Great Smokies adopts long-term plan for elk

Posted on November 14, 2011 by admin

GATLINBURG (AP) – The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has approved a long-term plan for managing elk that were reintroduced into the area.

The new guidelines call for scaled-back monitoring of the herd now that the experimental phase of the project is over and the herd is estimated to have about 140 animals.

The park began reintroducing elk to the area in 2001 when 25 animals were released. Another 27 were released in 2002 and researchers monitored the herd intensively over an eight-year period to track movement and reproductive success.

Data from that research shows the herd is self-sustaining, that it has little impact on natural resources at the park and that any conflicts with humans are manageable.

While park staff will continue to work with outside agencies that need support when responding to nuisance elk, the long-term plan transfers primary responsibility for elk management to the appropriate agency with wildlife jurisdiction on those lands.

Elk disappeared from the area more than 100 years ago because of over-hunting and habitat loss.

The park initiated the Cataloochee elk reintroduction project as an experiment to see if the elk were compatible with the park’s habitat and high number of visitors.

So far, the herd’s biggest killer has been a parasitic brain worm. It has also been beset by a higher-than-normal male-to-female ratio of calves born.

The main predator of the elk has been the black bear, but wildlife officials came up with a plan to relocate bears that were killing calves.

Meanwhile, park biologists the herd’s cows have gotten better in recent years at protecting their young. This year, 17 of the 20 elk calves born in the Smokies survived. Last year, all 25 calves born in the park survived.

Another encouraging sign for the herd is that more females are being born, which ensures the herd’s growth in the future.

Long Term Elk Management Plan

Posted on November 14, 2011 by admin

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has approved a long-term plan for managing elk that have beenreintroduced into the area.

The new guidelines call for scaled-back monitoring of the herd now that the experimental phase of the project is over and the herd is estimated to have about 140 animals, according to the KnoxvilleNews Sentinel. The park began reintroducing elk to the area in 2001. At that
time, 25 animals were released. Another 27 were released in 2002 and researchers monitored the herd intensively over an eight year period to track movement and reproductive success.
Data from that research show the herd is self-sustaining, that it has little impact on natural resources at the park and that any conflicts with humans are manageable.

Smokies Long-Term Plan To Manage Elk

Posted on November 13, 2011 by admin

POSTED: 5:00 pm EST November 13, 2011

There are now new guidelines for monitoring elk, now that the experimental phase of the project is over and the herd is estimated to have about 140 animals.The Great Smokey Mountain National Park began reintroducing elk to the area in 2001 when 25 animals were released.Another 27 were released in 2002 and researchers monitored the herd over an eight-year period to track movement and reproductive success.Research shows the herd is self-sustaining, that it has little impact on natural resources at the park and that any conflicts with humans are manageable.Elk disappeared from the area more than 100 years ago because of over-hunting and habitat loss.The main predator of the elk has been the black bear, but wildlife officials came up with a plan to relocate bears that were killing calves.This year, 17 of the 20 elk calves born in the Smokies survived. Last year, all 25 calves born in the park survived.Another encouraging sign for the herd is that more females are being born, which ensures the herd’s growth in the future.

Smokies park adopts long-term plan for elk

Posted on November 13, 2011 by admin

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (AP) – The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has approved a long-term plan for managing elk that have been reintroduced into the area.

The park began reintroducing elk to the area in 2001. At that time, 25 animals were released. Another 27 were released in 2002 and researchers monitored the herd intensively over an 8-year period to track movement and reproductive success.

Data from that research show the herd is self-sustaining, that it has little impact on natural resources at the park and that any conflicts with humans are manageable.

Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com

Cades Cove: Smoky Mountains fall showcase

Posted on November 12, 2011 by admin

Looking down on Cades Cove, left, from Gregory Bald. (contributed/Johnny Molloy)

Cades Cove is one of Tennessee’s most special places. Located in a mountain-rimmed bowl within the confines of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the cove presents spectacular leaf-peeping opportunities, as well as hiking, camping, and bicycling in a splendor as good as it gets here in the Southern Appalachians.

