At 3:30 p.m., traffic flows smoothly along U.S. 441 past the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The 80-some elk living in this area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still invisible beneath the forest canopy as the sun shines bright and warm. 

To the Editor:  

Thank you Gwen Landt and the Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary for caring for animals in need. We leave our field/meadow alone so deer can bed down and does can safely raise their fawns. As conveyed in the article, understanding the relationship between a doe and her fawn is important.

The Highlands Biological Foundation is hosting its final Zahner Conservation Lecture of the season. Lori Williams, a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), will present “All About Hellbenders!” 

Results from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s (NCWRC) 2024 Wild Turkey Harvest Summary report show that hunters recorded 24,074 birds harvested statewide in 2024, including 2,372 birds taken during the youth season.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to an estimated 1,900 black bears — about two per square mile — with more than 14,500 of these iconic mammals roaming the four-state mountain region.

Earlier this year, members of Safe Passage, including the N.C. Department of Transportation, led a tour of wildlife crossing project sites along Interstate 40. 

The George Masa Foundation has announced the launch of the inaugural George Masa Youth Conservation Photography Prize. This unique competition aims to inspire middle and high school students to connect with and protect our natural world through the art of photography.

Over the decades since 52 elk were reintroduced to Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Cataloochee Valley in 2001 and 2002, wildlife biologists have longed for a statistically accurate count of the population in Western North Carolina. 

Birders around the state are encouraged to grab their binoculars, guidebooks, hiking boots and best birding friends for a weekend of non-stop “atlasting” from June 28-30. 

Finally, we can go out the back door again. For a month we made a front door detour around an unplanned construction project on the back porch.