Displaying items by tag: tennessee wildlife resources agency

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.

ROCKWOOD — Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers and local agencies recovered the body of Roane County resident, 19-year-old Braeden Hartup, from Watts Bar Reservoir just after 2 a.m. May 26. 

The initial 911 call, concerning a male who had jumped from a boat and did not resurface, came in just after 9 p.m. May 25. Hartup and 10 others were on an anchored pontoon just south of Rockwood, near the Winton Chapel Access Area. Witnesses stated that Hartup decided to swim and jumped into the water from the front of the boat. Hartup was not wearing a life jacket. 

TWRA officers and local agencies used a remote-operated vehicle to locate and recover Hartup’s body in 24 feet of water. The body was transported to the Knox County Medical Examiner’s Office. This is the eighth boating related fatality this year. The incident remains under investigation. 

Find boating and statistical information at tnwildlife.org.

The species is listed as endangered in the state of Tennessee; zoo heads up years-long conservation effort

This Nashville Zoo blog post is reprinted with permission. 

NASHVILLE — Nashville Zoo’s ectotherm team, in partnership with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee State University, traveled to a waterway in Middle Tennessee to successfully release a total of 27 eastern hellbender salamanders back into the wild. These hellbenders had been raised since 2018 at the Zoo as part of a headstart program. Since the start of this conservation initiative, the Zoo has released more than 100 hellbenders into local Tennessee streams to help bolster the population of this state-endangered species.

The hellbenders released this year had been raised since 2018 at the Zoo as part of a headstart program, after being collected as eggs from streams in Middle Tennessee. Each animal was fitted with a radio transmitter earlier this year, allowing a team of graduate students to track and monitor the hellbenders throughout the summer. This is the fourth group of hellbenders to be released back into the wild since the summer of 2021.

Rhea County — Watts Bar Reservoir created in 1942, has remained a consistent bass fishery according to data collected over the past decades. Reservoir biologists are hopeful that a recent catch is reflective of Florida largemouth bass stocking efforts started in 2015. 

Randy Miller of Spring City caught an 11.22-pound largemouth bass on the reservoir and graciously shared the photo with reservoir biologist Mike Jolley. Jolley, an employee with over three decades of professional experience, grew up on the lake and has intimate knowledge of its waters. Jolley shared, “We routinely evaluate our fisheries in reservoirs, including Watts Bar, to assess overall health of population dynamics. Some anglers have questioned the status of the bass fishery in this lake. I’m happy to share that Watts Bar has remained a consistent fishery based on long-term, routine data collection.”

Bull elk in Cataloochee Valley, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Oct. 22, 2009.    anoldent

CLINTON — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) seeks information related to a bull elk illegally poached in Anderson County on Sunday, Oct. 8. TWRA was notified on Sunday that a bull elk had been killed and upon investigation, the entire carcass was located with what appeared to be a wound inflicted by an archery system.

The elk head was taken into custody by officers as evidence and the carcass was taken in for processing to support the Hunters for the Hungry program. Processing was donated by the Campbell Outdoor Recreation Association (CORA).

“Poaching is a serious offense in Tennessee,” said TWRA Officer Caleb Hardwick “The TWRA has been working diligently since 2000 to restore the elk population to a huntable size. Poaching is not only illegal, but it threatens restoration efforts that ensure Tennesseans have the opportunity to legally hunt these animals.”

$3,000 in reward funding was donated by CORA, The Tennessee Wildlife Federation, and the National Wild Turkey Federation Pine Mountain Longbeards Chapter to support the investigation. Rewards are available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the poacher. Information such as the individual’s name or description, vehicle tag number or description, and location of the offense greatly assist the TWRA in apprehending wildlife poachers.

All information received by TWRA is kept in strict confidence. Individuals with information about the poacher can contact the East Tennessee Regional Poaching Hotline at 1-800-831-1174.

Elk harvest is regulated by a quota permit system. The next application period for elk quota hunts is Feb 7-28, 2024. Nineteen quota permits are issued in designated Elk Hunt Zones. A legal deer hunter may harvest an elk incidental to deer hunting on private and public lands open to deer hunting except in Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Scott, and Morgan Counties and except for Big South Fork River Recreation Area.

 For more information about legal elk hunting opportunities in Tennessee including quota hunt application dates and elk hunting units visit www.TNWildlife.org.

This bald eagle was shot but successfully rehabbed at Memphis Zoo

STEWART COUNTY — April 8, 2022  Return to the wild!

Email sturgeon.reports (at) tn.gov an image of your catch-and-release with the date, location and your name to obtain your official certificate!  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WBIR: Holston River sturgeon surging

The population of lake sturgeon, a survivor since the Cretaceous Era that barely escaped the ravages of modern dams and reservoirs, is on the upswing in the Holston River and other branches and tributaries of the Tennessee River system. The last record of the fish in the valley before restoration efforts began is about 1960, according to WBIR.

Significantly older fish were identified during a recent inventory of sturgeon, giving hope that some fish were closing in on reproductive maturity. The gradual recovery is largely the result of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority restoration efforts, WBIR reports.

“It makes our valley richer; that fish is supposed to be here,” one researcher told WBIR about the significance of the so-far successful restoration of native sturgeon habitats.

Legal opinion cuts path for TWRA forest clearing in White County’s Bridgestone wilderness area despite local opposition

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

A controversial plan by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials to clearcut forest in a popular hunting, hiking and recreation area in order to create habitat for Northern bobwhite quail has gotten a legal go-ahead, despite opposition from residents and local leaders in White County, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and environmental groups.

The 16,000-acre Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness Area, a forested area adjacent to Fall Creek Falls State Park and Virgin Falls State Natural Area, was a late 1990’s gift to the state from the tire company that came with certain strings attached, including that state officials “preserve the property predominantly in its present condition as a wilderness area.”

The Tennessee Wildlife Federation was charged with ensuring the state honors those conditions.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Wildlife Federation confirmed that outside legal counsel hired to review the state’s clearcutting plan found it “meets the requirements” of the gift.

“Speaking broadly as a conservation nonprofit, we have supported throughout our 75-year history the science-based, proactive management of lands to maintain or restore diverse habitats and diverse wildlife,” Kate Hill, a Tennessee Wildlife Federation spokeswoman, said via email. “The fact is savannas are an endangered habitat in the Southeast that were once common and provided essential habitat to many species across Tennessee.”

Neither the Tennessee Wildlife Federation nor the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has communicated the outcome of the legal review to local residents, who have complained for months that they have been kept in the dark and offered no meaningful opportunity to weigh in on plans to radically alter a landscape that is both beloved and central to the local economy.

Mike O’Neal, a longtime hunter, surveys an expanse of the Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness Area in Middle Tennessee where clearcutting of public hardwood forest is planned to create quail habitat. John Partipilo/Courtesy of Tennessee Lookout

The plan to clear forest for quail habitat is raising the ire of hunters and hikers, as well as a bipartisan group of state lawmakers

This story was originally published by the nonprofit Tennessee Lookout and is shared (with much appreciation) via Creative Commons License. 

It’s a pretty bird, easily recognizable by dark stripes on rust colored feathers and a distinct two-syllable chirp that announces its name: “bob” (the high note) then “white” at a lower pitch — also known as the northern bobwhite, a species of quail.

The otherwise unassuming bird is now at the center of a fight over public lands in White County, Tennessee, pitting the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency against an unlikely coalition of hikers, hunters, cavers, local business leaders and state lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.