Southern Appalachian Creature Feature

A lot of people in the Southern Appalachians take their fly fishing seriously. Come March, anglers will get an opportunity to test their skills head to head against anglers from across the region as the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Davidson River Outfitters host the fourth annual Pisgah Fly Masters fly-fishing tournament.

Most of the kids entered the water with eager anticipation, net in hand, happily getting their shoes and shorts wet while adult not only looked on, but encouraged them to explore the river. It was the second annual Toe River Valley Festival, an event that brought nearly every 5th grader in North Carolina’s Yancey and Mitchell County’s out into a river in their community.

In a tiny meeting room in Nebo, North Carolina, at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, planning began in earnest for the 2011 Bat Blitz – an effort that will bring dozens of biologists from across the Southeast to North Carolina’s Avery County for an intensive three days of collecting information on the area’s bat populations.

Our two-year old daughter has picked up a fascination with spiders, stemming from, as near as we can interpret, a bad dream involving the 8-legged creatures. Perhaps a little odd, since to our knowledge she’s never had a negative interaction with the animals, but now she takes the time to call attention to any spider webs she comes across and pauses and stares curiously at any spiders she finds.

One of the challenges of looking at the Southern Appalachians as a region is that the area is divided into several states, and despite the fact that birds, bears, winds and rivers pay no heed to our political boundaries, coordinating people across those state lines to work together for those natural resources can be a challenge.

Exactly what impact will climate change have on wildlife and what can land managers do about it is one of the biggest questions facing biologists today and one that spans the breadth of fish and wildlife management from the fate of mountain trout to nesting sea turtles. Here in the Southern Appalachians it’s an especially important question because of our incredible diversity of life, including many rare species isolated on our cold, high mountain tops.

In late July, scientists from Appalachian State University published some unfortunate news. The plant Persicaria perfoliata was in North Carolina. Known by the common name mile-a-minute weed, this invasive plant from Asia can grow nearly six inches a day.

Deep Creek flows out of the southern side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just outside of Bryson City. A popular weekend spot, entering the park by Deep Creek takes you through a gauntlet of tube rental companies, doing their part to help people enjoy the stream.

The streams of the Toe River Valley, in North Carolina’s Yancey and Mitchell Counties, are home to the endangered Appalachian elktoe mussel. The headwaters of these rivers can be found on the shoulders of Roan Mountain to the north, and Mount Mitchell to the south, each home to an array of rare plants and animals.

There’s a game I do with students, it’s called Common Water. People stand in a circle around a bucket of clean water. The people are a community, the bucket their common source of water. Each person assumes the role of part of the community – a farm, a town center, a housing development. Each person has a sponge and is given 30 seconds to use that sponge to get water from the bucket and put it in a cup at their feet, representing their use of the water. However, each sponge is laced with food coloring, and with each dip, the water gets dirtier, reflecting the fertilizer runoff, erosion, and other pollutants that enter our streams and lakes.