Displaying items by tag: national park service

Cleanup crews clear a section of roadway in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area following storms that swept the park May 26.  National Park Service

Search came as Big South Fork cleans up after May 26 storm that brought May rainfall total to 12 inches

WARTBURG — Searchers found the body of a man that was the subject of a search that began Memorial Day after he was swept away by high water in Daddy’s Creek in the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area in Morgan County. 

Morgan County emergency management director Ethan Webb late Friday identified the victim as 57-year-old Wade Davis, originally identified by authorities as a Cumberland County resident. National Park Service personnel recovered the body about a mile downstream from Devils Breakfast Table near the Obed River. It is a rugged, steep area traversed by the Cumberland Trail.

Daddy’s Creek is a popular kayaking destination featuring class III and IV rapids that flows into the Obed River. Heavy rain had swollen the creek out of its banks, Webb said. Davis was with a family member when he lost his footing while wading and was swept downstream.

Multiple agencies were involved in the search “by air, by water and by land,” Webb said. “There wasn’t a day we didn’t search.” Drones, inflatable boats and a Highway Patrol helicopter were used. At least 25 people were involved at some point during the search, which was complicated by the speed of the water and rapids.

“We were in constant contact with the family,” he said. On Friday, the family received at least a measure of closure.

WARTBURG — Do you have beautiful photos of the Obed Wild & Scenic River? Enter your images in the 2024 Obed photography contest. Images may show wildlife, plant life, natural landscapes, historic areas, weather, or people interacting with nature within the boundaries of the Obed Wild and Scenic River. All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared.
Photographs may be submitted into one of five categories:
• Dark Skies — Photographs that show a view of the night sky.
• Flora & Fauna — Animals in their natural habitat, including close-ups of invertebrates, or plants in
their natural habitat, including close-ups of flowers, fungi, lichen, and algae.
• Youth — Entries in any category by photographers 17 years of age and under.
• Landscapes — Expansive and dramatic views of the land and its features within the Tennessee park
boundaries.
• Recreation — Photographs of people participating in recreational activities.

GATLINBURG — In commemoration of Veterans Day, visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park will not be required to purchase or display a parking tag on Saturday, Nov. 11. This will be the last fee-free day of the year at the Smokies and across the National Park Service.   

Visitors who wish to buy a weekly or annual tag on Saturday may continue to do so online, in the park or at various locations in park communities. Park rangers will continue their parking enforcement efforts on fee-free days, such as issuing warnings and citations for vehicles parked in marked no-parking areas. The Smokies participated in three other fee-free days this year: National Park Week in April, the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act in August, and National Public Lands Day in September. 

On Sunday, Nov. 12, Cades Cove Loop Road will open at 11 a.m. Friends of the Smokies, the park’s philanthropic partner, is hosting the annual Cades Cove Loop Lope, a foot race that gives registered runners a chance to run a 3.1- or 10-mile loop course in Cades Cove. 

The Cades Cove Loop Lope is the only organized footrace held inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to benefit Friends of the Smokies. All funds raised benefit park projects and programs such as historic preservation, wildlife conservation, native plant and grassland restoration, and much more.

Bart Carter retired after a 30-year career at TWRA. He is credited with improving backpack electrofishing equipment commonly used by conservationists around the country. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Electrofishing innovator retires after 30 years of service with TWRA

MORRISTOWN — Bart Carter, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency Region 4 Fisheries Program Manager, has retired after three decades of service to the state’s wildlife resources. 

During his 33-year career, his work included improving hatcheries, enhancing fish habitat, restoring streams to native fish fauna, helping discover new species, adding public access areas, and mentoring employees.   

One of his most significant developments during his career was designing and building new backpack electrofishing equipment.

“Electrofishing can be an effective tool for fish community sampling, fish relocation, invasive species eradication, (and) sampling fish tissue contaminants,” said Mark O’Neal, director of ETS Electrofishing systems, LLC in Madison, Wisconsin.

“The tools they use just stun fish and doesn’t kill them. It stuns them out and then they can weigh them and put a tag on them, without having to using a pole with a hook or a net,” O’Neal said.

“It puts out a high DC voltage pulse. On a boat system you have to use a larger pulse. More DC power to drive a current in the water. When the fish experience a DC current they go to the anoid,” O’Neal said.

National Park Service

Land conservancy and estate of long-ago German immigrant expands protection of North White Oak Creek

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area has grown inward by 60 acres.

The National Park Service announced this week that it officially acquired the donated acreage along North White Oak Creek within Big South Fork. It had previously been in private ownership.

The Allardt Land Company and the estate of Bruno Gernt (a remarkable individual in his own right) originally donated the approximately 60 acres within the boundaries of Big South Fork to TennGreen Land Conservancy. In December 2021, TennGreen transferred the property to the National Park Service.

“This tract provides essential protection for the south side of North White Oak Creek, a popular area in the southwest portion of the (125,000-acre park that straddles the Tennessee and Kentucky state lines in the Cumberlands).

“Park visitors will now forever be able to enjoy peaceful views across the creek of an oak-hickory and northern hardwood forest canopy,” Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas said in a press release.

“We truly appreciate the Allardt Land Company, Estate of Bruno Gernt, and TennGreen for their generosity.”

Interpretive themes convey park significance. Primary interpretive themes are the key ideas through which the park’s nationally significant resource values are conveyed to the public. They connect park resources to the larger ideas, meaning, and values of which they are a part. They are the building blocks—the core content—on which the interpretive program is based.

Find more details about the process, background information on the MNHP and register for the first meeting here.

The interpretive plan will provide guidance in developing future services, activities, events and exhibits in Oak Ridge, at the other MNHP locations, and through media outreach.

The recording of the April 13 national introductory webinar for this stakeholder process has just been released:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Air Resource Specialist is seen at the Look Rock air quality research station.   Courtesy National Park Service

The lack of regional and local vehicle traffic during the pandemic greatly reduced measurable pollution in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This is your Hellbender weekend read, and the first in an occasional Hellbender Press series about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the natural world

Great Smoky Mountains National Park shut down for six weeks in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Recorded emissions reductions during that period in part illustrate the role motor vehicles play in the park's vexing air-quality issues. The full cascade of effects from the pollution reductions are still being studied.

Hellbender Press interviewed park air quality specialist Jim Renfro about the marked reduction of carbon dioxide and other pollutants documented during the park closure during the pandemic, and the special scientific opportunities it presents.  He responded to the following questions via email.

Hellbender Press: You cited “several hundred tons" in pollutant reductions during an interview with WBIR of Knoxville (in 2020). What types of air pollutants does this figure include? 

WVLT: Public comment sought on fee increases

Bandy Creek, Blue Heron and Alum Ford campground fees would increase costs to between $15 and $140, depending on use. Comments will be accepted through March 22.