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• Silent Spring Revolution: The Dawn of the Climate Change Movement
  in Voices
  By Douglas Brinkley
  2-minute video from CBS Sunday Morning

  Huffpost article on Draft 5^th National Climate Assessment
• Smokies to reopen Parson Branch Road after massive clearance of trees killed by exotic insect
  in Earth
  By Thomas Fraser

  CADES COVE — Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday plans to officially reopen Parson Branch Road, first cut through the ridges around Cades Cove 180 years ago.

  The narrow, 8-mile one-way mountain road out of Cades Cove to U.S. 129 has been closed since 2016 following washouts that were compounded by a steady diet of collapsing diseased and dead hemlocks. A ceremony is set for Thursday morning at the beginning of the road in Caves Cove.

  The road was closed because of the tree hazards and damage to the road surface. The hemlocks succumbed to the hemlock woolly adelgid, an exotic insect that has wreaked havoc on hemlock stands and their accompanying ecosystems.

• New digital maps outline precious pockets of remaining U.S. biodiversity and the threats they face
  in News
  By Dave Russell

  The endangered Indiana bat is among threatened and endangered species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

  Southern Appalachians show red as a warning on new detailed biodiversity maps 

  This story was originally published by the Sylva Herald.

  SYLVA — Great Smoky Mountains National Park has long been known for its abundance of different species of flora and fauna.

  Credit old mountains in a warm, sunny and wet region with varying types of climate, soil and stone for that large number.

  “The park is almost certainly the most biodiverse national park in North America,” said Paul Super, national park science coordinator. “And certainly the most studied of any national park.”

  A group of environmental organizations recently put together a series of maps illustrating the regions with the biggest threats to their biodiversity, and the area around Jackson County and the national park showed up in the red, showing risk. One such map, based on NatureServe data, is among the most detailed maps of endangered and threatened species ever produced.

• Parson Branch Road improvements under way in Smokies
  in Feedbag
  By Thomas Fraser

  Dead hemlocks are seen along Parson Branch Road near Cades Cove. National Park Service

  CADES COVE — Great Smoky Mountains National Park contractors began removing at least 800 dead hemlock trees along Parson Branch Road, an eight-mile primitive backcountry road that connects Cades Cove with U.S. 129 on the western edge of the park.

  The road has been closed since 2016 because of the tree hazards and damage to the road surface. The hemlocks succumbed to the hemlock woolly adelgid, an exotic insect that has wreaked havoc on hemlock stands and their accompanying ecosystems.

  The road passes several trailheads, and is used by emergency vehicles as needed. The park initially identified some 1,700 trees that posed a hazard to the adjacent roadway, but that number has naturally declined by about half over the past six years.

  Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park provided $100,000 for the hazard-mitigation project. That was matched with $50,000 from the federal government.

  Once the dead trees are removed, work will begin to rehabilitate the roadway and ensure its safety. 

  The roadway could reopen this summer, according to a news release from the National Park Service.

• Walker Sisters off-limits for now
  in Feedbag
  By Thomas Fraser

  Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed the Walker Sisters Cabin because of safety concerns including a shifting chimney.

  The cabin is now inaccessible, but visitors can still explore the homestead and outbuildings as work proceeds to analyze and fix the landmark Smokies dwelling.

  Restoration work will be funded by Friends of the Smokies.

  Per the National Park Service:

  “The cabin dates back to the 1800s and was occupied by the Walker Sisters until 1964. Park crews are concerned about recent movement around the chimney in the two-story cabin. Noticeable cracks and buckling around the stone masonry need to be repaired and stabilized to prevent further movement. The cabin is now closed to all use. 

  “Cabin renovations, including roof replacement, are planned for the 2022 field season. The Friends of the Smokies have provided funding for this critical work as part of the Forever Places campaign to protect and preserve the park’s historical resources. The historic farmstead, including additional outbuildings, will remain accessible during the cabin closure. Visitors may reach the area by hiking approximately 1.4 miles along the Little Brier Gap Trail located near the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area.”  

  For more information about the Walker Sisters, please visit https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/walker-sisters.htm. 

• Scott Schlarbaum speaks for the trees and the future of Tennessee forests
  in News
  By Thomas Fraser

  Tennessee Tree Improvement Program director Scott Schlarbaum stands among a collection of grafted and cloned native trees at the program’s grafting facility off Alcoa Highway. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

  2-minute video on hemlock genetic diversity conservation added to this article on September 2, 2021

  UT Tree Improvement Program prepares for its greatest grafting season yet

  “What you have here is the future of Tennessee forests,” said Scott Schlarbaum, a professor and director of the University of Tennessee Tree Improvement Program.

  You can tell from a chuckle he thinks his statement might sound hyperbolic and a bit dramatic, but it’s really not.

  He gestured across an unassuming but important UT facility just off Alcoa Highway tucked within the East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center that will be the main base for a historic tree-grafting effort that will commence this winter. 

