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Tag: word from the smokies
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Scientists discover new salamander species hiding in plain sight
Until recently, it was thought that 30 species of salamander live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But a recent article in Bionomia, the international journal devoted to biological naming, announced that what was believed to be one species of salamander has been found to actually consist of at least four distinct species, two of which
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Asheville Renovator Breathes New Life into Cataloochee Structures
Back in the late winter of 2016, avid cyclist Sean Perry was feeling burned out on biking. With spring just around the corner, he took a break from his Trek Superfly hardtail and began a new regimen of long runs after work into Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“I would go in the Smokies, primarily Cataloochee, and do these
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Reducing artificial light at night (ALAN) can save thousands of park bird species
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a vital part of the greater southern Appalachian region through which many bird species migrate to and from their breeding grounds in warmer climates. Birds traveling at night have used the stars for millennia to help them navigate safely to their destinations.
But thousands of birds who regularly visit
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Marker to Honor Japanese Photographer George Masa, a New Kind of Picture-Maker
Most people know that North Carolina and Tennessee share the most visited park in the nation, and that the total number of visitors to the Smokies in 2021 exceeded 14 million.
But many may not yet know that one of the figures responsible for the Smokies even becoming a park was a sprightly Japanese man with a big grin, a clunky camera that was
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What we can learn from the wild turkey
If you traveled around in Western North Carolina or East Tennessee to visit friends or family and eat turkey for the Thanksgiving holiday, there is a high likelihood you passed a rafter of wild turkeys along the way. Though a group of them can also be called a flock, the term “rafter” is also correct and was adapted because when
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Put safety first as the park’s elk herd enters its 20th rut season
It’s that time of year again. The elk are rutting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
From September to early November, the fall breeding season, hormones kick in, and elk go into overdrive. Bulls’ antlers reach maturity, and their ethereal bugling calls can be heard resounding through fields and forests within the park and
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Teen Leaders in Conservation Head Back to School with New Perspective
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
Phoebe June Carnes is starting out her senior year at Swain County High School in Bryson City with a new outlook and new friends from around the region and beyond, thanks to a summer internship at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“My favorite part of the experience was the bonds we got
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Word from the Smokies: Internship Bridges Gap Between High School and College
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
Kaylie Hallcox and Morgan Kirkpatrick just finished up six weeks working in Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the 2021 summer high school internship program. Assisting rangers, researchers, and scientists with a variety of projects, the two recent high school graduates had an
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