Archived Articles

March/April 2004 - Over 150 volunteers participated in more than 30 volunteer projects at Bledsoe Creek State Park in Gallatin in 2003. "Volunteers Help at Bledsode Creek State Park"

November/December 2003 - "Revisiting Our Civil War Legacies: Tennessee State Parks and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area" by Carroll Van West. In the article, West explains how the program is particularly interested in focusing programming and conservation efforts at neglected resources associated with wartime occupation and the later social and political reconstruction of the state.

September/October 2003 - South Cumberland State Recreation Area celebrates 30 years this year. That's 30 years of habitat protection for the rare Cumberland Rosinweed, the endangered Tennessee Cave Salamander, the tiny Hooded Warbler, the massive Yellow Poplars of the old growth forests, and more. It's also years of wilderness experience for hikers, backpackers and birds, and anyone hankering for "the tonic of the wilderness" as Henry David Thoreau called it. "South Cumberland State Recreation Area: A Tennessee Treasure Turns 30" was written by Mary Patten Priestley, curator of the Sewanee Herbarium and a member of the Friends of South Cumberland.

January/February 2003 - James Widlak, endangered species consultation coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tennessee-Kentucky Field Office in Cookeville, writes about "30 Years of Endangered Species Conservation in Tennessee," the featured article for this issue of The Tennessee Conservationist.

November/December 2002 - Roan Mountain is known for being home to many rare, endemic plant and animal species like the Spruce/Fir Moss Spider, Northern Saw-Whet Owl and Northern Flying Squirrel. In the article "Research on the Roan," Jennifer Bauer, a Tennessee State Parks interpretive specialist at Sycamore Shoals Historic Area in Elizabethton, highlights research underway on Roan Mountain.

July/August 2002 - The area that is now Long Hunter State Park, located on the shores of J. Percy Priest Lake in the Hermitage area, was named for the long hunters that explored there in 1767. Today, it is home to two federally endangered species: Tennessee Purple Coneflower and Leafy Prairie Clover. In the article "A Look at Long Hunter's History," John Froeschauer, interpretive specialist at Long Hunter State Park, takes a look at the park's history.

May/June 2002 - "The Duck River is Tennessee's Newest Designated State Scenic River" was written by Reggie Reeves, director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Natural Heritage.

March/April 2002 - David England of Winchester is nonplussed when unexpected dinner guests at his home turn out to be young bobcats requiring bottle feeding every few hours; it's part of his gig as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. England, whose regular job is working as a Tennessee State Park Ranger at Tims Ford State Park in Winchester, has been a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA)-licensed wildlife rehabilitator for the past 12 years. In this issue of The Tennessee Conservationist, he shares his experiences with wildlife in an article by Editor Louise Zepp entitled "Park Ranger Rehabilitates Wildlife,"

January/February 2002 - Recycling cans and bottles in Tennessee State Parks saves the parks money in reduced waste hauling and waste disposal. "Recycling in Tennessee State Parks"

November/December 2001 - This year's 30th anniversary of the Natural Areas Act provides an opportunity to appreciate Tennessee's treasures that the act protects, while recognizing how much more needs to be done to preserve the best of the rest. Brian Bowen, natural areas administrator for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Natural Heritage, takes a look at the anniversary of the act and what it protects. His article "Natural Areas Act Turns 30" is the featured article on the Conservationist's Web page for the November/December 2001 issue.

September/October 2001 - State Archaeologist Nick Fielder explains in his article "Five Million Year Old Fossil Site Discovered in Washington County."

July/August 2001 - Bob Fulcher, interpretive specialist for the Cumberland Trail State Park, writes about this scenic spot on the Cumberland Plateau in "Black Mountain: Rags and Riches,"

May/June 2001 - Have you visited Pickett State Park during the early summer weeks and heard of the intriguing blue lights that glow all night in front of Hazard Cave?

March/April 2001 - Find out just how scenic Piney Falls is by checking out the article "Waterfalls, Virgin Forest and Spring Wildflowers Await Hikers at Piney Falls State Natural Area."

