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. 

Katheryn Albrecht holds a juvenile American kestrel just prior to releasing it into the Wildwood area of Blount County as part of the Farmland Raptor Project.  Thomas Fraseer/Hellbender Press

Farmland Raptor Project takes wing to expand raptor populations on private properties

WILDWOOD — She felt the bird in her hand in her heart as the kestrel strained toward freedom.

Elise Eustace, communications director for Foothills Land Conservancy, blessed the bird and let it go, free to make a home somewhere on the 300-acre Andy Harris Farm or elsewhere in the Wildwood area of Blount County. “I’ve never gotten to do something like this,” she said. “So exciting.” 

Two other juvenile kestrels joined their kin on the warm summer afternoon, lighting into nearby oaks and atop a telephone line above the red and yellow pollinator gardens and dry pasture and cornfield and copses that punctuate the property in the shadow of smoky knobs that rise gradually to the Smokies crest beyond the blue-green hollows of the Little River watershed. Resident sparrows, bluebirds and kingbirds voiced displeasure at the new arrivals. 

NASHVILLE — The annual Tennessee Urban Forestry Council conference is set for Nov. 14-15 at the Scarritt Bennett Center. 

This year’s theme is Under One Canopy, which will highlight how individuals, organizations and municipalities are engaging with diverse stakeholders and cross-sector partners to make an impact in Tennessee communities through urban forestry. Confrence attendees will celebrate achievements from across the state, exchange ideas and learn from the latest urban forestry studies and stories.

Full registration and lodging details will be announced soon.

KINGSTON SPRINGS — The 2024 Dinner IN the Creek, a fundraiser for the Harpeth Conservancy, will be nestled in the serene beauty of Bell’s Reserve in Kingston Springs. This hidden oasis, with over a mile of Harpeth River waterfront, offers a unique setting for the event in a charming spring-fed creek at the heart of the 600-acre property.

This year’s Dinner IN the Creek, sponsored by Amazon, is set for 6-9 p.m. July 23. Tickets are $500 and include a Hispanic-roots dinner from renowned chefs and live entertainment from Brother and the Hayes.

Harpeth Conservancy’s vision is clean water and healthy ecosystems for rivers in Tennessee championed by the people who live here. 

In this image from a social media video, a woman and child are seen outside the Bearskin Lodge in Gatlinburg. Biologists have concluded the bear is too habituated to humans and plans call for trapping and euthanizing the animal.  Hellbender Press

The incident caught outside a Gatlinburg hotel was not “normal bear behavior” and relocation of a fed, fearless bear isn’t an option

KNOXVILLE — John Nolt, a member of the Sierra Club’s Harvey Broome Group executive committee and professor emeritus in philosophy at the University of Tennessee, will present a program about cryptocurrencies and their detrimental long-term effects on the environment. Cryptocurrency “mines” (data centers, really) pull enormous quantities of power from the electrical grid.

Thus they are attracted to states like Tennessee where electric power is relatively cheap.

The event is set for 7-8:30 p.m. June 11 at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville.

Andrew Zimmerman

KNOXVILLE — Join Conservation Fisheries, Inc. and other experts for a discussion on how to HEAD UNDERWATER to snorkel and enjoy the beautiful underwater biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians.

The free event is set for 6-8 p.m. June 15 at Remedy Coffee, 800 Tyson Place, Knoxville.

The panel will be led by CFI Director Bo Baxter; Casper Cox from Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia; Jennifer Webster from Little River Watershed Association; and TVA Fisheries Biologist Justin Wolbert. 

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.

The honor continues Hellbender Press’s tradition of excellence in journalism.

KNOXVILLE — Hellbender Press: The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia, was honored with a first-place award by the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists (ETSPJ) for its probe into a controversial municipal airport proposed by the city of Oak Ridge.

Reporters Wolf Naegeli and Ben Pounds and Hellbender Press editor and publisher Thomas Fraser accepted the award during ETSPJ’s 2023 Golden Press Card awards, held May 16 at Maple Hall in downtown Knoxville. The honors, which are bestowed upon television, radio, print and digital media, “strive to honor the best journalism in the eastern region of Tennessee from the past year,” according to ETSPJ.

Hellbender Press was honored with first place in the digital space for its investigation into the proposed airport, which the city maintains would juice economic development, especially in the high-tech business realm. 

Gerry Moll is seen in the native garden of his home in the 4^th and Gill neighborhood of Knoxville in this file photo. Moll tends to his natural habitat in keeping with city codes protocols.  Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press

City: Overgrown lots don’t automatically qualify as wildlife habitat

KNOXVILLE — City government wants people to know that though “No Mow May” is a worthy observation there are still some protocols residents have to follow to avoid codes violations and potential fines.

The month of May is hyped as a prime time to refrain from cutting your grass or portions of your lawn to allow pollinating plants and the pollinators they support to get six legs up late spring and early summer nectar season. It’s also an occasion to consider the fact that traditional lawns are largely ecological deserts.

“No Mow May” is a quick and catchy name for a movement that aims far beyond not mowing the yard for a month,” according to Bee City USA, a proponent of keeping your yard real and wild when and where it is practical.

“It’s more than long grass and dandelion blooms. It’s a gateway to understanding how we share our lawns with many small creatures.”

It goes beyond bees and butterflies and other pollinating insects. Many ground-nesting birds are on the decline due to loss of grassy habitat. Native grasses also serve as habitat for small mammals such as rabbits and mice, which in turn provide a buffet for raptors such as owls, hawks and eagles.

Hellbender Press has reported on cultivation of such natural landscapes and habitats within the city limits. Groups such as the Native Plant Rescue Squad can also provide plants and guidance.