Predator Beetle to Battle Hemlock Pest Nov 20, 2009
10, 2009) The hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachians and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests according to a new study in the journal. (Jan. (Science Daily)
The Battle For Coal River Mountain Nov 15, 2009
The way I was acting initially was similar to the same messed-up attitudes others had been taking toward Appalachians for decades, McIlmoil said. He said soon realized that the people living in the coalfields knew a lot more about life and fighting than he had ever thought he could, so he settled into a role of facilitator rather than leader. (Townhall.com)
Forest Service excavates fort along Trail of Tears Nov 9, 2009
It was the lowest gap through the Appalachians. In the early 19th century, the trail was used to drive herds of cattle, pigs and turkeys east over the mountains to sell in South Carolina. (Pine Bluff Commercial, AR)
Hot spots for leaf peepers Nov 3, 2009
To the east of the Appalachians, in North Carolina's Piedmont region, leaf expert Dick Thomas reports leaves are peaking a bit later this year ... The Appalachians boast some of the best color in the entire Southeast region during this late part of the season , said Marc Abrams, who's been studying leaf coloration for the past 23 years at Penn State University. (CNN -- International)
5 ski resorts that suit Southerners Oct 29, 2009
So head north on the highway this season and you ll find that the spirit of winter is just as alive in the Appalachians as it is in the Rockies. 1. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Volcanoes Played Pivotal Role In Ancient Ice Age, Mass Extinction Oct 27, 2009
Now the researchers have discovered the other half of the story: giant volcanoes that formed during the closing of the proto-Atlantic Ocean -- known as the Iapetus Ocean -- set the stage for the rise of the Appalachians and the ice age that followed. "Our model shows that these Atlantic volcanoes were spewing carbon into the atmosphere at the same time the Appalachians were removing it," Saltzman explained ... This is the first evidence that a decrease in carbon from volcanic degassing --... (Science Daily)
Story » Oct 24, 2009
Bulls of the Southern Appalachians - ESPN ... Bulls of the Southern Appalachians ... A typical Kentucky bull elk, born and raised in the Appalachians. (ESPN -- Outdoors)
Pro-coal crowds pack hearings Oct 14, 2009
In Kentucky, David Fields, a retired computer science professor from Richmond, said mountaintop removal is fouling streams and destroying the beauty of the Appalachians. "All of that is going to go by very quickly if something isn't done," he said. (Pocatello Idaho State Journal, ID)
Flooding rains expected again Oct 14, 2009
The National Weather Service posted a flash-flood watch through the day today, saying another wedge of cool air south of the Appalachians could trigger a second round of heavy rain. Two to 4 inches of rain could fall across Northeast Georgia by tonight, the weather service said. (Athens Banner-Herald)
October 2009 Geology and GSA Today highlights Oct 2, 2009
This new study by Young et al. links a much earlier major ice age, one that occurred during the Ordovician Period, to the uplift of the early Appalachians ... The chemical reactions that weathered away part of the Appalachians would have consumed large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. (EurekAlert!)
Unit preps for Afghanistan without the tanks Sep 25, 2009
For an outfit used to being ferried from fight to fight in armored vehicles, a 50-mile march through the Appalachians was a little much. Perhaps no unit better exemplifies the challenges presented by the Army's transition from desert warfare in Iraq to rugged mountain campaigns in Afghanistan than the 3rd Infantry Division's 4th Brigade, whose tanks and Bradley assault vehicles were among the first to rumble into Baghdad in the 2003 invasion. (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
Rhododendron Expansion May Increase The Chance Of Landslides On Southern Appalachian Slopes Sep 25, 2009
Landslides present a significant danger in the steep landscapes of the Southern Appalachians ... The researchers tested one woody shrub, Rhododendron maximum, a native species which has come to dominate the forest understory in some areas of the Southern Appalachians ... Although the study was not designed to firmly establish cause and effect, the results suggest that rhododendron may be a key species affecting landslide initiation in the southern Appalachians. (Science Daily)
Rich: Torch goes from one old soul to another Sep 20, 2009
After writing two runaway New York Times best-selling books on politics, the senator now has written a heart-felt book that embraces the culture of the Appalachians called "Purt Nigh Gone." In this lovely memoir of the rural mountains, he writes that the old ways of the Southern mountains are vanishing and that a "way of life that once was but is no more, a way of life that is purt nigh gone." That, of course, is an old Scotch-Irish phrase. I feel compelled to carry on a work Miller began long... (Athens Banner-Herald)
