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EarthSolidarity!™ Initiatives are endeavors to which anyone can contribute in deed as well as in spirit, that
- minimize waste and environmental impacts
- increase community resilience
- respect and protect ecosystem processes and all forms of life
- contribute to good living conditions for everyone around the globe
- affirm and celebrate our interdependence and interrelatedness in the Web of Life!
Oak Ridge citizens make impassioned pleas for the trees
Written by Ben Pounds
A standing-room-only crowd implored the Oak Ridge Planning Commission on Jan. 15 to preserve a forested tract on the west end of the city for its recreational and cultural values. Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press
Public protests consideration of development of forested West Oak Ridge property
OAK RIDGE — A crowd of city residents filled the Oak Ridge’s Municipal Courtroom with a message for the Planning Commission: Keep a parcel in West Oak Ridge a wooded park.
Oak Ridge Planning and Development Director Jennifer Williams described the relevant land in a memo as containing about 336 acres adjacent to the Westwood subdivision. It’s currently federal Department of Energy land, but the city of Oak Ridge has formally requested its transfer to the city. It contains three mountain bike trails and a portion of the North Boundary Trail.
Williams told people at a Jan. 15 meeting of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, however, it is not connected to the North Ridge Trail as she said some believed, which is a different trail in East Oak Ridge. Williams said that the parcel connects the neighborhood to the Lambert Quarry and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement (BORCE) but doesn’t directly include those areas.
The Planning Commission met to discuss principles for the land’s future if the city acquires it. A draft included principles stressing the value of conservation, but also a desire for housing and possibly even commercial development. Even at this early stage, concerns about the land’s future led to a standing-room-only crowd with speaker after speaker opposing residential or commercial development on the parcel. Planning Commission voted instead to further discuss the principles at a non-voting work session set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday Feb. 12.
Celebrate sandhill cranes at a 35th anniversary that stretches across millennia
Written by Lee Wilmot
Thousands of sandhill cranes winter at the confluence of the Hiwassee and Tennessee rivers in Birchwood, Tennessee. The 35th edition of the Sandhill Crane Festival is set for Jan. 16-17. TWRA
Come watch the cranes and their feathered friends and observe an East Tennessee tradition
Lee Wilmot is statewide information specialist for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
BIRCHWOOD — The 35th Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival is set for Jan. 17-18 at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, Cherokee Removal Memorial Park, and Birchwood Community Center. The festival celebrates the thousands of sandhill cranes that stop over or spend the winter on or near the refuge. It is also an opportunity to focus attention on the rich heritage of the state and the Native American history of the area.
The free event runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and includes free shuttle transportation from the Birchwood Community Center to the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park and the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and parking is available at the Birchwood Baptist Church. Visitors will notice a change this year regarding parking. A parking map can be found on the festival webpage.
Beginning in the early 1990s, the recovering population of eastern sandhill cranes began stopping at the Hiwassee Refuge on their way to and from their wintering grounds in Georgia and Florida. TWRA has been managing the refuge for more than 60 years for waterfowl, and it provides sandhill cranes with a combination of feeding and shallow water roosting habitat. Thousands of birds now spend the entire winter at the confluence of the Hiwassee and Tennessee rivers. The Hiwassee Refuge comprises about 6,000 acres.
17 years after TVA coal ash spill, pain lingers for families of cleanup workers
Written by Ben Pounds
Jessica Waller, whose father worked on cleanup of a massive Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill, reflects on the effects of his work nearly 20 years after the spill. Benjamin Pounds for Tennessee Lookout
Jacobs Engineering required employees to work without personal protection in cleaning up toxic byproduct of coal burning; many died after the work.
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
HARRIMAN — Seventeen years have passed since a massive rupture at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant spilled more than 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash into Harriman, Tenn., but the event is still raw in Jessica Waller’s mind.
Waller’s father, Ernest Hickman, a union contractor for Jacobs Engineering Group, worked on cleanup of the spill.
Hickman died of emphysema, which Waller attributes to his contact with the ash over a six-year cleanup period — specifically beryllium, a naturally occurring metal used in the nuclear, automotive and aerospace industries; and arsenic, which is used in metal, technology and some medical uses.
