Outdoors
Word from the Smokies: At 50, Endangered Species Act continues to protect life in the park
It’s no secret that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a hotspot of biological diversity. Not only does it offer a range of environmental conditions to support plant and animal life, no ocean or glacier has disturbed it for over a million years, giving species lots of time to evolve.
Notes from a plant nerd: Oh balsam tree, oh balsam tree
At the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachians grow two evergreen trees that give the Balsam Mountains their name — red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser fir (Abies fraseri).
Up Moses Creek: The Red Maple
The air was still and frosty when I started up the trail that November morning to watch Black Mountain light up in the sun.
Notes from a plant nerd: Like a podium
Creeping along the forest floor is a group of native plants that look like mosses, but aren’t mosses.
Word from the Smokies: Park volunteer makes big impact on visitor safety
“I’m just a backwoods guy,” Bill Gober says. “I try to stay out of the limelight.”
Notes from a plant nerd: You reap what you sow … if you’re lucky
Whoever first wrote down the phrase, “You reap what you sow” was definitely not a farmer or gardener. I’ve started following that phrase with, “…if you’re lucky.”
Up Moses Creek: You come too
If happiness can be found in simple things, then Moses Creek is the place to look. And often those things are seasonal, which adds the element of pleasurable anticipation to their arrival.
Notes from a plant nerd: Going to seed
Want to hear a corny joke about an oak tree? That was it.
Word from the Smokies: New book features letters from park archives
Most people come to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for its scenic vistas, waterfalls and wildlife — seeking an escape to the great outdoors.
