Tag Archives: nature

Great Smoky Mountains Association had its best year ever for both sales and membership income in 2016, allowing the association to contribute more than $2 million in support to Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year. “We continued our focus on retail sales, publications and customized product development, and membership development, throughout the year,” Executive Director Laurel Rematore said this ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials will reopen the Whiteoak Sink area with limited access effective April 1 through May 15, 2017 to limit human disturbance in critical bat habitat and help hikers avoid interactions with bats. Park biologists will continue monitoring bat populations near the site as they emerge from winter hibernacula to collect population, ecological, and behavioral data ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials invite the public to comment on a proposed sustainable energy project through March 20, 2017. The National Park Service is proposing a solar power system to support the electrical power needs of the Cable Mill area in Cades Cove. This project would reduce usage of traditional fossil fuels and provide opportunities for park visitors ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced event plans for the Great American Eclipse occurring on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. The park is offering an opportunity to experience the total eclipse through a special, ticketed event at Clingmans Dome as well as informal eclipse viewing sites at Cades Cove and Oconaluftee. The park is partnering with NASA, Southwestern Community College, ...

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency surveys managers recently explored a cave in East Tennessee that contains a large number of hibernating Gray Bats, a state and federally endangered species. Wildlife Surveys Managers Chris Ogle and Daniel Istvanko descended into a cave known as Rattlin’ Pit in Cocke County, which is owned by Newport Utilities. Joining them was a representative of the ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers are recruiting volunteers to adopt a tree monitoring plot in areas throughout the park to collect information as part of an important research project tracking seasonal biological change called phenology. Volunteers will record when trees leaf out and when leaves start to change colors. They may also track the presence of target migratory birds. ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Appalachian Piedmont Zone fire management staff plan to burn approximately 800 acres of fields near Hyatt Lane and the western end of Cades Cove. Weather permitting, burn operations will occur Thursday, February 16 through Sunday, February 19, 2017. Over the last 20 years, park managers have conducted these burns during the spring and fall ...

As the 2016 Experience Your Smokies Tennessee class graduates, applications for the Experience Your Smokies Tennessee Class of 2017 are currently being accepted. The Experience Your Smokies Tennessee 2016 graduation event, which occurred on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 marks the sixteenth year of Experience Your Smokies leadership classes in Tennessee. The program, which is a collaborative endeavor between the Great ...

Classes will soon begin for gardening enthusiasts who wish to become a Master Gardener. Do you have desire to share the joy of gardening with others? Or maybe you just want to learn and share information about gardening and nature while giving volunteer time back to your community? If you answer yes to these questions, then the Sevier County Master ...

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are investigating the shooting of two bald eagles in the Tennessee River Valley. The first injured eagle was reported on January 30 around 2 p.m. in Meigs County. TWRA Wildlife Sergeant Chris Combs responded to the call and found the bald eagle alive, but injured off of State ...