Both are present in coal fly ash and are highly toxic.
She believes her mother, Patsy Hickman, also got ill from exposure after washing her husband’s clothes and other activities putting her in contact with the ash, causing her death of respiratory failure.
“It’s sad to know there’s a lot of people even here in Tennessee in the area who have no idea about the coal ash spill,” Waller said. “Or they do but they didn’t know the extent of the devastation that it caused, especially health-wise of making so many people sick.”
Park officials seek help catching Deep Creek shooter
Both the SUV and pickup truck, as well as a gray sedan believed to be associated with the group, were seen fleeing the area toward Bryson City.
The suspect was described as
Although no additional details are available at this time, information from other visitors is often very helpful to investigators. If you were in the Deep Creek area during the late afternoon of Dec. 22 contact the NPS.
-CALL the NPS Tip Line 888-653-0009
-Report ONLINE go.nps.gov/SubmitATip
-EMAIL e-mail us
Helene: $9m grant to fund assessment of storm impacts on forests and streams
Written by Chris Moody
In May, researchers assessed the damage to a road and the stream than flowed within the culverts that resulted from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Colin Krause/USDA Forest Service.
Survey work will span Southern Appalachian forests devastated by historic 2024 hurricane, floods
BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech and its Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Southern Research Station, received an $8.8 million grant to address environmental impacts from Hurricane Helene in the Southern Appalachians.
The initiative will be carried out through the Center for Aquatic Technology Transfer, a Forest Service office in Blacksburg that focuses on aquatic ecosystem science and management in national forests.
Virginia Tech will lead the human resources component, hiring and training technicians and crew leaders to conduct fieldwork. With the ability to call on current graduate students as well as connections to alumni with experience conducting analysis in a forest environment, the university can rapidly contract 20 employees to form teams and begin critical data collection in early 2026.
The benefit to the university comes in the experience students receive in providing this vital field research.
- va tech college of natural resources and environment
- va tech department of fish and wildlife conservation
- hurricane helene
- hurricane helen environmental impacts
- usda
- us forest service
- forest service southern research station
- center for aquatic technology transfer
- southern appalachian national forests
TVA seeks comment on 1,200-boat Norris marina
LONE MOUNTAIN ― The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking the public for comments on plans to issue a permit and 30-year easement for a new marina and connected facilities on 63 acres on Norris Reservoir at Clinch River Mile 134.7 in Claiborne County.
Per TVA’s draft environmental assessment: “The proposed (Norris Lake Serenity, LLC) Project would include 1,216 public boat slips, a floating marina store, fuel docks, a wave break, utilities to service the boat slips, land-based porticos, a boat ramp, and access roads and associated infrastructure. TVA’s action includes approval of the construction of proposed facilities within TVA’s flowage easement and approval of a 30-year easement for operation of the commercial marina.”
Details on the proposed Tennessee Vues Marina are found in a draft environmental assessment posted at tva.com/nepa. The draft assessment considers the potential environmental impacts of the commercial marina as requested in Section 26a permit applications. The marina would include boat slips for public rental and is consistent with TVA’s land management policies.
Comments on the draft EA can be submitted by Dec. 22, 2025, and may be submitted online at tva.com/nepa, emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or mailed to Jessica Wykoff-Carpenter, NEPA Specialist, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 W. Summit Hill Drive WT 11B, Knoxville, TN 37902. All comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the project administrative record and will be available for public inspection.
-Tennessee Valley Authority
VT researchers: Exotic species are destroying forest seed systems
Written by Max Esterhuizen
Researchers study seeds at a collection site to see how data from 120 islands helps shape the bigger picture of seed dispersal. Haldre Rogers
Introduced species are changing how seeds move on islands, global study shows
Max Esterhuizen is the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment director of communications and marketing.
BLACKSBURG — When birds, bats, and reptiles eat fruit, they help keep forests healthy by carrying seeds away from parent trees. On islands around the world the balance of which animals eat fruit and whether those animals disperse or destroy seeds has shifted dramatically.
A new study published Oct. 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that species introductions, more than extinctions, are reshaping this ecological process across 120 islands worldwide. The changes matter because seed dispersal drives forest regeneration, plant diversity, and long-term ecosystem health.
