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Water collects among trees at the West Tennessee Wetlands Mitigation Bank — a wetland restored from its days as farmland — near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tenn. Karen Pulfer Focht for Tennessee Lookout
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
NASHVILLE — A bill slashing regulations for an estimated 80 percent of Tennessee’s non-federally protected wetlands headed to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk this week after receiving approval from the General Assembly.
The bill’s West Tennessee Republican sponsors — Rep. Kevin Vaughan and Sen. Brent Taylor — said the legislation removes onerous and seemingly subjective mitigation requirements for landowners and developers.
Environmental advocates and scientists said the legislation paves the way for the destruction of Tennessee’s natural resources.
The bill passed 71-21 with one abstention in the House, and 25-6 in the Senate.
Since the 1970s, wetland regulations in Tennessee have required developers and landowners to seek permission from the state before draining or altering wetlands. The swampy areas can host diverse species, soak up rain water and filter it as it seeps into groundwater tables, recharging aquifers. Alterations to wetlands required developers to pay for mitigation — efforts to preserve or restore other wetlands nearby.
Today is a good opportunity to make a resolution or a promise to yourself and those around you to adopt a new habit or practice that will reduce your environmental impacts. Perhaps, you have already taken such a step a while ago and you may now scale it up or add something else to it?
EarthSolidarity!™ is focusing on individual and small-group initiatives that facilitate practical, local, down-to-Earth actions that can readily be replicated by many and thus add up to significant improvements in the community, the bioregion and — through equivalent locally and regionally tuned initiatives — contribute to our national and even global environmental health.
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Encourage those next to you to adopt the same or similar action. We are looking for leaders like you that are willing to help organize or just advise small environmental action groups at the neighborhood level or within local businesses and organizations.
KNOXVILLE — It’s once again time to celebrate Earth Day — Earth Week, really — and as it has in past years, Hellbender Press has a few suggestions for some fun ways for families to celebrate the planet we call home on April 22 and beyond.
The theme of this year’s Earth Day, which is its 55th observance, is Our Power, Our Planet.
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This list will be updated.
— 6-7 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, Carter Branch Library, 9036 Asheville Highway, Knoxville. Register here.
— The sustainability office has an entire month devoted to Earth Day.
— 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday April 22, UT Gardens, 2514 Jacob Drive: Join a cleanup of Third Creek.
— 11 a.m.-2 p.m. April 22, 21st Mortgage Plaza, UT Earth Day Festival will feature fun games, food and drinks.
— 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 26, INCubator, 100 Cherokee Blvd., Chattanooga
Campers are seen enjoying a morning at Elkmont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Elkmont is one of the Smokies campgrounds still open. National Park Service
KNOXVILLE — Funding for national parks has never amounted to much, and the federal government will cut even more if people don’t speak out in defense of the country’s natural and ecological crown jewels.
That was the message from Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect American National Parks and former acting superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He spoke to an audience at Knoxville’s Schulz Bräu Brewing Company hosted by Discover Life in America. Francis said that due to rising concerns his organization grew from 500 members to over 4,000 during the Trump administration. The coalition, he said, includes many people like himself who used to work for the park system, including the former superintendent of Acadia National Park.
Francis advocated that others should lobby government officials to continue to support the parks.
“If you don’t speak up, it makes it a lot more difficult,” he told the audience.
Paul Stoddard, a principal at environmental consulting firm EnSafe, unlocks the gate to the West Tennessee Wetlands Mitigation Bank in Shelby County. EnSafe planted more than 50,000 trees to restore portions of this 250-acre wetland, creating credits for developers to purchase to offset destruction of wetlands elsewhere. Karen Pulfer Focht for Tennessee Lookout
This story is part of the series Down the Drain from the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting collaborative based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.
LEWISBURG — Fourth-generation Middle Tennessee cattle farmer Cole Liggett lined up with scientists and environmental advocates in March to urge Tennessee lawmakers not to gut the state’s historically strong protections for wetlands.
