The zebra mussel, a harmful invasive aquatic species, has been confirmed in the wild for the first time in North Carolina.

As we prepare for the arrival of fall, we can also be on the lookout for a breathtaking wildlife spectacle that is a part of life here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains: the migration of the broad-winged hawk. 

Three freshwater mussel species have been proposed for designation as endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Cumberland moccasinshell, Tennessee clubshell and Tennessee pigtoe all occur in the Tennessee River Basin, while the Cumberland moccasinshell and Tennessee clubshell are also found in the Cumberland River Basin.

Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail celebrates kickoff 

When the impending closure of Canton’s paper mill was announced in March, conservation professionals predicted a swift improvement  in downstream water quality once papermaking stopped.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to list the green floater, a freshwater mussel found in North Carolina, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Three new species of spiders have been discovered in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, bringing the total number of new-to-science species found in the park through Discover Life in America’s All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project to 1,079 since the project launched in 1998.

To the Editor:

Since its inception Lake Junaluska has been a beacon and home to some of God’s most beautiful creatures.

Located up a narrow mountain road in a building about the size of an average single-family house, the Balsam Mountain Trust Nature Center is tiny compared to Executive Director Michael Wall’s last professional home, the San Diego Natural History Museum in California. 

As days lengthen and temperatures rise, black bears begin to move around in the woods searching for insects, nuts and berries. They also look for food in the gateway communities outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.