National Park Service via WBIR

Feds and boosters have considered trail network since completion of the “Missing Link”

WEARS VALLEY The National Park Service moved this week into the latest public-input phase regarding proposed construction of a Smokies-area mountain-biking destination on federal land near the current terminus of a recently completed section of Foothills Parkway that runs from Walland to Wears Valley.

The plan calls for miles of single-track mountain bike trails of varying skill levels and vendors catering to bicyclists. Park service documents indicate a rest station with picnic facilities, bathrooms and bicycle rental and repair facilities sited in Wears Cove southeast of the parkway terminus at Wears Cove. The parcel is already part of a federal easement for another extension of the parkway that would connect with the Gatlinburg Spur. 

“The Wears Valley portion of the Foothills Parkway could provide visitors new opportunities to experience the Park through mountain biking because it is within the Park’s general development zone and transportation management zone and is not managed as wilderness,” according to park service documents.

News Sentinel:  State takes path of least resistance with air-quality plans; and researchers are gauging how Southern Appalachian salamanders will respond to climate change.

KNOXVILLE — Local journalists delivered a double tap of critical conservation coverage this week:

The state air quality board is outlining its 10-year haze-reduction plan for Tennessee, and some enviros are arguing the state is not going much beyond the bare minimum required by the feds. That was the crux of a detailed report from News Sentinel reporter Anila Yoganathan that also examined lingering air quality and deposition issues in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While air quality in some aspects has improved in recent decades, there are still some insidious issues that affect the park’s viewshed, and on occasion, the health of park visitors, too. Acid and nitrate deposition continue to take a toll on park streams.

The report is extensive. A digital subscription is required to view the stories at Knox News, but hopefully they’ll open it up as an introductory freebie.

Speaking of streams and the threat they face: 

Science reporter Vincent Gabrielle waded into a story about research at the Tennessee Aquarium delving into the effects of global and regional climate change on Southern Appalachian freshwater denizens such as the black-bellied salamander.

“Their teeming millions make up a substantial proportion of the animal life of a forest. In the headwaters of the Appalachian Mountains, salamanders frequently outnumber fish, birds and other small animals,” Gabrielle reported.

“Lungless salamanders, like the black-bellied salamander, breathe only through their skin. They will notice water pollution, including sediment, agricultural runoff or acidic seepage from old mines, and relocate to cleaner water.” — If they can, we might add. Too often, that is impossible for them.

Menacing military buildup on Ukraine borders and Orwellian denials could snuff peaceful scientific cooperation

City announces plan to encourage composting by residents and businesses

KNOXVILLE — What do you do with your meatless leftover food scraps?

Sometimes here at Hellbender Press global headquarters in South Knox we throw them in the yard for winter critters; occasionally sneak some to the dogs; bury them in the vegetable garden; or sometimes slip them into the relatively unused backyard composter by the cat graves way in the back. 

It seems such a waste to throw it away or even produce it in the first place, and centralized landfill food scraps spew methane and linger for years. It’s a big gnarly stewpot. 

Sign up for cleaner electricity in the Tennessee Valley!

There’s a huge opportunity to fight for clean energy jobs in the Cumberland Fossil plant area! The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning to retire the Cumberland Fossil Plant in the coming years, but if local residents don’t take action, TVA will replace the coal fire with expensive, dangerous, and polluting natural gas –– a fossil fuel that harms the environment and would require a massive gas pipeline that would run through several nearby counties. 

Stand with local residents and tell the TVA you want cleaner and safer electricity! Sign on to this public comment for the TVA Board Meeting on February 10!

Compass Knoxville: Renowned biologist had some local roots

WATE: Knox County Commission greenlights more Hardin Vally development

Knox County Commission approved yet another expansive subdivision in the rapidly developing Hardin Valley area despite pleas from area residents to pause and take a deep breath as residential and commercial development outstrips and overwhelms first responders, streets, roads and schools and other infrastructure — and any pretense of responsible suburban planning and zoning.

The decision comes on the heels of similar land-use fights (such as those reported by Hellbender Press) originated by citizens as housing shortages mean such disputes aren’t likely to go away anytime soon.

“Look at all the development projects instead of each one individually. Look at all the projects in the pipeline, not just the few hundred that are on the books right now,” said Knox County Planning Alliance consulting engineer Lee Muller, according to WATE reporting. “There’s like 4,500 in the pipeline in some stage of approval or construction in the county right now. They need to look at all that and what that requires in terms of schools, sewer, police, fire stations,” Muller told WATE.

(Correction 26 Jan. 2022: During the meeting Muller said 2021 ended with 4,499 homes under construction in the county, not the country.  After reported by Hellbender Press, this transcription error was corrected on the WATE site too.)

Appalachian Voices

Citizen Times: Smokies forester bids adieu to her arboreal home

Good read here from the Asheville newspaper about the retirement of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Supervisory Forester Kristine Johnson.

In her three decades at the Smokies, she has tackled issues ranging from exotic and invasive plants to the slow and disastrous demise of the park’s hemlocks due to the hemlock wooly adelgid.

“‘The work we do includes forest health in all aspects,’ said Johnson, who is retiring this month after more than 30 years in the Smokies,” Frances Ligart reported. “Her career has been devoted to reducing the introduction into the park of exotic plants, insects, and diseases.”

Hellbender Press

Park sets visitation record with 14.1 million visits in 2021 

Some 14 million people visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year, as Americans and foreign tourists continued their flight to nature in the face of the Covid pandemic.

Here’s the news release from the National Park Service: 

“Great Smoky Mountains National Park experienced the busiest year on record with 14,137,812 visits. Visitation exceeded the 2019 record by 1.5 million visits and 2020 visitation by more than 2 million visits. The park has increasingly become a year-round destination with eight monthly visitation records set during winter and spring months in 2021.”