In the early 1800s, long before it was part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cades Cove was wildland belonging to the Cherokees. However, a treaty in 1819 opened this mountain- circled vale to settlement. It wasn’t long after — and maybe even before 1819 — when John Oliver settled in Cades Cove. Oliver had migrated south from our own northeast Tennessee, up Elizabethton way, long before Johnson City existed. Settlers were already pouring over the mountains from North Carolina.

The former soldier, who had fought under fellow Tennessean Andrew Jackson, decided to stay a spell here in the shadow of the Smokies. John Oliver and his descendants ended up being one of two families that resided in Cades Cove from this point until the land was bought out as a national park in the 1930s, more than a century.

Their simple agrarian way of life seems idyllic compared to the daily rush we face today. It was a time when families worked together, following the seasons to reap what they had sown, whether it be corn — the staple of the people of Cades Cove — butchering a pig when the first frost lay down, gathering wild blueberries and blackberries from the land or harvesting apples from planted orchards.

Today, slow yourself down and explore Cades Cove. Take the stroll along the foot of Rich Mountain, visiting Oliver’s Cabin, or many of the other historic homesteads and churches preserved in the national park. Camp in Cades Cove Campground. Hike to Gregory Bald. Bicycle the 10-mile Cades Cove Loop Road. Gain views of the stateline crest that loomed over Oliver and his fellow Cades Cove residents. In the foreground, enjoy the fields of Cades Cove. They are still kept open today, preserving this pastoral backwater.

And when you reach the wooden cabins of yesterday’s settlers, walk inside, stroll around and imagine yourself in their shoes, carving out a homestead and raising a family in a land that was to become a national park. It is these historic cabins that give a tangible link to a past way of life that has left us forever.

As you begin Cades Cove Loop Road, an excellent scenic drive, Crooked Arm Ridge rises to your right. White pines, oaks and tulip trees rise between fields. Gain bucolic views through the trees of waving grasses with wooded mountains beyond, perhaps deer foraging in the fields. Cross-seasonal branches emerge from hilly terrain heavy with shortleaf pines, indicating this was likely pasture or cropland in Cades Cove’s heyday.

You’ll find the parking for John Oliver Cabin early in the loop. It’s a short walk to reach the homestead. One legend has it that Oliver wandered into Cades Cove while hunting and then spent the night in an Indian hut. He found the area already beautiful and potentially productive, then built his home here. This is one of many impressive log cabins within the cove. They serve as a link to East Tennessee’s rural past. John Oliver and his offspring populated the cove and never left. Other visitors will be accessing the cabin from Cades Cove Loop Road.

The loop continues through woods and field. Trails aplenty spur from the road. Head to Abrams Falls, or climb to Gregory Bald. The important thing is to get out there and enjoy our national park. The loop road can be busy on fall weekends. Don’t even get in the auto parade then. Instead, go during the week. If you must go on a fall weekend try to do it at dawn or late in the afternoon — the road is gated at sunset, though. If bicycling Cades Cove Loop Road, you will be sharing the road with autos. Another option is to pedal the road under a full moon. Leave a little while before dusk and enjoy sunset and moonrise. You are required to have a flashlight if pedaling at night.

Overnighting at Cades Cove Campground will help you execute your morning and evening adventures. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/grsm. Cades Cove is located near Townsend, a little way outside Knoxville.

Nabbed ‘sang poachers to serve jail time

Posted on November 9, 2011 by admin

Four Western North Carolina men have been sentenced in separate cases in Federal court for poaching ginseng from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Ginseng grows in the wild in Appalachia and can fetch high prices as a herbal medicine. Demand for the root has led to over-digging and a troubling decline in ginseng in the mountains. The national park is constantly combating the illegal taking of ginseng from within its borders.

The four defendants were each charged with possession of or the harvesting of ginseng roots. They pleaded guilty to the charges and were each sentenced as follows:

• Billy Joe Hurley, 45, of Bryson City, was arrested in October for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 187 ginseng roots. Hurley was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail.

• Mark S. Parham, 24, of Canton, was arrested in the Cataloochee Valley area. He possessed 176 ginseng roots. Parham, who has a prior conviction for harvesting ginseng on private land, was sentenced on to serve 40 days in jail.

• Anthony K. Sequoyah, Jr., 24, of Cherokee, possessed 150 ginseng roots, and was sentenced to serve 52 days in jail.