Wetlands protection has been good business for Liggett. In addition to raising cattle, he’s a manager at Headwaters Reserve, a firm that developers pay to preserve and restore wetlands and streams so they can destroy them elsewhere, called mitigation banking. If lawmakers follow through on a plan to deregulate an estimated 80 percent of the state’s isolated wetlands, that will upend the industry in Tennessee and drive up prices for developers still required to pay for mitigation, Liggett testified.
Liggett works in a growing industry that operates more than 2,500 mitigation banks nationwide, earning an estimated $3.5 billion in revenue in 2019, according to a 2023 study funded by the Ecological Restoration Business Association.
The industry is built on demand spurred by the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act, which requires developers to offset their damage to wetlands by building or restoring wetlands nearby.
But recent federal actions to shrink the scope of that law are pushing states to choose how strictly they will regulate wetlands. The consequences of those decisions not only threaten further degradation of land, water and wildlife, but also the fortunes of an industry that has made a big business out of conservation.
KNOXVILLE — Discover Life in America has a newly established partnership with Schulz Bräu Brewing Company to host its monthly Conservation on Tap speaker series.
The latest installment of the series at the new venue is 7 p.m. April 16. Join Conservation on Tap at Schulz Bräu Brewing Company, 126 Bernard Ave, Knoxville.
Join us for an insightful presentation by Phil Francis, Chairman of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and former acting superintendent of GSMNP, as he provides an update on the current challenges facing the National Park Service and our national parks.
Francis will discuss the critical resources that need protection and the staffing necessary to ensure the preservation and maintenance of these cherished public lands. This event is a must-attend for anyone passionate about the future of America’s national parks and the efforts needed to safeguard them for generations to come. Learn more at: protectnps.org.
Come support local conservation efforts and enjoy a wide selection of 20+ beers on-tap (and plenty of nonalcoholic beverages) and some authentic German fare from Schulzes Schnitzel Kitchen.
One of the goals behind a recent partnership among UTIA and state agencies is the promotion of heartier food species such as this oak. The new five-year agreement between the UTIA Tree Improvement Program, the Tennessee Division of Forestry and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency focuses on developing locally adapted and genetically improved seed for future Tennessee forests. Allison Mains/UTIA
Katie Donaldson is a communications specialist for the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources.
KNOXVILLE — A new, five-year agreement establishes how the state of Tennessee and a program in the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will study and produce tree seedlings to promote the protection and conservation of Tennessee forests.
The UTIA Tree Improvement Program (UT-TIP), the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry (TDF) and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) partnered on the agreement.
“Honoring our land-grant mission, we are excited about this partnership to responsibly research, develop, manage and conserve forest resources across the great state of Tennessee,” said Keith Carver, UTIA senior vice chancellor and senior vice president.
UT-TIP manages numerous seed orchards in East, Middle and West Tennessee with help from state and federal partners. It uses the orchards to provide the East Tennessee Nursery with locally adapted and genetically improved seed.
Upper Cataloochee Road was among the many infrastructure victims in Great Smoky Mountains National Park following Hurricane Helene. Cataloochee Valley was the hardest-hit section of the park. The park service said it intends to reopen the road April 4. National Park Service
Kendra Straub is a communications officer with the National Park Service.
CATALOOCHEE — The National Park Service (NPS) will reopen portions of Cataloochee Valley in Great Smoky Mountains National Park beginning April 4. Cataloochee Valley has been closed since September 2024 following significant damage from Hurricane Helene. Within the park, Cataloochee Valley saw the worst impacts from Hurricane Helene.
The following roads will open to vehicles in Cataloochee on April 4: Cataloochee Entrance Road up to Beech Grove School; Cataloochee Creek Road to the Old Cataloochee Entrance Road Bridge; and Old Highway 284. Visitors will be able to drive Cataloochee Valley Entrance Road up to Beech Grove School.
All great scientific solutions start with collaboration
KNOXVILLE — The challenges facing the planet and its inhabitants have long been too complex for any one individual or group to address, and that’s why the great advancements in modern science begin with conferences, symposiums and collaboration.
The first Environmental Future Symposium is an effort from the University of Tennessee Office of Sustainability to present a vision of the future for area residents and University of Tennessee students.