'Old Farmer's Almanac' still spots cold in Web age Sep 10, 2009
The venerable almanac's 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, says numbing cold will predominate in the country's midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East ... The venerable almanac's 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, says numbing cold will predominate in the country's midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East. (Fresno Bee -- Nation)
How bad will winter be? Sep 9, 2009
The venerable almanacs 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says numbing cold will predominate in the countrys midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East. Managing Editor Sandi Duncan says its going to be an ice cold sandwich. (Gillette News-Record, WY)
2 children riding in wagon struck by car Sep 1, 2009
It predicts numbing cold from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. Managing editor Sandi Duncan says that nationwide, the season will be an ice cold sandwich, with milder weather on the coasts. (Boston Globe)
Farmers' Almanac predicts cold winter ahead Aug 31, 2009
The almanac's 2010 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says numbingly cold temperatures will predominate in the country's midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the East. "Basically we're saying it's going to be an ice cold sandwich," said managing editor Sandi Duncan. (Concord Monitor)
9 must-see falls in western N.C. Aug 28, 2009
Jack Horan of Charlotte is author of Where Nature Reigns/The Wilderness Areas of the Southern Appalachians. Inside AJC.COM. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Where, When East Coast Fall Foliage... Aug 25, 2009
Autumn Color Peaks in Appalachians Mid-September to Early November. Hikers, backpackers, drivers, and cyclsts can all revel in the East Coast's famed autumn foliage from September till November. (Suite101.com)
Feds still want study on possible interstate Aug 25, 2009
I-3 would head northeast past Elberton and through the Southern Appalachians toward Knoxville. Many area residents and conservationists decry the proposed road, arguing it would threaten the Smokies and damage the mountain ecosystem. (Athens Banner-Herald)
Whatever Happened to Acid Rain? Aug 19, 2009
In the Adirondacks and Northern Appalachians, one-third of the bodies of water deemed acidic in the early 1990s can now be taken off that list, according to (PDF). There are now 70 percent fewer acidic lakes and streams in Wisconsin and Michigan than there were 1984. (Slate)
Are Endangered Species Being Sacrificed for Coal in Appalachia? Aug 11, 2009
CREATURES VS. COAL: Flying squirrels are one of many species that make the Appalachians a hotspot of biodiversity ... As a result, the Appalachians have become something of a "national sacrifice area" to meet coal needs, said Tierra Curry, a biologist with the. (Scientific American)
In the Smokies’ bear country, an artistic retreat Jun 21, 2009
Unfortunately, man-made pollutants originating outside the park and trapped by the mountains have lowered visibility in the southern Appalachians, including the Smokies. According to the National Park Service, the pollution - which typically appears as a whitish haze, different from the natural fog for which the Smokies were named - has decreased average visibility 40 percent in winter and 80 percent in summer. (Boston Globe)
Smoky Mountains Park's 75th year Jun 6, 2009
The Smokies was the first in the southern Appalachians and the first to require purchasing land from individual owners. Congress authorized the park in 1926, but it would take eight years to raise the money to buy some 6,000 tracts. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
America's prettiest road trips Jun 5, 2009
Spectacular thoroughfares crisscross the U.S., from the sparse scrubland of New Mexico's to the rocky in the Appalachians. Even residents of New York City can plan an escape on Connecticut's bucolic. (MSNBC -- Travel)
75 and Still Smoking, National Park Celebrates Anniversary Jun 3, 2009
" The park is designated an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site with one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet, supporting fireflies that blink in unison, 2-foot-long salamanders, 300-pound black bears, a small herd of reintroduced elk and growing numbers of native brook trout. A continuing inventory by scientists and volunteers of the park's 100,000 estimated species of plants and animals has discovered thousands previously unseen in the park and... (Fox News)
Wild ramps prized for their flavor May 15, 2009
Many towns in the southern Appalachians hold ramp festivals each spring - such as the 24th Ramp Festival being held today in Flag Pond, Tenn. near Knoxville. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Living)
Pan for gold in Dahlonega May 12, 2009
The Georgia gateway to the Appalachians is the site of the first U. S. gold rush. Dahlonega is home to The Gold Museum, gold mines and gold panning facilities. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Weather headlines: Soggy for East Coast, Northwest May 5, 2009
