Tennessee

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.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) is advising forest landowners to monitor their sassafras trees after detecting new cases of laurel wilt disease in Robertson and Hamblen Counties. In the last quarter of 2019, the disease was detected in trees in Montgomery, Cheatham, Dickson and Williamson Counties. "These new detections of this invasive disease show a significant geographic jump across the state," State Forester David Arnold said. "This is yet another unfortunate example of an invasive pest impacting our forests. Landowners should take caution to prevent the spread of this disease if detected on their property."

Laurel wilt is a fungal disease caused by an invasive pathogen, Raffaelea lauricola, which can affect a range of plants, including sassafras and spicebush in Tennessee. Choked of water, trees wilt and die within a few weeks or months. Currently, no treatment has been developed that can cure laurel wilt disease or protect trees from infection. The best way to prevent the spread of laurel wilt is to avoid movement of firewood or other untreated timber. Tennesseans are urged to monitor their sassafras trees for browning of leaves, leaf loss, and staining in the inner bark. If you suspect your trees might have laurel wilt disease, contact Forest Health Program Specialist Sam Gildiner at 615-837-5439 or sam.gildiner@tn.gov. TDA Division of Forestry staff will assist in identifying the disease and recommending management actions, if appropriate.

The TWRA needs your help in collecting invasive carp. If you catch an invasive carp anywhere in Tennessee other than the Mississippi River OR If you catch any Invasive carp in East Tennessee or other water where invasive carp are not known to be established, the agency is asking that you put it on ice or freeze it and contact them immediately.

If you are unable to keep the fish, the TWRA asks you to submit photos of the fish and send the image to us. You can contact the nearest TWRA office by phone here, or by email at ans.twra@tn.gov.

White-nose Syndrome is a mysterious disease that is killing bats across the northeast United States. Many research projects are underway to help in the fight against WNS, from researching fungicides to modeling the spread and affects of the syndrome. If you would like to help there are many ways in which you can:

• Report any unusual bat activity (bats flying in the daytime) or unexplained bat deaths to your regional TWRA office. Or check out the Report a Bat Link on this website.
• Donate to a number of funds collecting money for WNS research (see National Speleological Society and Bat Conservation International pages below).
• Adhere to state and federal cave closure advisories.
• Encourage state and federal agencies to assist in WNS research and monitoring activities.