Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Invasive carp jumping from the water at Barkley Dam in Kentucky. One option for eliminating carp is to eat them, and you can do just that on Saturday in Knoxville.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Learn about invasive species such as carp and zebra mussels at Conservation Fisheries panel

KNOXVILLE —To hear Bo Baxter tell it, carp actually doesn’t taste half bad.

He fairly gorged on the bottom feeders once long ago, during a long Mississippi River trip with the famed aquatic biologist David Etnier.

He prefers silver carp to, say, bighead carp, but the meat is fairly light and flaky on both and “I consider it excellent,” Baxter said. (Baxter serves on the editorial board of Hellbender Press).

Regardless their culinary appeal, the fish don’t belong anywhere near here, and will be among several different invasive species set to be the subject of a forum beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 at Remedy Coffee, 800 Tyson St., Knoxville.

And while you learn, you can enjoy a $5 carp po’boy and hushpuppies plate courtesy of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), which is working to both limit the spread and establish a robust commercial market for the fish. Payson will provide the bread and remoulade.

MARYVILLE — Come hang out on Little River with friends and family and learn about river life with the scientists and staff of Conservation Fisheries Inc. and Little River Watershed Association. 

The educational fun kicks off at noon July 27 with the start of shuttled floats down Little River ending back at River Johns, 4134 Cave Mill Road. (Bring your own personal flotation device).

Guided snorkeling (masks and snorkels provided) in the river at River Johns begins at 3 p.m. The day wraps up with food from Tarik’s North African, or you can bring your own picnic.

The photos of the Thompson Brothers, namely Jim Thompson, helped galvanize support for the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. The photo is undated, but was likely taken in the 1930s. The original caption note from the photographer reads: “Most of the streams in the Great Smokies are entirely safe for drinking purposes. The water flows from deep-shaded mountain sides, free from human contamination, and it is well aerated as it dashes wildly down the steep mountain sides. Even during the hottest days of summer, the water is so cold that it will cause one’s hands to ache if held in the water for a few minutes.”  University of Tennessee Libraries/Thompson Brothers Collection

Knoxville History Project observes 100th anniversary of a key meeting and month in Great Smoky Mountains history

KNOXVILLE ­— Parts of the mountains were broken, but it was all beautiful, and many artists and writers long took careful note of the rugged, remote rainforest to the southeast of the city.

Decades before modern scientific endeavors like the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory began documenting the wondrous, mountainous biodiversity of what was to become Great Smoky Mountains National Park, photographers, writers, journalists, naturalists and artists, including many from Knoxville, extolled the virtues of the relatively lofty blue-green mountains seen in silhouette from the city.

Much of the land was scarred by logging and erosion; much was not, and its beauty, frozen in a frame or penned to a page, spoke for itself through countless artists.

Their early 20th-century renderings of the Smokies, from prose to photographs, amazed critical federal officials and the public and helped close the complex deal on what is now the most visited national park in the United States. 

The Knoxville History Project is offering a series of events and symposium set for July 25-27, centered around the East Tennessee History Center on Gay Street, that will recognize the varied efforts of historical Knoxvillians to boost the concept of the national park through multimedia arts, science and journalism. 

Moviegoers are seen outside a postwar screening of a film at Grove Theater chronicling Oak Ridge’s role in the development of nuclear weapons and energy.  Department of Energy Photograph Collection/Oak Ridge Public Library

Public/private grants will fund natural resource preservation and enhancement in East Tennessee

OAK RIDGE — The U.S. Department of Energy signed a $42 million agreement as part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) process for impacts from its historic operations on the Oak Ridge Reservation. 

Contamination released from the Oak Ridge Reservation negatively impacted natural resources and services depending on those resources in the region. The goal of the NRDAR process is to restore natural resources and replace natural resource services equivalent to what was lost. 

A trustee council comprised of representatives from the state of Tennessee through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) as the lead state agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority and DOE evaluated how natural resources were injured and developed a Restoration and Compensation Determination Plan. That document was finalized in December 2022 after accepting public comments.

All funds from the $42 million agreement will be deposited into an account held by the state to fund grants to organizations and public entities for a wide range of local projects that either enhance the area’s natural resources or provide nature and recreational opportunities.