Southern Appalachian Creature Feature

One of my oldest daughter’s first camping trips was to the Cosby section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a delightful weekend, early in the season before the campground had become crowded. As a gateway to the Smokies, Cosby is a little off the beaten path and the area definitely locks the commercial development of Gatlinburg or Cherokee, offering up a far more subdued experience with low-key groceries and tourist offerings perhaps a little reminiscent of an earlier age in mountain tourism. However life in Cosby may not have been as tranquil at it appeared.

Clawhammer Mountain, in Pisgah National Forest, forms part of the dividing line between the Davidson River Valley to the south and the Mills River Valley to the North. Both of these watersheds host some of the most popular trout fishing spots in western North Carolina, while the Mills River system is a source of drinking water for Hendersonville and Asheville, and home to the endangered Appalachian elktoe, a freshwater mussel.

In much heralded celebrations, Great Smoky Mountains National Park celebrated their 75th anniversary last year and the Blue Ridge Parkway is currently celebrating their 75thanniversary. As important as those are, next year brings an even bigger anniversary – the event that led to the creation of the National Forests in the Eastern U.S.

We sat in the darkness on the edge of the Davidson River in North Carolina’s Transylvania County. Every few minutes someone would turn on a bright headlamp and scan the net that was suspended across the river, searching for a bat that had gotten tangled in the net’s thin threads.

The spotfin chub is an unassuming little fish – growing up to about four inches long, with an unimpressive appearance, save during the breeding season when males turn an iridescent blue on the upper side of their bodies. However, this tiny fish is on the federal endangered species list and one biologists are trying to reestablish in Western North Carolina’s Cheoah River

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently published a demographic and economic analysis of trout fishing in the United States based on 2006 surveys. The result was pretty impressive for North Carolina, especially considering serious trout fishing brings to mind big rivers flowing down from Western mountains.

Mountain sweet pitcher plant is an endangered plant found in Southern Appalachian bogs, one of our rarest natural communities. Bog turtles are North America’s smallest turtle, and are also an imperiled species found in Southern Appalachian bogs.

Aside from both being imperiled; aside from both living in bogs; one thing these two species have in common is they prefer areas with plenty of sunshine.

The Pigeon River, flowing from North Carolina into Tennessee, has long been infamous for its poor water quality. The source of those issues has been a paper mill in the town of Canton, and in recent years the mill has done much to clean up the water they put back in the river.

Each year, late in the spring, I get an invitation from the 6th grade teachers at East Yancey Middle School to join their students at Black Mountain Campground, just downhill from Mount Mitchell.

A decrepit dam on the North Toe River has been removed thanks to their efforts. A railroad trestle that collapsed into the Toe River has been removed thanks to their efforts. Hundreds of school children get to experience rivers first hand thanks to their efforts. Numerous private landowners have improved wildlife habitat on their land thanks to their efforts.