Virginia Tech ecologist Haldre Rogers, associate professor in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, was part of the international research team. Rogers contributed data from the Mariana Islands, a region where invasive brown tree snakes have wiped out most native forest birds. On Guam, the loss of birds and fruit bats has nearly erased natural seed dispersal, creating one of the most extreme examples anywhere.
According to the study, large-bodied flying animals that once dispersed seeds are being lost, while many of the newcomers are mammals that eat fruit but destroy the seeds.
Deer baiting, endangered fish on tap for Fish and Wildlife Commission
CHATTANOOGA — The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold its final meeting of 2025 at the Tennessee Aquarium (Lupton Room) on Dec. 4-5. Committee meetings begin at 1 p.m. Dec. 4, with full commission proceedings continuing at 9 a.m. Dec. 5. Both meetings will be streamed on Youtube.
The commission will have three rule-making hearings, which were previewed by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency staff at the TFWC’s October meeting in Nashville. To view the October TFWC meeting, click here. They pertain to the deer-baiting privilege license (only on private or leased lands), the North Cumberland OHV permit, and changes to the endangered or threatened species list.
One species, the teardrop darter, is under consideration to be added to the state Threatened and Endangered Species list. It is only found in Tennessee and Kentucky, where it occurs in the Barren and Green river systems. Two species, the Clinch dace and Sequatchie darter, are proposed to be removed from the list because they are not recognized by the American Fisheries Society.
Leading up to the rule-making hearing, Wildlife and Forestry Division Assistant Chief Mark McBride and wildlife veterinarian Dr. Dan Grove will present background information on the Deer Baiting Privilege License during Thursday's committee meetings. Expected impacts of baiting on deer, deer harvests, impacts on other species, and CWD will be among the topics discussed.
-TWRA
More land comes together for Hatchie Bottom conservation
Written by Lee Wilmot
Canoeists enjoy a paddle along the Hatchie River in West Tennessee. A recent land acquisition brings the total of bottomland protected in the river corridor to 37,000 acres. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Hatchie Bottom property will join more than 30,000 acres of protected lands along river corridor
Lee Wilmot is a public information officer for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in partnership with The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee (TNC) and The Conservation Fund (TCF), announced the acquisition of the Hatchie Bottom property, a 7,457-acre expanse of ecologically rich bottomland hardwood forest along the Hatchie River.
The acquisition represents a major milestone in Tennessee’s Conservation Legacy initiative and fulfills a longstanding priority in the Tennessee State Wildlife Action Plan to protect and preserve critical wildlife habitat. The property will be managed as a new wildlife management area (WMA), and will also provide new opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and outdoor recreation.
“The Hatchie Bottom acquisition is a powerful example of what we can achieve when conservation partners come together with a shared vision for Tennessee’s natural heritage,” said Gov. Bill Lee. “This acquisition reflects our commitment to safeguarding the state’s most treasured landscapes while expanding opportunities for Tennesseans to connect with the outdoors. It’s an investment in our environment, our communities, and the generations to come in the Volunteer State.”
Students from Hixson High School help the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute release juvenile lake sturgeon into the Tennessee River from Coolidge Park on Oct. 23, in Chattanooga. This year the Aquarium and its partners in the Lake Sturgeon Working Group are celebrating 25 years of stocking sturgeon in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Tennessee Aquarium
Long-term restoration efforts lead comeback of species, missing since 1970s
CHATTANOOGA — The Tennessee Aquarium’s longest-running conservation program is celebrating major developments that have biologists and wildlife managers brimming with excitement.
Massive, ancient and long-lived, the lake sturgeon has been extirpated (locally extinct) in Tennessee since the 1970s. The effort to re-establish this state-imperiled species began in 1998 with the formation of the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group, a collaborative partnership between non-profits like the Aquarium as well as universities and state and federal agencies.
Since the start of reintroductions in 2000, working group members have raised and released more than 430,000 lake sturgeon into the Tennessee and Cumberland river watersheds.
The cumulative effect of that work is already changing the lake sturgeon’s fortunes. This year, the species’ conservation status in Tennessee decreased from endangered to threatened, an adjustment that reflects the long-term impact of the restoration program, says Dr. Anna George, the Aquarium’s vice president of conservation science and education.
