Tag: Smokies LIVE
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Explore the Smokies Canopy in a New Podcast Episode with Author Rose Houk
From high above the tallest treetops in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, author Rose Houk asks, “What goes on in the uppermost layers of this forest? Does anything live up there? What creatures big or small live in what’s called the forest canopy? And what is the canopy anyway?”
Houk’s questions about this
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The Obscure Tale of the Appalachian Cottontail
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
What’s that cute, fluffy animal with long ears hopping at top speed across the top of Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Is it the common eastern cottontail, or could it be the rare Appalachian cottontail?
The Appalachian cottontail (Sylvilagus obscurus) is a
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Permanent Camp: Rugel's Ragwort
Story by George Ellison with image by Elizabeth Ellison
This is the story of Rugel's ragwort (Rugelia nudicaulis)—one of the most rare and interesting plants in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—and its eccentric namesake, the German-born plant collector Ferdinand Ignatius Xavier Rugel.
In 1840, Rugel (1806-1879) came to the
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Why the Great American Outdoors Act Will Be Game Changer Part 2
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
On June 17, the Senate voted overwhelmingly (73-25) to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, and now senators and their conservation partners are calling on the House to pass the Senate's bill as soon as possible—possibly during the last two weeks of July.
Part of the reason the Great
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Why the Great American Outdoors Act Will Be Game Changer Part 1
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
On June 17, the Senate voted overwhelmingly (73-25) to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, and now senators and their conservation partners are calling on the House to pass the Senate's bill as soon as possible—possibly during the last two weeks of July.
“The Great
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Image for the Asking: Why Come It’s Not a Holler Hardwood Forest?
Story and image by Don McGowan
The dictionary of Appalachian English, courtesy of Wikipedia, assures us that a “cove” is a “valley between two ridges.” It goes on to explain that a “holler” is a “valley between two hills.” Now since ridges and hills can be, and on occasion have been, mistaken for
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"Learning Is Still Alive and Well at the Little Greenbrier School" in Smokies Life Fall 2020
Besides supporting Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the many perks of a Great Smoky Mountains Association membership is a subscription to Smokies Life magazine. Below is a sneak preview of one of the features in the upcoming fall issue. Become a member by July 15 in order to receive a copy in the mail.
In 1881,
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Puddling Butterflies: Recalling Cataloochee Swallowtails
Story and photos by Bob Raynor
A black swallowtail butterfly recently presented itself on my garden’s chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus). Seeing the butterfly brought back a memory of a gathering of darkly colored butterflies in Cataloochee Valley from almost seven years ago. It was a memory of time spent with family—and a
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Image for the Asking: Standing Still behind a Cloud
Story and Image by Don McGowan
Benjamin Morton was a Knoxville businessman, and from 1924 to 1927, he was also the mayor of the city. Such an ardent conservationist and a great supporter of the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park was he that an overlook of considerable magnitude on the Tennessee side of the mountains was named in his
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Permanent Camp: Bracken
By George Ellison, lllustration by Elizabeth Ellison
“Here and elsewhere, bracken is such an aggressive plant that one wonders why it has not taken over the world.”~ R. C. Moran, A Natural History of Ferns
I am a fern aficionado, not a fern authority. Nevertheless, ferns are my favorite plants. And bracken is one of my
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