• Trinity D. Frady, 25, of Cherokee, possessed 32 ginseng roots, and was sentenced to serve 15 days in jail.

The recovered and still-viable ginseng roots were replanted by staff of the National Park Service.

Is room tax hike aimed at helping scenic railroad?

Posted on November 9, 2011 by admin

Opponents to a proposed room tax increase in Jackson County are accusing county leaders of secretly earmarking the money for a grant to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

“If this is about raising funds to get the railroad to move back to Dillsboro, then we are against it,” said Hanneke Ware, owner of the Chalet Inn, at a public hearing on the room tax increase this week. “It is not right to increase the accommodation taxes in a county as widespread as Jackson to provide marketing money to a private business.”

The scenic tourist railroad has asked the county for as much as half a million dollars in exchange for offering steam engine train service to the tourist village of Dillsboro.

The train, once headquartered in Dillsboro, cited the flagging economy when it pulled out in 2008. Dillsboro’s galleries, gift shops and restaurants were thrust into a tailspin over the sudden loss of 60,000 tourists annually.

While the train has since brought limited passenger train service back to Dillsboro, business owners worry the train won’t stick around and still pine for the same level of foot traffic they once enjoyed.

County Commissioner Mark Jones, who spoke to commissioners during the public hearing in his capacity as head of the Cashiers Area Travel and Tourism Authority, said if a tax increase is needed to help the train, perhaps Dillsboro should levy it. In Macon County, Jones pointed out, the county levies a 3 percent tax and the town of Franklin levies an additional 3 percent tax there.

County leaders say there is no connection between the proposed room tax increase and the financial assistance being sought by the railroad.

“We don’t have a motive,” said Commission Chairman Jack Debnam.

Anyone who thinks the room tax increase is aimed at raising money to give the railroad is misinformed, Debnam said. The county has bandied the idea around but is not close to a deal, Debnam said. (see related article)

Several speakers opposing the room tax hike believe there is a connection, however.

“Why are they asking the county for money?” Ware asked.

She said the railroad should do what other businesses do when expanding: namely, get a bank loan.

“Is it because they don’t have collateral?” Ware asked. “If they can’t get a loan, why would the county want to put money into a business whose financial plans are tenuous?”

Henry Hoche likewise questioned why the tourist railroad needs money from the county.

“To me it makes no sense why the railroad isn’t paying for it itself,” said Hoche, owner of Innisfree Inn By-the-Lake in Glenville.

Giving tax money to private business in exchange for creating jobs isn’t exactly a new concept. Incentives to land new industry are common at the state level, and counties often get in the game by offering tax credits to lure new companies offering jobs.

Jackson County has a revolving loan fund designed to help businesses moving to or expanding in Jackson County. Al Harper, the owner of the railroad, previously estimated 15 to 20 news jobs would be created under his plan to base a steam engine train in Dillsboro — a plan predicated on financial help, however.

County Manager Chuck Wooten said the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad steam engine project would not create enough jobs to qualify for the size of the revolving loan request, however.

It wouldn’t matter anyway, Wooten said, because the railroad has since told him it can’t take on any more debt.

Spin-off jobs created by other businesses, such as the tourist-oriented shops in Dillsboro, wouldn’t count toward the job creation quota the railroad must meet, Wooten said.

The scenic railroad wants to base trips on a restored 1913 steam engine and rail cars in Dillsboro, but there’s a hitch. The train is in Maine, and it would cost more than $ 400,000 to move it down to Dillsboro, the railroad estimates. It wants the county to split the cost, plus pony up money to help advertise the new steam engine service.

Currently, tourism tax dollars can only go to marketing and advertising, not to hard costs like steam trains. The narrow criteria were imposed by the state in the 1980s when counties first began charging lodging taxes.

A few years ago, the law changed. Room tax can now fund “tourism-related expenditures,” which can include walking trails, festival bleachers, boat docks, or perhaps a stream train — anything that would presumably lure tourists. The state allows up to one-third of a county’s room tax dollars to go toward such “tourism-related expenditures.”

If Jackson County wants this flexibility, however, it has to adopt new language at the local level reflecting that. It has become part of the discussion over whether to increase the room tax, along with revamping the tourism oversight agency that controls the money.

