Healthy Black Bear Returns Home.

Healthy black bear returns home. Willow Bear returned to National Park by Appalachian Bear Rescue. Willow Bear (named upon arrival at ABR) was returned safely to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after several months of rehab at Appalachian Bear Rescue.

Willow arrived at the rescue facility on June 5, 2018, after a man from Cocke County discovered two cubs that had been hit by a car. After placing a call to ABR, the man waited at the scene for two hours hoping the cub’s mother would return. When she did not (and given the condition of the two small bears) he took them home. ABR contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, TWRA,  which dispatched an officer who transported the cubs to the University Of Tennessee College Of Veterinary Medicine.

Unfortunately Willow’s sibling did not survive and doctors held out scant hope

for little Willow who was judged to be about four months old and weighed only 8.8 pounds. Willow was so unresponsive it seemed unlikely she’d survive the examination. But Drs. McEntire and Cushing, and their entire team were determined to try and save her.

Suspecting a skull fracture, the vets sent her for x-rays which revealed that at some point in her short life, Willow had suffered a broken rib, since healed. There was no evidence of damage to her skull and an ultrasound found no fluid in her abdomen. The doctors administered a saline solution to hydrate her…and almost immediately she was able to stand. Severe dehydration will often render a cub immobile and all it takes is fluid to revive them. The vets advised the curator they wanted to keep Willow overnight for observation.

This precaution proved unnecessary. The curator had no sooner arrived back at the facility when he got a call informing him that Willow was active and ready to relocate to ABR.

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New Foothills Parkway Raises 2018 National Park Visitation

New Foothills Parkway Raises 2018 National Park Visitation. Great Smoky Mountains National Park reported 11,421,203 visitors in 2018. The 0.7% increase over 2017 is attributed to the opening of the new section of the Foothills Parkway between Walland and Wears Valley in November. Nearly 200,000 visitors experienced this new park opportunity which resulted in record-setting visitation in both November and December.

“The new section of the Foothills Parkway is a spectacular scenic driving destination and we’re pleased that so many people have already enjoyed it,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We hope that people take the time to explore it across the seasons.”

Park visitation across the park remained relatively stable compared to 2017. The highest visitation occured in July, followed by June and then October. Monthly visitation records were set during June, September, November, and December. Visitors spent approximately 400,000 nights camping in the park,  down 3% from 2017, but still within the 5-year average. The park offers 9 front country campgrounds and 100 backcountry campsites for visitors to enjoy. The most popular campgrounds include Cades Cove, Elkmont, Smokemont, and Cosby.

Smoky Mountain Paving Project Slows Traffic

Smoky Mountain Paving Project Slows Traffic. Great Smoky Mountains National Park will begin paving on Little River Road between the Townsend Wye and Sugarlands Visitors Center Tuesday, February 19, 2019.  A thin pavement overlay will be applied to the entire length of the 16.5-mile roadway including pull-offs and parking areas. The 1.5 -mile Elkmont road leading to the campground will also be paved. The work is projected to be complete by September 20, 2019. Locals know the finish line for a project of this size always depends on many factors like weather.

Visitors may experience weekday, single-lane closures and traffic delays from February 19, 2019 through June 14, 2019 and again from August 19, 2019 through September 20, 2019. Single-lane closures are permitted from 7:00 a.m. on Mondays through 12:00 p.m. on Fridays. The lane closures will be flagged. Parking areas and pull-offs will be closed as necessary for paving. No lane closures will be allowed during the peak summer months, weekends, or holidays including the week before and after Easter from April 12, 2019 through April 26, 2019.

The Federal Highway Administration awarded $6.5 million to implement the project. The park is also overseeing tree removal work along various roadways in the park including Little River Road between Sugarlands Visitor Center and Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, Elkmont Road, Cherokee Orchard Road, Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, and the Gatlinburg Bypass. Motorists will experience delays due to single-lane closures associated with this work through April, 2019.

For more information about temporary road closures visit www.nps.gov/grsmor or follow SmokiesRoadsNPS on Twitter.

Great Backyard Bird Count Event

Great Backyard Bird Count Event offers many opportunities in the Great Smoky Mountains. This count is for the birds. Bird lovers everywhere are invited to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) and help create a real-time snapshot of our feathered friends. Participants, from all over the world, are expected to be involved in the 22nd annual four-day event which begins Friday, February 15 and continues through Monday, February 18, 2019. Enthusiasts, which include beginning birdwatchers to experts, can spend as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) during the event and then report their sightings online at birdcount.org.

Each checklist submitted during the event helps indicate how bird populations are changing, and how the latest warm weather patterns have affected bird movements around the country. GBBC allows researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn how to protect birds and the environment we all share. Last year’s count included data from more than 160,000 people and produced the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird population ever recorded.

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Biltmore Estate Vintage Vanderbilt Clothing Expo

Biltmore Estate Vintage Vanderbilt Clothing Expo. Dressing in style at Biltmore Estate February 8 – May 27,  2019 is a Smoky Mountain special event. Reproductions of original Vanderbilt clothing are on display at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, and the public is invited to imagine the glittering parties when the Vanderbilt’s really dressed in style while entertaining in the fabulous home’s elegant rooms.

Oscar winning costumer John Bright and Cosprop, London, guided by Biltmore curators, meticulously recreated the fashions favored and worn by the Vanderbilts and their guests at elegant turn-of-the-century house parties during America’s Gilded Age.

Join in the fun with Biltmore’s new custom exhibition audio-guided tour, created especially for this

exhibit, which combines realistic 360 degree sound techniques featuring stories told from the perspectives of those who lived and worked at this amazing home during the early 1900s. This impressive audio-visual experience brings scenes, previously viewed only in old black and white photos, vividly to life. Consider this your invitation to attend a Vanderbilt House Party!

Biltmore Estate is nestled in Asheville, North Carolina in the foothills of beautiful Pisgah National Forest. Long referred to as, America’s Castle, the sprawling estate includes tours of the mansion and the extensive gardens designed by famed architect Frederick Law Ohmsted.