Biologists build mussels in Big South Fork of the Cumberland
Written by Tom Blount
Endangered baby tan riffleshells are shown tagged before release in Big South Fork. Biologists are successfully reintroducing the mussel tp the area, according to research data. National Park Service
Endangered species seems to be on upswing due to reintroduction; points to water purity
ONEIDA — An endangered freshwater mussel species in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is showing signs of natural population increases for the first time. The tan riffleshell (Epioblasma walkeri) is an endangered mussel found in only a few locations within the Big South Fork of the Cumberland and the upper Clinch rivers. The National Park Service has been collaborating with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources to monitor the status of this rare species.
Staff from both agencies have been working together recently to recover the Big South Fork populations of this species by supplementing their numbers. Male and female tan riffleshell mussels were collected from Big South Fork and used to produce thousands of baby mussels. These small mussels have been added to limited locations where the species is known to exist at Big South Fork over the last few years.
How to find your way in the Urban Wilderness
Written by Emelia Delaporte
Legacy Parks hosts “Urban Hikes” book launch party
KNOXVILLE — This is the 20th anniversary for not only nonprofit Legacy Parks Foundation but also for the guidebook “Urban Hikes in Knoxville and Knox County, Tennessee.” This comprehensive guide to hikes in the Knoxville area is celebrating two decades by releasing a third edition. The launch party will take place from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20 at the Outdoor Knoxville Adventure Center.
“Urban Hikes” includes trails, hikes, parks and other green spaces across the area. The guide includes details such as maps, accessibility information, wildlife viewing tips, historical notes and essential tips about the trails. More than 30 hikes are included, spanning both local trails and local greenways.
The launch party will be attended by “Urban Hikes” co-authors Mac Post and Ron Shrieves. They will be signing copies. The party is a chance for interested readers to acquire a copy of the new edition before the book makes it into stores on November 24.
Slowing the burn: Nine ET counties collaborate on climate plan
Written by Kristin Farley
Hurricane Helene was fueled by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico before it began its deadly and destructive push into East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Scientists said global climate change made the storm considerably worse than it would have been in natural conditions. East Tennessee leaders announced a regional climate plan focused on reducing local contributions to climate change. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Plan suggests actions on public and private levels to slow warming climate
KNOXVILLE — Area leaders unveiled a plan to improve air quality, health and quality of life across the metro region.
Breathe: A Climate Action Plan for the Knoxville Region, released Nov. 12, is the result of a two-year collaboration, and is the region’s first comprehensive climate action plan.
The city collaborated with regional leaders and a working group of representatives from over 50 organizations across nine counties to help shape the plan’s goals and strategies, ensuring they reflect the region’s priorities and constraints.
The plan was funded through the U.S. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, which the city of Knoxville was awarded in 2023.
Individuals can make personal climate pledges and find resources to help achieve them on the project website. The plan and all related materials, pledge, and list of resources can be found at www.knoxbreathe.org.
Smokies all-taxa counters make beeline for 2026
Written by Jaimie Matzko
Jaimie Matzcko uses a smartphone to document plants and an insect community on the side of Mount LeConte in Great Smoky Mountains National Park during an outing to document life as part of the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. Discover Life in America’s two-year strategic plan calls for a greater emphasis on insects, especially bees, in the national park. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
DLIA insect-heavy two-year strategic plan sparks next era of discovery for mountain life
Jaimie Matzcko is Discover Life in America communications coordinator.
GATLINBURG — Discover Life in America (DLiA), a non-profit organization committed to cataloging biodiversity and supporting science-based conservation in the southern Appalachians, announced its 2026–2028 strategic plan, and it’s heavy on the quest to better document the six-legged denizens of the Smokies.
This roadmap strengthens DLiA’s focus on leveraging decades of taxonomic research to impact conservation, education, and ecosystem resilience. Since 1998, DLiA has partnered with Great Smoky Mountains National Park to manage an All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, a project that aims to document every species in the park.
The two-year-plan calls for the launch of the first native bee assessment in the national park “to assess bee health and drive their conservation.”
