Robert Cooke Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution

Pictures from April's Conservation Program

Regent Carolyn Christian Martin presided. Following the Ritual and President General's message, there was a brief business meeting. Reports were given. The Regent recapped State Conference and shared the 14 awards won by Robert Cooke Chapter. Three new members were voted in, pending approval by national headquarters. Dorothy Steen, American Heritage and Conservation Chairman, introduced the program. Annell Steen Shaffer, an environmentalist who teaches at Cumberland County High School and Roane State Community College, presented a conservation program. She told about three species that are bring reintroduced into Tennessee: elk, fishers, and sandhill cranes. She had video tapes showing the animals, where they lived, and the process of safely trapping, checking their health, and transporting and releasing the species in wilderness protected areas of Tennessee. She also had artifacts to show. Ms. Shaffer compared the size of actual elk and deer antlers which are shed annually. The elk antlers are about two times as large as deer antlers. She also exhibited a preserved sandhill crane on loan from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The cranes stop over at Dayton, TN, migrating from Florida to Minnesota. Ms. Shaffer said one fisher, an otter-like land mammal, was killed by a car 30 miles from its release location. The animal was pregnant, which fact showed that the fishers are adapting and breeding in Tennessee. Previous fishers were hunted to extinction in Tennessee. Their fur is similar to mink. Ms. Shaffer graduated from Hillwood High School and received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Vanderbilt University. Last year she was selected as high school Teacher of the Year in Cumberland County. Photos by John Warren Steen

	Regent Carolyn Christian Martin and Conservation speaker Annell Steen Shaffer are holding an elk skull. Ms. Shaffer told about reintroducing elk, fishers, and sandhill cranes that once had habitats in Tennessee.
	Annell Steen Shaffer and Dorothy Lipham Steen observe a sandhill crane. The cranes stop over in Dayton, Tennessee, on their migration from Florida to Minnesota.
	Jane Swain and Annell Shaffer compare elk and deer antlers. Jane Swain recommended Ms. Shaffer for a DAR Conservation Medal, which she received at the State Conference in 1995.
	Willodene Scott, Sue Groves, Annell Shaffer, and Jane Swain discuss reintroduction of elk, fishers, and sandhill cranes to Tennessee.
	Beth Pendergrass and Hunter Pendergrass examine a sandhill crane's bill.
	Annell Steen Shaffer carries a sandhill crane from the Green Hills Library as she and Mary Porter Field leave Robert Cooke Chapter NSDAR April Meeting.