Planned for the Agriculture and Natural Resources Ballroom and Plaza from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 27, the symposium is spearheaded by the office’s Alternative Energy and Transportation Coordinator Ben Gouffon. His vision for the event is simple: at the intersection of human-accelerated climate destabilization and a revitalization of the collapsing biosphere sits every individual and their actions. His hope is that this symposium is an avenue for every attendee to discover what they can do for Knoxville, the university and the planet they call home.
Cameroon’s vast and species-rich rainforests are of great importance for global biodiversity and the climate. They are also an important source of food and income for local people. A new study on hunting patterns in the jungles of West Africa includes research gathered by a University of Tennessee professor. Thomas Imo/German Federal Government
Katie Donaldson is a communications specialist for the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources.
KNOXVILLE — Data collected by a University of Tennessee research associate nearly 30 years ago is part of an extensive study that focuses on hunting patterns in African tropical forests.
Adam Willcox, a research associate professor in the UT Institute of Agriculture School of Natural Resources, co-authored the article, which was published recently in Nature Sustainability. “Regional patterns of wild animal hunting in African tropical forests” was also written by Daniel J. Ingram, research fellow at the University of Kent, and several other researchers. The data show how hunting management is needed to sustain wild animal populations in West and Central Africa.
The article uses data collected from 1991 to 2022 in 83 different studies to create a regional analysis of hunting patterns. Willcox contributed to the publication using research and data he gathered from 1996 to 2001 while promoting agroforestry in the U.S. Peace Corps in Cameroon. “I was in a lowland tropical forest. We did not have domestic alternatives for protein. We had to eat wild animals,” Willcox said. “My research followed 100 hunters around a wildlife sanctuary in Cameroon and their harvests.”
A student farm leader takes care of pigs at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa. Most of the college’s pigs were recovered following fatal flooding from the Swannanoa River on Sept. 28, 2024. Warren Wilson College
This story was originally published by The Revelator.
Mallory McDuff teaches environmental education at Warren Wilson College.
SWANNANOA, N.C. — “We need 10 people on flush crew, five to clean out the fridges in the science building, and 15 to clear trees on the roads! We’re gonna do this together!”
This wasn’t a pep rally or a community service event. It was the morning meeting called at 9:30 a.m. each day by campus leaders in front of the cafeteria at the small college where I lived without power or water, after the climate disaster of Hurricane Helene devastated our community in Western North Carolina.
“We know the Swannanoa Valley has been hit especially hard,” the college president told the group of students and employees. “And we are here for this college and for the greater community. This is our work together.”
That day I joined my neighbor Tom Lam chain-sawing his way across campus with a crew of students clearing brush along the way.
“Now gather ‘round so you can see how to sharpen this chainsaw,” Tom said in his booming Jersey voice, pulling on his suspenders after we’d cleared trees that crushed a neighbor’s car.
I’ve spent 25 years teaching environmental education, raising two daughters, and living at this 1,000-acre campus where all students work in jobs in places like the farm, garden, forests, and even fiber arts. And I think this might be one model of how to live in community in a climate emergency.
This white oak (Quercus alba) in Burlington, N.J. is known as the Keeler Oak. It is an estimated 300 years old and is emblematic of the role these massive trees can play in the forest and beyond. The white oak is a highly valuable tree, both economically and ecologically. Its seedling survival rate is declining, but University of Tennessee researchers joined others to map the species’ DNA. Wikipedia Commons
Patricia McDaniels is news and information manager for the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.
KNOXVILLE — Highly valued economically, ecologically and culturally, the white oak (Quercus alba) is a keystone forest species and is one of the most abundant trees across much of eastern North America. It also faces declining seedling recruitment in many parts of its range.
In a paper published in New Phytologist, researchers representing the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Indiana University, the University of Kentucky, the U.S. Forest Service and several more institutions described for the first time the species’ complex genome, providing insights into fundamental questions about plant evolution, tree breeding and genetic improvement efforts that could help forest managers plan for and address future forest resources.
Lead authors of the paper Meg Staton, associate professor of bioinformatics and computational genomics in the UT Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, and Drew Larson, National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, coordinated with colleagues across the nation in academia, the U.S. Forest Service, state forests and industry to obtain genetic sequence data representative of the species.