Oak Ridge recreation center stores power in ice
OAK RIDGE — The city is investing in a new cooling system for the Oak Ridge Recreation Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The recreation center includes a game room with pool tables and arcade games, as well a gym and an indoor pool. In a news release, city government described the new cooling technology as innovative and “designed to improve operational efficiency, lower electricity costs, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the facility while supporting the growth of a local clean-tech company.”
That company is Shift Thermal and its system stores energy in the form of ice, made during off-peak hours when power is cheapest and cleanest.
“During the hottest parts of the day, when electricity demand and costs are at their highest, the stored ice supplements the building’s air conditioning, which then improves performance and reduces the strain on the power grid,” Shift Thermal CTO Mitchell Ishmael said in the news release.
The company uses an immiscible working fluid to circulate through the system, eliminating traditional ice-storage heat exchangers. This design simplifies installation, increases efficiency, and lowers costs for large-scale cooling systems, the news release stated.
-Ben Pounds
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TWRA to sample deer for CWD at check-ins
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) will be operating chronic wasting disease (CWD) sampling stations across the state on the opening day of the 2025 muzzleloader season, Saturday, Nov. 8, to monitor the presence of CWD in white-tailed deer populations. Hunters play a crucial role in this monitoring effort by bringing harvested deer to designated sampling locations.
CWD, a contagious and fatal neurological disease affecting deer, has been detected in 18 counties, all in West Tennessee except one positive county in Middle Tennessee (Lewis County). A complete list of counties where CWD has been detected and specific test locations is available at tnwildlife.org. By participating in CWD sampling, hunters can assist TWRA in early detection and prevent the disease from spreading.
-TWRA
Homecoming celebrates a story that ‘weaves across generations’
Cindy Hassil is Ijams Nature Center development director.
KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center will celebrate 50 years of being a nonprofit organization dedicated to nature, education, and stewardship at an Ijams Homecoming on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
This free event will feature fun, hands-on activities for all ages, historic materials, guided hikes, refreshments, and more at the Ijams Visitor Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. in South Knoxville.
“This is a special milestone for Ijams Nature Center,” Ijams President and CEO Amber Parker said. “We’re celebrating 50 years of continuing the legacy of respect, wonder, and protection H.P. and Alice Ijams began more than a century ago when they bought 20 acres along the Tennessee River to raise their family.
Updated 11/3: Great Smoky Mountains National Park gets shutdown reprieve through Jan. 4
Written by Jim Matheny
The crest of the Great Smoky Mountains is seen from the Foothills Parkway looking east. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender PressLocal and state partners will continue funding park during shutdown; some critical work will be suspended
Jim Matheny is Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park communications director.
- government shutdown
- great smoky mountains national park
- friends of the smokies
- smokies funding
- smokies funding partnership
- is gsmnp closed?
- are the smokies closed?
- sevier county
- blount county
- state of tennessee
- is cades cove open
- government shutdown national parks
- gatlinburg
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- eastern band of cherokee indians
- jim matheny
TennGreen Land Conservancy expands Cumberland Trail
Written by Jon D. Bumpus 
The cerulean warbler is among the bird species and others that will benefit from the latest land acquisition to expand the Cumberland Trail near the Emory River in Tennessee. Wikipedia Commons
Nature Conservancy partners on Emory River watershed protection
WARTBURG — TennGreen Land Conservancy acquired about 58 acres near Wartburg to expand the Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park and the Cumberland Trail. This important acquisition strengthens the long-term vision of connecting Tennessee’s first linear park from the Morgan County Visitor Center to Frozen Head State Park.
“TennGreen has long been committed to advancing the vision of the Cumberland Trail, and this acquisition represents an important step in enhancing trail connectivity while protecting ecologically rich lands,” said Alice Hudson Pell, TennGreen’s Executive Director.
The newly acquired property lies within several significant conservation planning areas, including the Catoosa, Frozen Head, and Upper Cumberland Areas of Interest (as designated by the Heritage Conservation Trust Fund) and the Catoosa/Emory River Conservation Opportunity Area. It also provides vital habitat for high-priority species including green salamanders (Aneides aeneus) and cerulean warblers (Setophaga cerulea).