Recreation & Gardening
Featured
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Holly Kays photo
Under Winter’s Spell
As winter settles into the mountains, I dream of spring flowers and warm sunlight—yet I hope for falling snow and sparkling ice. In my opinion, the worst kind of winter is the mediocre kind. Read more
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‘Be prepared. Always. Every time.’
Survival Island is the home of the Nolichucky Outdoor Learning Institute’s survival class. Here you can study and practice the skills necessary for surviving life-threatening situations in the wilds. Perhaps, like me, you’ll have a blast doing it. Read more
Holly Kays photo
Under Winter’s Spell
As winter settles into the mountains, I dream of spring flowers and warm sunlight—yet I hope for falling snow and sparkling ice. In my opinion, the worst kind of winter is the mediocre kind. Read more
Dec 1, 2019
Tripp and Lendemer 2018 photo
A Conversation With the Smokies’ Species-Finder
Todd Witcher is been the executive director of Discover Life in America, a nonprofit whose main project, the All Taxa Biodiversity Index, is dedicated to cataloguing every single species within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Read more
Dec 1, 2019
‘Be prepared. Always. Every time.’
Survival Island is the home of the Nolichucky Outdoor Learning Institute’s survival class. Here you can study and practice the skills necessary for surviving life-threatening situations in the wilds. Perhaps, like me, you’ll have a blast doing it. Read more
Dec 1, 2019
Your Insect Neighbors Shelter in Plain Sight
In temperate areas, winter is the hardest time for insects to survive. Low temperatures, infrequent water and scarce food all combine in winter to make it simply unlivable for the vast majority of insects. Read more
Dec 1, 2019
Holly Kays photo
Rolling the Dice on a Walk in the Woods
My sister and I were hiking a downhill section of Black Balsam—my favorite trail, a high-elevation loop featuring thickets of wild blueberries and grassy summits that offer to-die-for views of the surrounding Blue Ridge—when my foot caught on a rock. Read more
Oct 1, 2019
Seasonal Blooms Offer Food for Hungry Pollinators
In a recent report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, scientists say most native species have experienced at least a 20 percent loss in overall abundance due to habitat loss since the 1900s. Read more
Oct 1, 2019
A Conversation With the Smokies’ Mountain Lion Expert
In 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the eastern cougar subspecies from the endangered species list in order to “correct a lingering anomaly” that listed the species despite its having disappeared forever at least 70 years go. Read more
Oct 1, 2019
Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium photo
Nocturnal Drama Springs to Life in Shallow Puddles
Puddles seem uninteresting. Any body of water without fish seems barren and unimportant. Maybe there are some mosquito larvae or some unlucky tadpoles squirming around. Hopefully the tadpoles sprout legs before the water evaporates. Read more
Oct 1, 2019
