The Nickajack Naturalist

Why You Shouldn't Stack Rocks in the Wild

Katie Wisniewski - The Tennessee Conservationist

                        (Photo: The Tennessee Conservationist)

Learn why rock stacking comes with consequences.

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Understanding and Celebrating the Timber Rattlesnake

Quentin Miller - Tennessee River Gorge Trust

                                                                                       (Photo: William Powell/USFWS)

In August 2022, Sarah Buckner captured a beautiful timber rattlesnake traveling across a hiking trail near Snoopers Rock. The video quickly went viral given its size and location. While it may be quite intimidating to witness one out in nature, they are equally intimidated by your presence and have no interest in engaging with you unless they feel threatened.

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Fall Colors in Alabama

Alabama State Parks

                                         (Photo: Alabama State Parks)

Leaf Peeping Season is nearly upon us. Alabama's northern State Parks provide some of the best Fall color locations in the Southeast. 

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South Cumberland State Park Split, Savage Gulf State Park Created

Tennessee State Parks

At the September 22 announcement creating Savage Gulf State Park, clockwise from top left: SCSP Asst Mgr Bill Knapp; SGSP Asst Mgr Aaron Reid; Grundy Mayor Michael Brady; SCSP Mgr George Shinn; FSC President Trae Moore; TDEC Natural Areas Program Administrator Jason Miller; and TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greer Tidwell, Jr.  (Photo: Friends of South Cumberland)

Gov. Bill Lee and Commissioner David Salyers of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have announced the creation of Savage Gulf State Park in Grundy and Sequatchie counties, a boost for recreation in the region.

The new park includes the nearly 19,000-acre Savage Gulf State Natural Area, formerly managed as part of South Cumberland State Park. South Cumberland had become too large to manage effectively as a single park, and the land’s unique characteristics warrant status as a stand-alone park.

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Friends of South Cumberland

Friends of South Cumberland Will Continue to Support Both Parks 

Friends of South Cumberland State Park, Inc., has announced that it will continue to support both South Cumberland State Park and the newly formed Savage Gulf State Park. Savage Gulf had been part of South Cumberland State Park prior to the recent announcement of its designation as a new and separate Tennessee State Park.

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34th Annual Tennessee River Rescue - October 1st, 2022

Tennessee River Rescue

                                                                                                         (Photo: Bob Butters)

Each year volunteers help protect our source of drinking water during Tennessee River Rescue. Hundreds of people fan out across 20 zones in Bradley, Hamilton and Marion counties to clean up the banks of the Tennessee River and some tributaries. Tons of tires, plastic bottles and other trash have been removed by these eco-warriors over the years.

Learn more.

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Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center

Reflection Riding Calls for Volunteers to Clean Up Lookout and Black Creek

We are leading a volunteer-driven clean-up effort of Lookout and Black Creek in partnership with the Tennessee River Rescue and we need your support! Sign up now to volunteer with us and help us improve our watershed on October 1st. Last year, we removed a shopping cart, a Radio Flyer wagon, a six-foot-long speaker cover, loads of golf balls, basketballs, and a living room’s worth of carpet. Let’s see what we can remove at this year’s event! 

Volunteer with us.

 

Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes to List the Tricolored Bat as Endangered

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

A tri-colored bat.                                              (Photo: Gary Peeples/USFWS)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposal to list the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species faces extinction due primarily to the range-wide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave-dwelling bats across the continent. 

Bats are essential for healthy ecosystems and contribute at least $3 billion annually to the U.S. agriculture economy through pest control and pollination. The growing extinction crisis highlights the importance of the ESA and efforts to conserve species before declines become irreversible. 

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Volunteers Needed for River Cleanups During October’s ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month'

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful

                                                                                                                (Photo: KTNRB)

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) is seeking volunteers for four cleanups beginning October 1, 2022, that will be held in three states during October, which is celebrated as ‘Keep the Tennessee River Watershed Beautiful Month presented by Oris.’

Volunteers will be taken out on five 30-foot john boats to clean shorelines identified with large deposits of litter. Each of the four cleanups will take place in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky along the Tennessee River in locations that have been impacted by flooding, tornados, or both in recent years.

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Autumn on Northeast Alabama's Sand Mountain

Patty Tucker - visitlookoutmountain.com

Buck's Pocket.                                            (Photo: visitlookoutmountain.com)

September is a perfect time to explore the mountains of Northeast Alabama as one anticipates what is to come during the months of October and November where Nature presents a colorful palette of foliage spreading across the peaks and valley of rugged DeKalb County. 

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Lookout Mountain Conservancy to Receive Funding from Carbon Credit Sale

Thrive Regional Partnership

Lookout Mountain Conservancy will receive funding for forest planting and conservation as a result of a first-of-its-kind carbon credit sale by Regen Network. The technology company is developing a global marketplace for ecosystem services, and, in a landmark transaction, recently purchased all the city forest carbon credits currently available in the United States. 

Chattanooga Dept. of Parks and Outdoor’s Park Steward Program to Host #NaturePact Day Sat., Sept. 24th

Brian Smith - The Pulse

                                           (Photo: City of Chattanooga)

Nooga Naturalists will lead an interpretive hike where participants will be invited to use their sense of smell, touch and hearing to connect with nature. In addition to using their senses, visitors will have an opportunity to meet wildlife ambassadors with For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue. Information will be shared about the many benefits of connecting with nature and the importance of protecting public lands.

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