Photographs of Appalachia’s wild wonders have shaped our relationship with the mountains since the early 20th century, and witnessing the destruction of the region’s land and waters has long stirred residents to defend our natural heritage. – Compiled by Molly…
Blog Archives
Land through the Lens
TAGS: Appalachian Culture Art Great Smoky Mountains National Park landscape photography Mountaintop Removal nature Photography SouthWings
Trek to the Top of Mt. Cammerer
Enjoy a strenuous 11-mile hike to the top of Mt. Cammerer, located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The hike culminates with a view of the Pigeon River Gorge 3,000 feet below and the opportunity to stroll around the catwalk of the historic fire tower at Mt. Cammerer’s peak.
TAGS: Appalachian Trail Great Smoky Mountains National Park hiking hiking Appalachia hiking the Smokies
By the Numbers: Lyme Disease, Conservation Funding, Smoky Mountains and more
11 Ranking the Great Smoky Mountains National Park received from the National Parks Conservation Association of the most polluted national parks, an improvement over its #1 ranking in 2004. $1.2 million Amount estimated to restore the Blue Ridge Tunnel as…
Good Ole Rocky Top: Trail Repair in the Smokies
By Davis Wax Leaving I-40 South near Newport, Tenn., heading down Cosby Highway, I slowed down and leaned forward over the steering wheel, watching as the late September sky disappeared behind undulations of green and blue earth. The Great Smoky…
TAGS: appalachia Appalachian Trail Great Smoky Mountains National Park Hiking the Highlands Outdoor Recreation Tennessee trail building
6,000 Acres of Blue Ridge Preserved
By Chelsey Fisher Nearly 6,000 acres of land in the Appalachian region were purchased or donated for conservation purposes in the same month Environment North Carolina released 10 reasons why the state General Assembly should restore conservation funds in the…
TAGS: Alcoa Inc. Brookfield Renewable Energy Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy Charles Taylor Cherokee National Forest Environment North Carolina Great Smoky Mountains National Park North Carolina Forest Service Preservation Tallassee The Nature Conservancy Transylvania County
April 20-28 is National Park Week and includes free admissions
By Alix Johns Growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., opportunities to marvel at the beauty of nature didn’t come often. Luckily, my grandparents lived Woodstock, Va., nestled in the Shenandoah Valley. On our trips to visit, we would…
TAGS: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park fishing free Great Smoky Mountains National Park hiking National Park parks Shenandoah National Park
A Failure To Cooperate Over Wilderness Right-of-Way Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation filed a condemnation petition in January that would allow the utility to build power lines through Box Creek Wilderness, a 5,100-acre tract of preserved forest east of Asheville, N.C.…
TAGS: Air Pollution air quality Appalachia Unhappy Box Creek Wilderness Dominion Resources Inc. Georgia Great Smoky Mountains National Park Nickajack Reservoir Tim Sweeney Well-Being Index
The Conception of Wild Ideas: Scientists Confront Conservation Challenges of Our Times
This essay by Travis Belote, Greg Aplet, and Pete McKinley ran abridged in the print version of The Appalachian Voice. 1934 was a big year for conservation in the southern Appalachians. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in…
TAGS: Great Smoky Mountains National Park Land Conservation Land management Southern Appalachian Mountains Wilderness Act wilderness conservation Wilderness Society
They’re Here: Alien Species in Appalachia
By Matt Grimley Anything that costs $120 billion every year to control can’t be good. That’s just one estimate of the costs of invasive species in the United States, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Research Station. In Appalachia, the everyday…
TAGS: American bullfrog Appalachian Fruit Research Station beech bark disease brown marmorated stink bug crayfish plague european starling gray squirrel Great Smoky Mountains National Park invasive species Japanese knotweed Kudzu kudzu bug multiflora rose pseudorabies tree-of-heaven wild boars
Abrams Falls Trail: A Jaunt to a Jewel of the Smokies
By Stephen Otis The Abrams Falls Trail has historical nuances you won’t find just anywhere. Located in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, the trail, creek and falls are named after a historic…
