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Discover Life in America, the nonprofit research partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is inviting the public to participate in its latest project, Smokies Most Wanted, an initiative that allows visitors to help conserve park species by recording sightings of animals, plants and other organisms from their smartphones. Powered by the nature app iNaturalist, Smokies Most Wanted encourages park visitors to document any organism they encounter while hiking, camping, or otherwise enjoying the park — from birds to wildflowers, insects to lichens. DLiA then uses the data collected through iNaturalist for a variety of functions, like recording new park species or detecting invasive ones, learning about under-studied or rare species, and mapping species across the park.

For more information about the Smokies Most Wanted project, visit dlia.org/smokiesmostwanted — or browse the list of Smokies Most Wanted species at inaturalist.org/guides/9115.

Thousand cankers disease is a fungal disease of walnuts (Juglans spp.) that is carried from tree to tree by a small bark beetle called the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis). It has killed countless ornamental black walnut trees in the western U.S. and was found for the first time in the eastern U.S. in 2010. The first recorded incident of thousand cankers disease in North Carolina (Haywood County) was confirmed in late fall, 2012. Please report the location and descriptions of potentially positive trees to 1-800-206-9333 or newpest@ncagr.gov.