January/February 2001 - Zoologist David Ian Withers, who works with the Division of Natural Heritage, gives the scoop on winter activities by creatures great and small in the article "Tennessee Creatures Tackle Old Man Winter," the featured article on the Web page for the January/February 2001 issue of The Tennessee Conservationist.

November/December 2000 - Find out more about research in Tennessee State Parks in the article "Current Research in Tennessee State Parks" by LinnAnn Welch.

September/October 2000 - Land trusts, private nonprofit organizations that work with landowners to conserve land, have existed in New England for over 100 years but are relatively new to Tennessee. Check in with some land trusts around the state to see what's underway with their efforts to promote land conservation.

July/August 2000 - Songs of Norris Dam

May/June 2000 - Flowers are advertisements armed with reproductive equipment. "The Meaning of Flowers,"

March/April 2000 - David Ian Withers, zoologist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Natural Heritage, reports on the history of starlings in the article "Origins of the European Starling in the United States," this issue’s featured article on The Tennessee Conservationist Magazine’s Web page.

January/February 2000 - Bob Fulcher, a regional interpretive specialist with Tennessee State Parks, tells how a bird in hand can be just that in his story "A Bird in the Hand … Confessions of A Bird Man."

November/December 1999 - Check out Bob Fulcher’s article "Tennessee’s High Points" and check in with the "peakbaggers."

September/October 1999 - Andrea Brewer Shea, writer of "The Return of Native Grasses to Tennessee," describes which native grasses to select for landscaping.

July/August 1999 - Stone Masonry Links Past and Present at Pickett,"

May/June 1999-... The word "scorpions" usually brings to mind the desert, not a scene of Tennessee, but scorpions do live in the Volunteer State. Their home and habits are considered in the story "Did Someone Say Scorpions?" .  The scorpion article was written by Patricia Dobbe, biologist for the Tennessee Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Service/ Aquatic Biology Section in Nashville and is featured on our Web page for May/June 1999.

March/April 1999-From a dizzying array of cultural license plates, about 21,484 people have elected to support Tennessee State Parks by their choice of the Iris tag, the state’s environmental plate. Since June of 1995, money from the Iris license plate has been earmarked for the planting of native trees and shrubs as well as for landscape maintenance in Tennessee State Parks. John Froeschauer, regional interpretive specialist with Tennessee State Parks, explains more about these native plantings in the story "Iris License Plate Fund Grows on Tennessee State Parks," the featured article for March/April 1999 on the magazine’s Web page.

January/February 1999-Reelfoot Lake State Park, long a favorite spot for winter eagle watching, now has a pair of eagles nesting close to the park visitor’s center. David Haggard, park ranger, describes the pair of American Bald Eagles in "Reelfoot Lake State Park: Eagles At Ease With State Park Crowds." Haggard’s story is featured on The Tennessee Conservationist Magazine’s Web page for the January/February 1999 issue.

November/December 1998 - Park Naturalist LinnAnn Welch describes Radnor’s winter avians in the story "Winter Refuge at Radnor Lake," featured on The Conservationist’s Web site for November/December 1998.

September/October 1998 - "Muir, Michaux and Gray on the Roan," - unpublished letter written by John Muir, the greatest proponent of wildness since Thoreau. Muir wrote to his wife, Louie, from the Cloudland Hotel on the Roan summit. Muir, Andre Michaux and Asa Gray led the search for Roan Mountain’s unknown biological treasures.  

March/April 1998 - AWARD WINNING ARTICLE - The winning article "Weeds: Why Are They Here?" appeared in the March/April 1998 issue and was written by Andrea Brewer Shea. The focus of the article was to educate people about what they may see and touch on a daily basis in their own backyard and to offer them a better understanding of the larger natural world. Discovering more about what weeds are, and how they may have arrived in Tennessee, is a part of that education.

December, 1997 - Myths and Lore of Mistletoe

August, 1997 - The Clebsch Legacy and Wild Tennessee - The Clebschs have covered so much of wild Tennessee, their track ought to be in the field guides. Also: Celebrating 60 Years with the Tennessee Conservationist