton Chapter of TOS. Smith said that Bill Bridgforth (today a Johnson City physician) had suggested that it might be possible to rename one of the mountain tops along the Tennessee-North Carolina line in Fred's honor. Round Bald seemed like a logical choice. He wrote Herndon that he had talked with Wallace Coffey and he agreed this might be possible if several groups worked together. He said Ken Dubke of Chattanooga had similar thoughts.

In addition, Smith suggested that it would be nice to have a granite bolder (or similar stone) put in place with a bronze plaque attached as an additional memorial marker.

On Sept 30, 1976, Dr. Herndon wrote Smith and said it was good to have his proposal for a memorial for Fred Behrend.

He said that at the first Elizabethton TOS Chapter meeting following Behrend's death the club considered a memorial. A committee of Dr. Gary Wallace, Glen Eller and Dr. Herndon had been appointed since they had been in charge of the naturalist rally.

They had talked with Frank Robinson, owner and publisher of the Elizabethton Star newspaper where Behrend had worked for so many years. Robinson discouraged renaming anything with a long standing geographical name due to eventual confusion and the need for legislative approval required from two states. A plaque or marker in such a remote area would be vandalized. They had talked about possibly naming a new nature trail which was being created in Sycamore Shoals State Park.

They thought Bear Wallow trail, which began and ended in Roan Mountain State Park, seemed more suitable. However, it already had a name. They talked with State Representative Bob Burleson who lived at the community of Roan Mountain and asked what he thought about dedicating that trail to the memory of Behrend. Burleson liked the idea very much. He offered to get a bill passed in the Tennessee state legislature.

A Nature Conservancy representative wanted to present a proposal at the Naturalist Rally that year which would entail the purchase of 12,000 acres of land along the Appalachia Trail and running from Carver's Gap to Elk Park, costing $6 million. Ten thousand acres would be dedicated in Behrend's name. The advisory board declined to allow such a proposal to be presented at the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally because they were unsure about their capabilities with such a large project and Behrend had always frowned on big money raising ventures.

The group had decided they wanted a stone moved from somewhere in the Roan Mountain area to the Bear Wallow trailhead in the park. A suitable bonze plaque would cost $100. The stone could be moved for about the same amount of money. All of this would be more secure in the park and less exposed to vandalism.

A year later, on Aug 3, 1977, Dr. Herndon reported that the legislature had passed a resolution permitting the dedication of Bear Wallow Trail to the memory of Behrend. This was required because it was in a state park.

A 12 inch by 24 inch bronze plaque had been ordered and delivered. Jim Potter, a local community leader who took over working with the rally, joined Gary Wallace and Herndon and took a tour of the area to find a suitable stone, an oval river rock, which weighed about 5,000 pounds.

Dr. Gary Wallace agreed to be the treasurer for donations.

Dedication was set for Saturday, Sept 10, 1977, at the Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally. A nice gathering was on hand.

On Aug 24, 1977, just two weeks before the dedication, Charlie Smith accepted the position of Assistant Director of the prestigious Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University. One week later he had his doctorate degree conferred upon him from Cornell.

Behrend had been a mentor to Dr. Smith and Wallace Coffey since they were teenagers. They certainly hoped Freddie Behrend approved.

Maybe he was looking down on Bear Wallow Trail that Saturday in September.

Maybe he reads BBC Snippets :-)

from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club