Also central to the effort were Seth DeBolt, professor of horticulture and director of the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits at the University of Kentucky, and Dana Nelson of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station and director of the Forest Health Research and Education Center at the University of Kentucky.
White oak barrels are lifeblood to the bourbon industry because the color and much of the whiskey’s flavor derive from the charred wood in which it is aged.
(The original story is below).
GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Missing hiker Ann Houghton, age 73, was found deceased in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on February 2 at approximately 1:53 p.m. She was found roughly a quarter mile off Enloe Creek Trail.
Houghton was reported missing to the park on Feb. 1. She had planned to hike in the park Jan. 28-29. Her vehicle was located at the Smokemont Campground. Law enforcement and search and rescue staff began a search for her on Feb. 1 in the Smokemont area, focusing efforts along Bradley Fork, Chasteen Creek, Hughes Ridge and Enloe Creek trails. Several local agencies assisted the park with search operations, investigations and emergency services including Cherokee Fire and Rescue, BUSAR, Macon Volunteer Fire Department, Cowee Volunteer Fire Department, Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Sandra Harbison is a media relations specialist with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.
KNOXVILLE — High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), a very contagious and often deadly disease of poultry, can result in the deaths of entire flocks within a matter of days. Also known as bird flu, HPAI has recently been detected in wildlife and poultry in Tennessee. This virus can spread quickly between birds, including birds that do not have any signs of disease. It has been reported to impact certain mammalian species, including humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no treatment for HPAI, and the best prevention is to avoid sources of exposure.
Out of an abundance of caution, the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM) has made the difficult decision to temporarily halt the acceptance and treatment of injured or abandoned wild birds including raptors, songbirds or waterfowl (including owned waterfowl). This precautionary measure will help protect patients, faculty, staff and students from potential exposure to HPAI.
(The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on Dec. 18 warned hunters, birdwatchers and poultry owners of increased bird flu risk. The CDCP as of Jan. 24 considers bird flu “widespread” in wild bird populations and reports limited outbreaks in poultry and livestock workers.)
PIGEON FORGE — Learn about the culture and ecology of the Southern Appalachians from a warm hotel and conference center, and then get outside and keep learning during the annual knowledge-fest that is Wilderness Wildlife Week.
This year’s event is set for Jan. 28-Feb. 1 at The Ramsey Hotel and Convention Center, 3230 Parkway in Pigeon Forge.
Come celebrate the natural features, creatures and cultures of the Great Smoky Mountains. This year, we’ll be inviting some of the leading wildlife experts to lead informative discussions with you. Writers, artists, photographers, musicians, biologists and naturalist will entertain and inform. This is a great opportunity to learn and ask questions about nature.
Wilderness Wildlife Week celebrates the abundance of wildlife, variety of plants, trees and wildflowers, and the rich history of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee through a series of classes, seminars, demonstrations, guided hikes, panel discussions and workshops.
Whorled rosinweed is among the many types of native grassland plants that emerged from a clearcut. The property in Meigs County near Georgetown is now protected in part by the Foothills Land Conservancy. Shelby Lyn Sanders
Shelby Lyn Sanders is director of natural resources for the Blount County-based Foothills Land Conservancy.
GEORGETOWN — What started as a simple search for a peaceful retreat turned into an extraordinary ecological discovery.
When Mr. Owen purchased his land near Georgetown, he was looking for a place to hunt, hike and escape city life. Little did he know he’d become the guardian of one of Tennessee’s rare prairie gems.
The property’s true identity emerged when the Foothills Land Conservancy’s director of natural resources (the author of this piece) spotted something remarkable during her first visit — prairie dock, a telltale sign of native grassland heritage. This wasn’t just any piece of land; it was a lost prairie awakening from decades of forest cover, less than a half mile from the historic Gunstocker Glade along Highway 58.
The timing was perfect. A 2022 clearcut had inadvertently liberated this sleeping prairie, allowing it to breathe and bloom for the first time in generations. By its second year, the land burst into life, revealing an astonishing diversity that had laid dormant for years.
