Retired University of Tennessee philosophy professor John Nolt has been waging a one-man campaign against destructive invasive plants, such as the ivy seen in the background strangling live trees, in the Baker Creek Preserve in South Knoxville. JJ Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

City taps people power to fuel fight against creeping exotic plants that are displacing native species

KNOXVILLE — Death is slowly overtaking the Urban Wilderness, one tree at a time. 

A host of invasive species have taken root in the 1,000-acre network of trails, parks, and quarries that draws legions of outdoor enthusiasts from across the Knoxville metropolitan area and beyond. Their prolific growth may look healthy to the untrained eye, but in reality their presence is a neon-green warning sign.

English ivy, wintercreeper, honeysuckle, and privet are just some of the non-native species of flora that are slowly taking over the region’s forested spaces, threatening the very existence of the countless plants and animals that depend on the local food web.

The problem isn’t new, but it’s been growing more visible with each passing year and has drawn the attention of environmentalists, government officials, and local groups of nature lovers.

For instance, retired University of Tennessee philosophy professor John Nolt has been waging a one-man campaign against the destructive plants in the Baker Creek Preserve in South Knoxville.

Several times a week, he walks the trails and takes note of how thick bands of brilliant green vines have wrapped themselves around the trunks of elm, birch, and sycamore trees. 

Photo illustration by Abeth Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

As UT acts against professor who privately posted hateful things about Charlie Kirk, has law prof with own social blunder gone full apparatchik?

KNOXVILLE — It didn’t take long for the fallout from Charlie Kirk’s murder to land in Big Orange country.

Just five days after Kirk’s life was tragically snuffed out by a sniper’s bullet, the University of Tennessee announced the commencement of termination proceedings against anthropology professor Tamar Shirinian for allegedly making grossly inappropriate comments on social media about Kirk’s killing.

(WBIR reported that a chastened Shirinian has since apologized and implored the university via letter to chancellor Donde Plowman to reconsider its decision.)

First of all — to be resoundingly clear — I’m disgusted by Shirinian’s behavior and don’t feel much sympathy for her. After learning of Kirk’s death, she posted: “The world is better off without him in it. Even those who are claiming to be sad for his wife and kids....like, his kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she's a sick f—- for marrying him so I dont care about her feelings.”

Shirinian’s comments were needlessly cruel, grotesque, and misanthropic. Nonetheless, I have some serious questions about how UT has handled this case, and I’ve resolved to pose them even though I fear I may end up in hot water for doing so. This is the Golden Age of Canceling, after all, and I’ve been told since I was a kid that I have a preternatural ability to tick off authority figures. Of course, that also means I’ve had lots of practice basking in stew pots.

With that in mind, let me ask my conservative friends how they would react if some Far Left, “woke” professor had watched footage of the crowd gathered around the capitol on January 6, 2021, and tweeted the following message to nearby motorists: “Run them down!” 

University of Tennessee professor emeritus Gary McCracken is seen this summer near the new massive bat house built at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. McCracken, who will help with research at the site, spent his life studying bats; he attributes their northward migration to climate change and warns of critical pest-control gaps if bats continue their decline.  J.J. Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

New exhibit will host research into critical pest-control species; could attract 200,000 bats to urban wildlife refuge

Bat, bat,
Come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice
of bacon;
And when I bake
I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.

— Traditional nursery rhyme 

KNOXVILLE — Of all the critters that share this Earth with Homo sapiens, bats might have the most schizophrenic reputation of all.

Depending on who you ask, bats — of which there are at least a dozen species in East Tennessee alone — are seen as creepy, adorable, weird, useful or diseased. Opinions may vary, but the one thing that most folks might agree upon is that bats are, well, fascinating.

And that’s a good thing for local nature lovers, because up to 200,000 of them should soon be living at South Knoxville’s own nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, Ijams Nature Center.

Under the direction of University of Tennessee professor emeritus Gary McCracken and Ijam’s conservation director, Ben Nanny, a bat house has been constructed near Meads Quarry that’s expected to attract a large colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that will prove to be a delight for Ijams visitors. 

This still image from video shot by a victim of the flooding at Impact Plastics in Erwin illustrates the terror of the flood that killed six employees of the plant at the height of Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024.  Family of Johnny Peterson via WSMV

Attorney for families says evidence ignored; some cases will move to civil court

ERWIN — Prosecutors decided that no criminal charges will be filed in connection with the deaths of six employees of a Unicoi County manufacturing facility during last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Helene.

District Attorney General Steven Finney of the First Judicial District — whose office oversees cases in Washington, Carter, Unicoi and Johnson counties in northeastern Tennessee —  announced the decision nine months after asking the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to determine what happened on September 27, 2024, when six employees of Impact Plastics lost their lives as unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Helene, downgraded to a tropical storm at that point, swept the region and killed hundreds.

It remains unclear what the future holds for communities devastated by the hurricane, many of which are still struggling to rebuild. It’s believed that 252 people lost their lives due to Helene, and officials have estimated the storm caused nearly $80 billion in damage.

The limestone cliffs and bluffs of Ijams Nature Center are home to the Berry Cave salamander. The cave is very hard to find, is gated, and entry is forbidden to protect both the salamander and bat populations.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Lawsuit prompts federal agency to reconsider protections for rare East Tennessee salamander

KNOXVILLE — The Southern Environmental Law Center, which championed the conservation of a salamander found only in a series of caves within the Knoxville Metropolitan Area, announced Jan. 16 that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to reconsider inclusion of the Berry Cave salamander on the Endangered Species List.

The release from SELC follows; the original story published in July 2024 continues below.

“The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requires the agency to reconsider listing the Berry Cave salamander—a rare salamander that is only found in a handful of East Tennessee caves—as an endangered species.

The already rare salamanders are under immense pressure from sprawling development in the region, and even the largest observed populations of the Berry Cave salamander are quickly declining. Survey results indicate that a population found in Knoxville’s Meads Quarry Cave—historically one of the salamander’s relative strongholds—fell by 65 percent between 2004 and 2019.

Thursday’s agreement comes eight months after the conservation groups sued the Service, arguing that the agency violated federal law when it denied Endangered Species Act protections for the Berry Cave salamander in 2019. The surprising denial came at a time when the agency’s regional leadership had directed staff to implement a quota system that set annual targets for denying species protections—a system that may have inappropriately influenced the Berry Cave salamander decision. 

The agreement requires the agency to reevaluate the Berry Cave salamander’s status and determine by August 2029 whether it should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“This agreement is an important step toward securing long-overdue protections for the Berry Cave salamander and correcting a harmful mistake from the Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Liz Rasheed, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We hope the agency will follow the science — as required by law — and give these one-of-a-kind salamanders the protections they need to have a shot at survival.”