Displaying items by tag: mead's quarry

One person hung on for dear life as big waves churned back and forth for minutes. 

Thanks to our friends at Compass for linking our original coverage and pointing us to the video of the spine-chilling incident. Tap the More…  button to access the full original article, which begins below, and the video from which we snapped this frame.

Towels, shoes, plastic toys and sunglasses were among the items left behind Saturday afternoon when dozens of people were forced to flee as powerful waves battered the shoreline after a rockslide at Mead’s Quarry Lake.  J.J. Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

At least one person transported by ambulance; witness describes other injuries at Mead’s Quarry

KNOXVILLE — Calvin Sebourn was one of dozens of men, women and children who found themselves fighting for their lives Saturday afternoon at Mead’s Quarry Lake when a sudden rockslide triggered 10-foot-tall waves that inundated the opposite shore. 

Luckily, it appeared that no more than five people received minor injuries and only one of them was hurt badly enough to warrant an ambulance trip to a nearby hospital. 

The quarry is one of the most popular attractions at Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville, and authorities said Saturday night it would be closed until further notice while the site is inspected. 

Environmental groups are suing the U.S. government to force addition of the Berry Cave salamander to the Endangered Species List. It is one of the largest cave salamanders, and can grow up to 6 inches.  Dr. Matthew Niemiller

50 percent of the known Berry Cave salamander population is in rapidly developing Knox County

KNOXVILLE — The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on May 7, arguing that the agency violated federal law when it denied Endangered Species Act protections for a rare salamander that is only found in a handful of East Tennessee caves.

The Berry Cave salamander has pink feathery gills, lives its entire life in caves, and can grow to over 9 inches in length — making it the largest cave-dwelling salamander in North America. The salamander is also incredibly rare. Populations have been found in just a small number of isolated caves, and in several of these caves only one salamander has ever been observed.

Unique to our bioregion

“The Berry Cave salamander is found nowhere else on Earth, and its populations are dwindling in the face of rapid development and a changing climate,” said Liz Rasheed, a senior associate attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.  “This lawsuit seeks to correct an egregious error that puts this incredible salamander at an even greater risk of extinction.”

Grayson Subaru presented a check for $39,000 from Subaru of America’s 2023 Subaru Share the Love Event to Ijams Nature Center on April 24. Funds will be used to expand the popular Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve and the Mead’s Quarry Lake swim area.  Ijams Nature Center

KNOXVILLE — Grayson Subaru gave $39,000 to Ijams Nature Center to expand the popular Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve and the Mead’s Quarry Lake swim area.

The local retailer chose the nonprofit nature center as its hometown charity for Subaru of America Inc.’s 2023 Subaru Share the Love® Event. From Nov. 15, 2023, to Jan. 2, Subaru and its retailers donated a minimum of $300 for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased at more than 628 of its retailers nationwide to several national charities and a hometown charity chosen by each retailer.

“Subaru of America and Grayson Subaru are committed to the communities we serve,” Subaru Sales Manager JC Marquardt said. “We do that by showing support in ways that make a meaningful difference, and we’re incredibly grateful to our customers, who share our values and are committed to doing the same. This is a proud day for all of us.”

Work has already begun on Phase 2 of the Ijams Nature Playscape.

“Thus far, Ijams staff have scouted the new trail and, with the help of 115 trained volunteers, removed invasive species from about one acre of the new section,” Ijams President and CEO Amber Parker said. “This is the most time-consuming part of the process, because there is a more diverse mix of invasive and native species, and removal has to be done by hand.”

In addition to preparing the upper section of the 13.46-acre property, Ijams is planning a new feature to Phase 1 of the playscape after conducting a survey of the people who were using it.

“We learned that people wanted a way to cross through the mushier spots of the floodplain in an area we call the ‘Soggy Bottom Room,’ so we’re creating a narrow path of wood over utility poles to make a bog walkway,” she said. “We recently salvaged a large palette that was mired in the mud along the Tennessee River and will use that reclaimed wood in the project. There are perks to having an Ijams River Captain keeping our waterways clear!”

Parker said improvements to the Mead’s Quarry swim area will start at a later date.

Come one, come all to celebrate fall at the second annual Hallo-week at Ijams presented by Ijams Nature Center Oct. 24-29.

Whether you make your own monster, enjoy a night of haunted tales, go on an owl prowl, or visit an enchanted forest filled with tricks and (lots of) treats, there’s something for all ages during the five-day event.

“The fall is an amazing time to be outdoors in East Tennessee,” Ijams Development Director Cindy Hassil said. “Ijams Nature Center created Hallo-week in 2022 to offer everyone an opportunity to get outside and celebrate all the fun and educational things you can do during this time of year. This year’s Hallo-week at Ijams brings back the popular Ijams Enchanted Forest, family pumpkin carving, and night hikes, and features new offerings, such as craft workshops and a Scare Fair market place.”