Here’s an aerial view of the Owen property in Meigs County northeast of Chattanooga on the eastern Cumberland Plateau escarpment. Native prairie plants emerged from the site of a clearcut, yielding a surprisingly vital piece of prairie. Shelby Lyn Sanders
Tennessee coneflower is seen in Couchville cedar glade, a prime example of cedar glade habitat that is a target of preservationists — such as the land acquired recently in Rutherford County by TennGreen Land Conservancy. The Couchville property is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. It is similar in nature to the TennGreen property in Rutherford County, and is part of a nexus of such glades around the Cumberland Plateau. According to TDEC: “Couchville supports one of the largest known and best quality populations of the Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis), which was delisted as a federally endangered species in September 2011. Couchville also provides one of the finest examples of a glade-barrens complex and protects many rare plant species. The glades are distributed where limestone outcropping and shallow soils limit growth of perennial plants and support annual species like leavenworthia, sporobolus, and sedum. The barrens species, that also includes Tennessee coneflower, occur where soils increase and grasses like little bluestem and side oats grama become dominant. The glades and barrens interface forming a complex.” Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
MURFREESBORO — To close out 2024, TennGreen Land Conservancy and Allen Patton protected 50 acres of globally unique cedar glade habitat in Middle Tennessee’s Rutherford County with a conservation easement.
Called Rockdale Cedar Glades and Woodlands, Patton’s land abuts TennGreen’s Lamar Cedar Glades & Woodlands Conservation Easement, increasing this connected corridor of protected land to an expansive 256 acres. Limestone cedar glades and barrens, which are incredibly diverse but under threat from development and pollution, are found on the protected properties. This additional 50-acre easement is also within the Spring Creek HUC 12 Watershed and the Stones River Upper HUC 12 Watershed, marking it as critical habitat.
(Hellbender Press has previously reported on the special nature and importance of cedar barrens, including one located in Oak Ridge, just on the cusp of the Cumberland Plateau, which is better known for its cedar glades).
Cedar gladecress (Leavenworthia stylosa) during a prescribed burn at Couchville State Natural Area; this wildflower is only found in the Central Basin of Tennessee. TDEC
A pileated woodpecker is seen seeking dinner; it is a common denizen of winter Southern Appalachian forests and likely made many Christmas bird lists. Evan Kidd via Smokies Life
Holly Kays is the lead writer for Smokies Life.
GATLINBURG — Since its origin in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count has become a holiday fixture for ever-expanding numbers of birders across the globe, giving a valuable gift to generations of wildlife scientists — a massive trove of data on bird populations in the Western Hemisphere.
This annual avian census, set to commence for the 125th time, began in an era when many bird species were facing steep declines, especially waterfowl prized for their feathers. The Christmas Bird Count was the National Audubon Society’s answer to the traditional Christmas Side Hunt, a team competition that encouraged participants to kill as many furred and feathered creatures as possible in a single outing.
“The Christmas Bird Count really got started as an alternative to those kinds of hunting efforts,” said Curtis Smalling, executive director of Audubon North Carolina. “This year is the 125th annual Christmas Bird Count, and that makes it the longest-running community science project in North America.”
Anyone can participate in the CBC, regardless of their birding skill level, by joining one of the thousands of circles, each 15 miles in diameter, that comprise the event. The organizer of each circle chooses a day between December 14 and January 5 to conduct their count. On the appointed day, all participants in the circle have 24 hours in which to tally as many birds as they can. In addition to listing the individual species spotted, they also count the number of individual birds seen and participant hours logged.
The Great Smoky Mountains region includes circles in Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, Knoxville, Franklin, Highlands, Waynesville, Hot Springs and Asheville.
A male (left) and female common merganser perch on a rock. Though this species may winter in coastal areas, it tends to prefer freshwater habitat and winters in the Smokies in small numbers. Warren Bielenberg via Smokies Life
KNOXVILLE — The next installment of Conservation on Tap is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Albright Grove Brewing Company, 2924 Sutherland Ave., Knoxville.
Join forester Sean Bowers to learn about the Family Forest Carbon Program, a partnership between the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy. The program allows owners of small tracts of forest access to carbon markets, empowering them to improve the health and wellbeing of their forests and help tackle climate change.
All proceeds from Conservation on Tap benefit Discover Life in America.