Clifford Meads, general manager of High Hampton Inn in Cashiers, doesn’t like the idea of tourism tax money going to projects instead of strictly promotions.

“There will be people dreaming up projects so they can spend the money,” Meads said.

Meads said shipping money from other parts of the county to help Dillsboro is “going to be divisive.”

4 NC men going to jail for poaching ginseng in the Smokies

Posted on November 4, 2011 by admin

Four North Carolina men are going to jail after being caught harvesting ginseng in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Ginseng is a slow growing root that can be sold at a high price. The root is very popular in Asian countries, where it’s used to treat everything from chronic fatigue to decreased sexual vitality.

All the men were charged with possession of or the harvesting of ginseng roots and pled guilty.

Billy Joe Hurley, 45, of Bryson City, was arrested on October 14, 2011, for harvesting ginseng. In a search, rangers found 187 ginseng roots, a list of places to harvest ginseng within the National Park, ginseng digging tools and clipped out newspaper articles about prior incidents of ginseng poaching within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hurley was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail. Hurley was sentenced to 75 days behind bars and fined in May for the same crime.

Mark S. Parham, 24, of Canton, was arrested in the Cataloochee Valley area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 176 ginseng roots. Parham, who has a prior conviction for harvesting ginseng on private land, was sentenced on to serve 40 days in jail.

Anthony K. Sequoyah, Jr., 24, of Cherokee, was arrested on October 8, 2011, for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 150 ginseng roots, and was sentenced to 52 days in jail.

Trinity D. Frady, 25, of Cherokee, was arrested on October 9, 2011 for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 32 ginseng roots, and was sentenced to serve 15 days in jail.

In these cases, the recovered viable ginseng roots were replanted by staff of the National Park Service.

“The illegal harvesting of American Ginseng poses a threat to this precious national resource,” said U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins. “Poaching ginseng is a crime our office takes seriously. We will continue to work closely with National Park Service Rangers to protect wild ginseng from extinction by prosecuting those who profit from the illegal harvesting and sale of ginseng roots.”

N.C. Men Sentenced For Illegally Harvesting Ginseng Roots

Posted on November 3, 2011 by admin

BRYSON CITY, N.C. –

Four men will spend time in jail, for illegally harvesting or possessing American Ginseng Roots from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Poaching Ginseng Roots in a national park is a federal crime.

U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said all four defendants pleaded guilty, and were sentenced.

Billy Joe Hurley, 45, of Bryson City, was arrested on October 14, 2011, for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 187 ginseng roots. While executing a search warrant at Hurley’s residence, Park Rangers seized a list of places to harvest ginseng within the National Park, ginseng digging tools and clipped out newspaper articles about prior incidents of ginseng poaching within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hurley was sentenced on October 26, 2011 to serve 120 days in jail.

Mark S. Parham, 24, of Canton, was arrested in the Cataloochee Valley area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He possessed 176 ginseng roots. Parham, who has a prior conviction for harvesting ginseng on private land, was sentenced on October 26, 2011 to serve 40 days in jail.

Anthony K. Sequoyah, Jr., 24, of Cherokee, was arrested on October 8, 2011, for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 150 ginseng roots, and was sentenced on October 26, 2011 to serve 52 days in jail.

Trinity D. Frady, 25, of Cherokee, was arrested on October 9, 2011 for harvesting ginseng. He possessed 32 ginseng roots, and was sentenced on October 26, 2011 to serve 15 days in jail.

Cades Cove controlled burn fights back trees

Posted on November 3, 2011 by admin

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park continued with its controlled burning of a section of Cades Cove on Wednesday.

The park is burning 180 acres of the meadow. It plans to burn more than 600 acres by the end of the year.

Park Ranger Caitlin Worth said the burn will help fight back surrounding trees that would otherwise close in on the meadow, destroying it.

She also said the controlled burn prevents natural disasters from happening in the future.

“By burning off small layers of fuel [grass] each year… we lower our chances of a catastrophic fire,” Worth said.

Sections of the park are burned on a rotational basis of every three years. According to Worth, grass will grow back in the burned parts within a matter of days.

Florida native Susie Ball visited the park on Wednesday. She said it was cool to see the burn actually taking place.

“It’s a lot different than what you typically see up here,” Ball said.

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