Tuesday, Oct. 24

A Night of Haunted Tails with the Smoky Mountain Storytellers Association

7-8:30 p.m.

Enjoy an evening of scary, silly, and haunted tales told by members of the Smoky Mountain Storytellers Association as part of the Ijams Sunset Social series.

All Ages; $5 Ages 5-12, $10 Ages 13+

Freshwater jellyfish: Here one year, gone the next.

KNOXVILLE — Paddling along the still water of Mead’s Quarry Lake you notice the air bubbles created by your oars. They are all around your canoe near the surface.

It’s a hot early September afternoon and the nearly transparent bubbles seem to take on a life of their own. You slow to watch and yes, they undulate, rising and falling in the pristine water of the abandoned marble quarry.

Air bubbles do not undulate!

Taking a clear plastic cup, you lean over the gunwale and scoop up one of the penny-sized bubbles to get a closer look.

Tentacles? Air bubbles do not have tentacles. What you are looking at is a freshwater jellyfish and the heat of late summer is its mating season. It’s a blossom of jellyfish as hundreds gather together near the water’s surface. They are commonly known as peach blossom jellyfish. 

Carson-Newman University Professor Brian Sohn is hosting a climate-oriented webinar on March 30.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Local installment of worldwide virtual Climate Teach-In is set for 2:30 p.m. March 30

JEFFERSON CITY — Brian Sohn had “the closest thing to a panic attack” when his second daughter was born.

He had long been alarmed by climate change and its potentially disastrous effects, but her arrival brought home the need to address the environmental challenges of a rapidly changing planet.

So now the Carson-Newman University education professor is putting some final touches on a virtual climate-related “teach-in” he’ll host from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30.

Members of a Covid-era outdoor education class at Ijams Nature Center net insects. The South Knoxville nature center weathered the Covid-19 pandemic with donations, federal loan guarantees and common-sense maneuvering, like moving all educational programming outside.  Photos courtesy Ijams Nature Center.

Ijams posted record visitation during pandemic even as resources were challenged

(This is the second in an occasional Hellbender Press series about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the natural world. Here's the first installment about air quality improvements in the Smokies.)

Individuals and organizations can learn a lot from a pandemic.

You up your technology game. You innovate and run harder and get leaner. You realize the importance of face time (the real face time). 

You learn the power of allies and those who really love you.

And in the case of Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville, you learn just how much people need and value the natural world and the outdoors, especially in times of acute stress and uncertainty.

Ijams played host to a record number of visitors in 2020; there was no usual winter slowdown. Parking lots were full virtually every day during the height of the pandemic that claimed the lives of at least 600,000 people in the U.S. That visitation trend has continued at Ijams, with the coronavirus somewhat comfortably in the rear-view mirror.

An estimated 160,000 people visit the popular nature center annually, but there’s no exact count. Officials said the 2020 visitation substantially surpassed that number, and they plan a visitation study because a very “porous border” prevents an accurate count.

“The one great thing that has come out of Covid, is that people have recognized the importance of nature in their lives; they’ve recognized it as a place for solace, a place to get out and be safe and feel comfortable,” said Ijams Nature Center Executive Director Amber Parker. 

“The sheer mass number of people coming were new to Ijams, or maybe come once or twice coming multiple times a week,” said Ijams Development Director Cindy Hassil.

“We were so excited to be this refuge for everyone,” Parker added.

The two women spoke on a sunny spring afternoon on the fetching expanse of stone terrace behind the visitors center in the shade of tulip poplars, red buds and dogwoods. Cardinals chirped and early 17-year cicadas throbbed behind a natural green curtain.

Not all of the Knoxville Urban Wilderness is true wilderness, of course. This monoculture field of sunflowers planted at the Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area does, however, attract lots of wildlife.  Courtesy Visit Knoxville

Spring study to quantify visitation, economic impact

“It’s something special for Knoxville and defines us as a recreational community,” said city Deputy Chief of Economic and Community Development Rebekah Jane Justice. She was named the city’s first Urban Wilderness Coordinator in July 2017, and is still the city’s go-to expert on this ambitious, ongoing land-preservation and recreational project. “It’s about so many things, including building our local economy in a unique way.” 

Now that the Urban Wilderness is more established, actual numbers about usage are more easily captured than when Sims authored his paper. Matthew Kellogg of the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club said that his club received an equipment grant from the International Mountain Bicycling Association for trail-counter devices to quantify how many people use the trails — and where and when. Currently Kellogg’s group is calibrating 11 newly placed trail counters in the Urban Wilderness. By spring, the group hopes to be collecting reliable data. 

Among the things this data will be used for is a multi-year study by University of Tennessee kinesiology and recreation professor Eugene Fitzhugh, a frequent lecturer about urban trails their impact on a community’s physical activity.