Flowing over nutrient-rich limestone rock that fueled a diverse assemblage of species, Abrams Creek was once one of the most productive streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That changed in 1957, when wildlife managers intent on expanding opportunities for anglers stocked it with non-native rainbow trout — after applying the fish pesticide rotenone to the entire lower portion of the creek, hoping to protect the trout from competition. Chilhowee Dam was completed later that year, cutting the creek off from downstream fish populations. 

To the Editor:

Thank you for including the article by SMN News Editor Kyle Perrotti, "COVID mounts late summer surge amid onset of flu season" in the Aug. 27 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. The article was-well written, factual, informative and encouraging.

I have been thinking a lot about healing lately. How it happens, how long it can take and the differences between healing emotional wounds and physical wounds, not to mention psychic and spiritual wounds. And to no one’s surprise, I’ve been thinking about plants: how they heal themselves, how they help heal the land, and how they help us in our own healing of body and spirit. 

The ideal habitat of the Eastern hellbender that Tracy Davids described was pretty much what she saw on Tuesday morning as she stood ankle-deep in the Davidson River. 

“Relatively shallow, fast-moving, highly oxygenated water because (hellbenders) breathe through their skin,” said Davids, senior southeast representative for the Defenders of Wildlife environmental organization.

The last year has brought an unusual pattern in COVID surges. 

Typically, the virus is worst during the winter with an additional summer surge beginning around June. Last winter, there were fewer infections, hospitalizations and deaths, and while this year’s summer surge has been delayed, it’s now being felt across the region.

This month, The North Carolina Arboretum and ecoEXPLORE celebrates 100,000 observations of wild plants and animals taken by North Carolina youth and submitted to iNaturalist. In celebration, the Arboretum is inviting everyone to pitch in on selecting the top 10 photos by voting in this poll. The deadline to participate is Sept. 1. 

With their tough, leathery shells, unique digging habits and pattern of giving birth to identical quadruplets, nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are full of quirks. These solitary creatures are skilled burrowers and surprisingly adaptable — so much so that they’ve expanded their range to include some of the highest elevations in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

This past spring, a group of teenagers waded through Waynesville’s Richland Creek under the watchful eye of Suzanne Orbock Miller, but they weren’t there to splash and play — thanks to an innovative grant program linking universities with local partners, Miller’s Tuscola High School students were gathering important scientific data.

As a retired physician assistant who devoted a long career to public health in Macon County, I am deeply concerned by the misinformation about vaccines being spread by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his appointees. 

From childhood, we have learned that milk is a foundational food, growing strong bones and a healthy body. People likely remember the slogan “Milk, It Does a Body Good” and our meals being served with a glass of milk. Milk is a staple of childhood and a product families can confidently serve their kids.