Rainy days and Mondays A storm system will slowly move from the central Appalachians into the Mid-Atlantic today and tonight, with a front extending from the low pressure center through the Southeast and across the central Gulf Coast ... Flash flood watches and warnings are widespread through the southern and central Appalachians from East Tennessee and western North Carolina through West Virginia. (USA Today -- Weather)
Bears bounce back May 1, 2009
A history of bears Except for the upper Midwest, the hinterlands of the northern Appalachians and areas around Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, black bears had all but become extinct in most of their traditional ranges prior to this century ... By the middle of the 18th century, black bears had been slaughtered or pushed into the unpopulated mountain areas of the Appalachians and in the boreal forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula ... Apart from... (ESPN -- Outdoors)
Weather headlines: Texas tornado watch; heat in the East Apr 28, 2009
Tonight and Tuesday the cold front will continue to move eastward, triggering showers and thunderstorms for parts of the Ohio Valley into the Appalachians. Severe thunderstorms are more likely along the tail of the cold front which will stall across the southern Plains. (USA Today -- Weather)
Pricey shale gas a place-filler until Alaska builds pipeline Apr 12, 2009
There are also significant amounts locked in the Appalachians. Shale gas is expensive to produce. (Anchorage Daily News)
Geology gems Apr 5, 2009
The seaway expanded and contracted over its life, but at its widest it extended from the Rocky Mountains to the western Appalachians. Ammonites were a kind of mollusk, squid-like creatures that lived in a chambered shell. (Helena Independent Record, MT)
Spacek narrates PBS documentary on Appalachia Apr 4, 2009
The film tells the human stories about people who made the Appalachians home, but also talks about the mountains themselves ... Spacek found striking the extent to which people who lived within the Appalachians rarely benefited from the riches extracted from the mountains. (USA Today -- Life)
Energy Policies are Complex Energy Solutions Are Even More So -- The Pickens Plan -- Apr 1, 2009
The process of building a large number of new, radial transmission lines across the Appalachians or the Rockies to serve populated eastern and western regions of the country would be particularly difficult. As a small example of the cost of getting the wind power to the customers, we can look at Texas that is planning to spend $4. (Energy Pulse, CO)
Nude Hiking Gets Cold Shoulder In Switzerland Mar 18, 2009
He has hiked in the nude for about 30 years, he said, and has crisscrossed the hills and mountains around Appenzell, as well as in France, Germany, Italy and even the Appalachians. Why does he take off his clothes. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Weird News)
In thin air of the Alps, Swiss secrecy is vanishing Mar 17, 2009
" he said, picking at a lunch of coarse, spicy Appenzeller sausage in a restaurant high on the slopes over the town. Unseasonable snow showers clouded the view of the surrounding peaks, thwarting plans for a nude hike with this reporter. Mr. Hepenstrick, 54, is an architect who loves to hike in the altogether. In winter, he said, he has hiked for hours in temperatures well below freezing, though he does concede the need for a hat and gloves. He has hiked in the nude for about 30 years, he said,... (International Herald Tribune)
Hemlock Trees Dying Rapidly, Affecting Forest Carbon Cycle Mar 11, 2009
10, 2009) New research by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and partners suggests the hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachians and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests ... The authors suggest that infrequent frigid winter temperatures in the southern Appalachians may not be enough to suppress adelgid populations. (Science Daily)
March-April 2009 GSA Bulletin media highlights Feb 11, 2009
Petrogenesis and structure of the Buck Creek mafic-ultramafic suite, southern Appalachians: Constraints on ophiolite evolution and emplacement in collisional orogens Virginia Peterson et al., Dept. of Geology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan 49401, USA. Pages 615-629. The Buck Creek mafic-ultramafic suite is among the larger and more lithologically diverse of the fragmented ultramafic exposures in the southern Appalachian Blue Ridge. (EurekAlert!)
29 places to go in 2009 Feb 7, 2009
Great Smoky Mountains National ParkThe most visited national park in the U.S., the Great Smoky Mountains (a western segment of the high Appalachians) boast over 500,000 acres of pristine forest and diverse wildlife that includes foxes, deer, elk, and some 1,500 resident black bears. Nestled between North Carolina and Tennessee, park visitors have access to 800 miles of hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails; scenic campsites; historic cabin museums that serve to recount pioneer history; and... (MSNBC -- Travel)
