Annual meeting of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas: Wisconsin’s North Woods, June 11-18, 2014.
This is a big event…we expect about 100 experts to be there from US, Canada, Mexico and maybe even South America. This is the Dragonfly Society of the Americas main meeting. We are inviting the public to attend any of the events to work with experts, especially thru Beaver Creek’s CSC. There will be some educational presentations at BCR and maybe at the other sites and then we will be in the field most of the time. You can go to http://mamomi.net/dsa2014/DSA2014/Welcome.html for more details.
- The Pre-meeting is through Beaver Creek Reserve for 2 days on June 11 and 12.
- The Main meeting is in the Ladysmith area for 3 days on June 13, 14, & 15.
- The post meeting is is the Woodruff area for 3 days (some staying at Kemps) on June 16, 17, &18.
The main meeting, scheduled for June 13-15, will be headquartered at the Rusk County Community Library (418 Corbett Ave. West, Ladysmith, WI 54848). We have reserved a large conference room (East Room, capacity 99 people). The business meeting will be held Saturday morning, June 14; presentations on dragonflies will follow and continue the rest of that day. If you plan to present a paper, please contact Ken Tennessen (ktennessen@centurytel.net) as soon as possible. Presentations are expected to adhere to scientific format. For any early birds, we are currently prepared to receive and review abstracts. A catered banquet is planned for Saturday evening. A registration fee of $20 will cover the catered meal and other minor expenses that attendees would normally have to pay for anyway.
The pre-meeting trip will be June 11-12 in the Eau Claire area at Beaver Creek Reserve, BCR (www.beavercreekreserve.org); there is also a Citizen Science Center (CSC) there, which will have microscopes and a place to leave some of your things. CSC can also provide a few nets and waders, but you are encouraged to bring your own. BCR and CSC is about 15 miles east of EauClaire (see directions below). We will met at the CSC at 8:30 am on June 11 for a meet-and-greet and a brief educational presentation. From there we will plan the day to visit the Eau Claire River for gomphids, including Ophiogomphus smithi and other odes, pending water level of course, although the river is usually quite wadeable. There are also lakes, tamarack (larch) bogs and hopefully ephemeral ponds in the area. The second day will also start at the CSC at 8:30 am and plans made for that day in that area.
The main feature for the field outings during the main meeting (Friday and Sunday) will be the Chippewa River near Bruce, rich in clubtails. Eighteen species of Gomphidae are recorded in the Chip in this area, although not all will be flying in mid-June. The Chippewa River (affectionately called “the Chip”) is a high quality, mid-sized to large stream that flows from upper Wisconsin’s Boreal Forest southwest to the Mississippi River. Along its 183-mile length it alternately transitions from rapids to shallow riffles to deeper slow runs, to pools and flowages. It is a popular canoeing, kayaking and fishing stream. The Chippewa watershed drains more than 4500 square miles. Historically, it was one of the most important rivers for transporting huge pine logs during the timber-cutting days in the latter half of the 19th century.
The post-meeting trip will begin June 16 and wrap up on June 18, in the north-central part of the state, near Woodruff, in Vilas County and Oneida County. This is approximately a two-hour drive from Ladysmith.