  The goal: Create trees with high-quality genetic traits ranging from wildlife and habitat qualities to timber value.

  Heavy traffic hissed down the nearby highway as it passed by the modest understock yard, greenhouse, raised beds and small house containing offices used as the main grafting facility for the UT Tree Improvement Program (TIP). At least 50,000 vehicles pass by the site every day but most drivers and passengers are oblivious to the existence of this small but important outpost of forest conservation skirted by a Knox County greenway.

  The Tree Improvement Program was first established in 1959. It survives as a notable exception to the cost-cutting of such projects in other states at both university and government levels.

  “These days we tend to look only at the short term. UT did not.”

  Beginning in January, Schlarbaum, director of the program since 1983, will oversee grafting efforts on some 3,600 trees. Last year, during which TIP efforts were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, about 2,000 trees were grafted.

  “We are gearing up for our biggest grafting year ever. That’s a huge deal,” Schlarbaum said.

• A nursing bear and her cubs share an intimate Great Smokies moment
  in Creature Features
  By Rob Hunter
  A window on ursine motherhood in Cades Cove

  As I was descending a wooded hillside in the heart of Cades Cove on a June afternoon, a motionless black bulk caught my eye off to my left.

  I turned my attention there, regarded the scene for a few moments, and realized the sprawling blur was a large sleeping bear. A few moments more of inspection revealed three cubs snoozing in the branches overhead.

• Update: Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials postpone controlled burn in Wears Cove to reduce wildfire fuel
  in Earth
  By Thomas Fraser

  Park service postpones 175-acre controlled burn

  Citing low humidity and dry conditions, park officials postponed the planned burn until at least Tuesday along the park boundary in Wears Valley in the Metcalf Bottoms area. Another burn is planned near Sparks Lane in Cades Cove later in the week, depending on weather conditions.

  The original story is below:

  Park managers plan a controlled burn along the park boundary in Wears Cove starting Monday. Don’t freak if you see heavy smoke in the area. March is an opportune time to conduct controlled burns for hazardous debris removal and habitat improvement in the interface between rural habitation and protected natural areas.

  Fire prevention practices have become more widespread in Great Smoky Mountains National Park since a devastating and deadly November 2016 wildfire that spread into populated areas of Gatlinburg and Sevier County.

  Here’s the straight skinny from the park service, per a release:

  “Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian-Piedmont-Coastal Zone fire management staff plan to conduct a 175-acre prescribed burn along the park boundary in Wears Valley to the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area.  The burn will take place between Monday, March 8 through Thursday, March 11, depending on weather. Prescribed burn operations are expected to take two days.  

  A National Park Service (NPS) crew of wildland fire specialists will conduct the prescribed burn to reduce the amount of flammable brush along the park’s boundary with residential homes. This unit was burned successfully in 2009 and is part of a multi-year plan to reduce flammable materials along the park boundary with residential areas.  

  “A long-term goal of this project is to maintain fire and drought tolerant trees like oak and pine on upper slopes and ridges in the park,” said Fire Ecologist Rob Klein. “Open woodlands of oak and pine provide habitat for a diverse set of plants and animals, and the health of these sites benefits from frequent, low-intensity burning.”

• America’s newest national park is wild and wonderful — and nearby
  in Water
  By Rick Vaughan
  The New River in West Virginia is one of the oldest rivers on earth, and it’s now included in America’s newest national park.  Courtesy National Park Service

   

  New River Gorge National Park preserves paddling and climbing paradise

  When you think of national parks within a day’s drive of East Tennessee, what comes to mind? Great Smoky Mountains National Park, of course. Or perhaps Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, or Virginia’s Shenandoah. You have a new option.        

  New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, created by Congress Dec. 27, 2020, by way of a pandemic relief bill, is America’s 63^rd and newest national park. Located in southern West Virginia, the 72,186-acre park and preserve protects land along both sides of a 53-mile stretch of the New River, which is famous for its world-class whitewater. It’s walls rise up to 1,400 feet, attracting rock climbers from across the country.

  The New River Gorge, known locally as “The New,” currently welcomes about 1.4 million visitors a year. It’s within a day’s drive of 40 percent of the U.S. population, and is expecting an initial 20 percent increase in visitation this year because it is now a national park with national attention.

  Local merchants and business owners are already touting the economic benefits, including new jobs in in-store retail and dining, two industries decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

  “We’re super excited about it,” Cathedral Cafe manager Cassidy Bays said. She said the cafe, just minutes from the park, plans to increase staff and extend hours. “We’re even building an outdoor patio to increase dining space,” Bays said.

  And this is not your grandfather’s West Virginia: Locavores can find locally sourced food and lean into a vegan juice bar. Several community-supported agriculture (CSA) and co-op farms are a main source of the cafe menu. “We actually cater to locavores. We are a farm-to-table restaurant” Bays said.