Thomas Fraser
Biden appointees may move TVA in more sustainable direction
News Sentinel: Biden poised to name four new TVA board members
Georgiana Vines has a good overview of the changing of the guard at TVA as Biden takes the reins on the giant public utility.
Environmental groups are hopeful that new appointees could steer TVA toward more sustainable energy sources and put a focus on the role of power production in climate change.
Right whale entangled in ropes and debris dies off Myrtle Beach
Post and Courier: Right whale meets sad end off Myrtle Beach
An endangered North Atlantic right whale monitored by researchers died off the northern South Carolina coast.
Right whales got their name from the fact they were the “right” whale to hunt. The species was almost hunted to extinction and its revival is faltering.
“Cottontail” was entangled in “ropes and other gear” and suffered its way from the Florida coast to Myrtle Beach, where it succumbed to its injuries.
Great white sharks reportedly fed on the carcass off the shore of the popular tourist destination.
UT professor pens book on origin of animal rights
DAILY TIMES: UT professor chronicles rise of animal rights movement
A University of Tennessee professor traces the origins of the animal rights movement in the 19th century U.S. in a new book, “A Traitor to His Species: Henry Bergh and the Birth of the Animal Rights Movement.”
Ernest Freeberg, head of the history department, chronicles how the action of one man who stopped the whipping of a trolley horse in New York City ultimately led to the modern animal welfare movement and the advent of laws punishing cruelty to animals.
Henry Bergh, who founded the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866, was derided as an extremist and misanthrope by his contemporaries, but his philosophy and moral approach to animal welfare eventually became prevalent in American society.
Update: Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials postpone controlled burn in Wears Cove to reduce wildfire fuel
Park service postpones 175-acre controlled burn
Citing low humidity and dry conditions, park officials postponed the planned burn until at least Tuesday along the park boundary in Wears Valley in the Metcalf Bottoms area. Another burn is planned near Sparks Lane in Cades Cove later in the week, depending on weather conditions.
Park managers plan a controlled burn along the park boundary in Wears Cove starting Monday. Don’t freak if you see heavy smoke in the area. March is an opportune time to conduct controlled burns for hazardous debris removal and habitat improvement in the interface between rural habitation and protected natural areas.
Fire prevention practices have become more widespread in Great Smoky Mountains National Park since a devastating and deadly November 2016 wildfire that spread into populated areas of Gatlinburg and Sevier County.
Here’s the straight skinny from the park service, per a release:
“Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian-Piedmont-Coastal Zone fire management staff plan to conduct a 175-acre prescribed burn along the park boundary in Wears Valley to the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. The burn will take place between Monday, March 8 through Thursday, March 11, depending on weather. Prescribed burn operations are expected to take two days.
A National Park Service (NPS) crew of wildland fire specialists will conduct the prescribed burn to reduce the amount of flammable brush along the park’s boundary with residential homes. This unit was burned successfully in 2009 and is part of a multi-year plan to reduce flammable materials along the park boundary with residential areas.
“A long-term goal of this project is to maintain fire and drought tolerant trees like oak and pine on upper slopes and ridges in the park,” said Fire Ecologist Rob Klein. “Open woodlands of oak and pine provide habitat for a diverse set of plants and animals, and the health of these sites benefits from frequent, low-intensity burning.”
200 wolves killed in Wisconsin after ESA restrictions are lifted
NYT: Gray wolf hunters sued state to move season up; first state wolf hunt since 2014 following delisting
Hunters killed 212 gray wolves during a three-day frenzy in Wisconsin after the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species List by the Trump administration.
State wildlife officials had wanted to delay the hunt until November so a science-based and fair game plan could be finalized. Wolf-hunting advocates sued to move the hunt up to last week; biologists and indigenous groups said they hunt occurred during breeding season, so the full effects on gray wolf populations could be far-reaching.
The state estimated there were about 1,200 wolves in Wisconsin prior to the hunt.
New Jarvis Park in Maryville could total nearly 50 acres
Go check out the ancient oaks in Maryville’s new park
Jarvis Park is 1.5 miles southeast of downtown off South Court Street and includes nearly 10 acres owned by Maryville doctor Craig Jarvis that were protected under a conservation easement via Foothills Land Conservancy in 2018 and transferred to the city a year later.
Park highlights include two 250-year-old oak trees, a mile of walking trails and a creek near Duncan Spring.
An additional 37 acres, consisting of two lots adjacent to the park, will be transferred for preservation to the city in the future, per current expansion plans, according to a conservancy digital newsletter. That acreage would adjoin the park.
“Jarvis Park ... is one of the few remaining intact woodlands in the area,” according to the conservancy, which added it was “bordered by open farm fields, residential development, and a rock quarry operation.”
The park is one of 20 other such easements held by the conservancy that total more than 4,000 acres in the immediate Blount County area.
Reckoning with racism with a walk in the woods
Video documents success of ‘Smokies Hikes for Healing’ endeavor
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash was as shaken as the rest of us this past spring and summer when a national reckoning of racism erupted across the country following the homicide of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
Also like many of us, Cash, who is Black, wondered what he could do to help heal 400-year-old wounds.
He determined we needed to take a walk in the woods and talk about things.
“As an African American man and son of a police officer, I found myself overwhelmed with the challenges we faced in 2020 and the endless news cycle that focused on racial unrest,” Cash said in a press release distributed Feb. 26.
“My medicine for dealing with this stress was a walk in the woods, and I felt called to share that experience with others. Following a summer hike in the park, I brought together our team to create an opportunity for people to come together for sharing, understanding, and healing.”
Sixty people directly participated in Cash’s Smokies Hikes for Healing program, Smokies Hikes for Healing, which ran from August to December in the national park. Hundreds of people visited an accompanying website to learn more or acquire information on how to lead their own such hikes.
Cash, who credited the park team who helped him organize the innovative project, correctly determined there was no more appropriate place to honestly discuss racism and the importance of diversity than a hike in one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet.
David Lamfrom, Stephanie Kyriazis, and Marisol Jiménez, facilitated the hikes and created a “brave space for open conversations about diversity and racism,” according to the park release, which also announced the availability of the Smokies Hikes for Healing video produced by Great Smoky Mountains Association.
Friends of the Smokies and New Belgium Brewing Company also contributed financial support to the effort.
Forget 9-5. Dollywood’s composting operation never stops.
GRUNGE: The reason Dollywood doesn’t have recycling containers
Dollywood works with the Sevier Solid Waste Composting facility to compost most of the garbage generated by visitors to her Pigeon Forge amusement park.
All waste is subject to a three-day composting process that ultimately separates the inorganic waste, which is then sorted for traditional recycling. The remaining compost is then used by East Tennessee farmers and distributed to the public.
Another reason to love the Smoky Mountain sweetheart.
Big South Fork mulls price increase for camping, other uses
WVLT: Public comment sought on fee increases
Bandy Creek, Blue Heron and Alum Ford campground fees would increase costs to between $15 and $140, depending on use. Comments will be accepted through March 22.
“Gas” stations will survive as electrons replace gasoline
Bloomberg: Most traditional fueling stations will adapt and survive as electricity replaces gasoline
Bloomberg Climate Newsletter has an interesting take on what may become of traditional gas stations — and their associated retail services and employees — as fuel sources transition from gasoline to electricity.
There’s already a case in point: Norway, where gasoline use has peaked and the transportation economy is moving away from traditional fossil-fuel filling stations.
In short, there will still be demand and purpose for convenience stores in some areas, theyÆll just be selling a different type of fuel.