News and Upcoming Events
*UPDATE: February 16, 2010
- ~TWRA Confirms First Cases of White Nose Syndrome in Tennessee Bats
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has received confirmation that two bats have tested positive for White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a white fungus that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of bats in the Eastern United States. This is the first record of White Nose Syndrome in Tennessee. The bats were hibernating in Worley’s cave in Sullivan County. Three tri-colored bats were collected by the TWRA and submitted to the National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, WI for testing last week.
- Next Event: Night Hike and Owl Prowl - March 19, 2010
- For Great Gift Ideas Check Out The Artist Gallery
Help Wanted
Welcome to the Friends of the Cumberland Trail, Inc., a group of folks interested in supporting Tennessee’s 300-mile hiking trail, threading through state park lands, natural areas, National Parks, historic sites, and Wildlife Management Areas, from Cumberland Gap to Chattanooga. We are hikers and housewives, students and senior citizens, businessmen and birdwatchers, physicians and farmers, musicians and historians, writers and river paddlers. But what we all have in common is the desire to preserve our rich Cumberland Mountain heritage and to share these stories through the Cumberland Trail. Friends of the Cumberland Trail is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
The Cumberland Trail is making history and you can be part of it. Never before has a “State Park - State Trail” been created by a partnership between volunteers and state government. The Cumberland Trail project has benefited from contributions of volunteer time and private donations of property and funding at historic levels. It’s the only park in the nation with its own weekly radio broadcast - a 30-minute interpretive music festival presenting the wonderful voices of our neighbors. Many other “firsts” can be accomplished by the Cumberland Trail with your help. The Cumberland Trail needs you.
Imagine a foot trail traversing the mountain tops, river gorges, meadows, and valleys of the Cumberland Plateau through 11 East Tennessee counties. Consider the rich history, the musical heritage, the thousands of plants, trees, and creatures unique to the Cumberland Plateau, and the need to preserve, protect these resources and to educate Tennesseans and visitors, and you can begin to understand the breadth of this project.
There’s a LOT to do. We want the Cumberland Trail to be a household name in communities throughout Tennessee-a park that is used, maintained, promoted, and cherished by its communities and visitors.
What you can do.
- Subscribe to become a friend
- Volunteer
- Tell your friends and neighbors
- Learn more about the wonders along the Cumberland Trail
The RLS Group Surveying Company from Chattanooga Tennessee is nearing completion of a survey of the public land acquisition of 1,388 acres from Molpus Timberlands in Claiborne and Campbell Counties. The survey has been conducted during this winter’s historic low temperatures and record snow fall. The crews camped and worked in extreme conditions to expedite this acquisition for the Trust for Public Lands. The CTSST anticipates acquiring the property from TTL in the near future. This slide show includes photos from the RLS Survey and photos from the trail during the CTSST preliminary field work.