ONEIDA — Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will host an official naturalization ceremony on Thursday, April 24. One hundred and fifty individuals will take the oath of citizenship. 

The event is open to the public, and community members are encouraged to attend and witness meaningful milestones. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at Bandy  Creek Visitor Center, with the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips presiding. Local Boy Scout Troop and Crew 333 will conduct the presentation of colors. 

"National Park Week is a celebration of America's national heritage. And national parks  preserve this great nation's stories and natural and cultural wonders," said Superintendent Niki  Stephanie Nicholas. "Welcoming new citizens in such a special place is suitable to their  inspirational journeys, qualities, and characters." 

Naturalization is the official process through which a foreign citizen or national becomes a United States citizen after meeting the requirements set by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act. This process culminates in a formal court proceeding where individuals take the Oath of Allegiance, receive their Certificate of Naturalization, and are officially welcomed as U.S. citizens, marking the beginning of their new chapters in the American community. 

This official step unites new citizens through a shared commitment to the nation's values, opening doors to new opportunities and a brighter future. Welcome them into the fabric of our nation.

-National Park Service

Campers are seen enjoying a morning at Elkmont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Elkmont is one of the Smokies campgrounds still open. National Park Service

National parks advocate and former Smokies official warns of funding shortfalls as closures continue, concerns persist, and people resist

KNOXVILLE — Funding for national parks has never amounted to much, and the federal government will cut even more if people don’t speak out in defense of the country’s natural and ecological crown jewels.

That was the message from Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect American National Parks and former acting superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He spoke to an audience at Knoxville’s Schulz Bräu Brewing Company hosted by Discover Life in America. Francis said that due to rising concerns his organization grew from 500 members to over 4,000 during the Trump administration. The coalition, he said, includes many people like himself who used to work for the park system, including the former superintendent of Acadia National Park.

Francis advocated that others should lobby government officials to continue to support the parks.

“If you don’t speak up, it makes it a lot more difficult,” he told the audience. 

Paul Stoddard, a principal at environmental consulting firm EnSafe, unlocks the gate to the West Tennessee Wetlands Mitigation Bank in Shelby County. EnSafe planted more than 50,000 trees to restore portions of this 250-acre wetland, creating credits for developers to purchase to offset destruction of wetlands elsewhere.  Karen Pulfer Focht for Tennessee Lookout

Interests of all stripes push to preserve state wetlands protections against pro-developer pressure

This story is part of the series Down the Drain from the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting collaborative based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. 

LEWISBURG — Fourth-generation Middle Tennessee cattle farmer Cole Liggett lined up with scientists and environmental advocates in March to urge Tennessee lawmakers not to gut the state’s historically strong protections for wetlands.

Wetlands protection has been good business for Liggett. In addition to raising cattle, he’s a manager at Headwaters Reserve, a firm that developers pay to preserve and restore wetlands and streams so they can destroy them elsewhere, called mitigation banking. If lawmakers follow through on a plan to deregulate an estimated 80 percent of the state’s isolated wetlands, that will upend the industry in Tennessee and drive up prices for developers still required to pay for mitigation, Liggett testified.

Liggett works in a growing industry that operates more than 2,500 mitigation banks nationwide, earning an estimated $3.5 billion in revenue in 2019, according to a 2023 study funded by the Ecological Restoration Business Association. 

The industry is built on demand spurred by the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act, which requires developers to offset their damage to wetlands by building or restoring wetlands nearby.

But recent federal actions to shrink the scope of that law are pushing states to choose how strictly they will regulate wetlands. The consequences of those decisions not only threaten further degradation of land, water and wildlife, but also the fortunes of an industry that has made a big business out of conservation.

KNOXVILLE — Discover Life in America has a newly established partnership with Schulz Bräu Brewing Company to host its monthly Conservation on Tap speaker series.

The latest installment of the series at the new venue is 7 p.m. April 16. Join Conservation on Tap at Schulz Bräu Brewing Company, 126 Bernard Ave, Knoxville.

Join us for an insightful presentation by Phil Francis, Chairman of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and former acting superintendent of GSMNP, as he provides an update on the current challenges facing the National Park Service and our national parks.

Francis will discuss the critical resources that need protection and the staffing necessary to ensure the preservation and maintenance of these cherished public lands. This event is a must-attend for anyone passionate about the future of America’s national parks and the efforts needed to safeguard them for generations to come. Learn more at: protectnps.org.

Come support local conservation efforts and enjoy a wide selection of 20+ beers on-tap (and plenty of nonalcoholic beverages) and some authentic German fare from Schulzes Schnitzel Kitchen.

Sarah Nelson stands with a copy of The Journal of Undergraduate Research, which ran her first scientific publication in 2003. It was researched during her time as an intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  Nelson is now a senior research scientist. Derek Armstrong via BlueSky  

Federal science cuts, in Oak Ridge and beyond, threaten American health and innovation

Sarah Nelson, MPH, PhD, is a senior research scientist in Seattle studying the genetic causes of complex health conditions. Hellbender Press has previously reported on changes to Oak Ridge federal facilities since the start of the second Trump Administration. This op-ed was originally published by KnoxNews.

OAK RIDGE — My mother has been cleaning out the attic in her Oak Ridge house and very reasonably decided my sisters and I should become the stewards of the memorabilia from our childhoods and early adulthoods. The box she recently mailed me included my first scientific publication, from my undergraduate summer internship at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Mammalian Genetics Section (the “Mouse House”) in 2002.

Over 20 years later, I am a senior research scientist and author on 60+ scientific publications mostly related to understanding how genetic variation contributes to different human diseases.

Even before I received that box in the mail, I had been reflecting on why I chose a career in scientific research – mainly because, since January, I am no longer sure if and how I will be able to continue pursuing it. Federally funded scientific research is being attacked and dismantled by the administration of President Donald Trump, threatening the entire scientific enterprise. The situation is dire, and I urge you to join me in staying informed and speaking out against these existential threats to science.