There will be greenway and park closures in November and December for hunts in the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area.
The big game quota hunts will be held by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy and the City of Oak Ridge.
“For everyone’s safety, only hunters possessing a valid Oak Ridge WMA quota permit are allowed on the WMA during scheduled quota hunts,” a press release said.
[Read more…]
From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)
More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.
The land could be transferred under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The two organizations signed an Agreement in Principle on Wednesday, December 15, that “lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land to the state,” a press release said.
“Transferring this federally owned land will increase natural resource management and designate areas for greenspace and mixed-use recreational opportunities for the public,” the press release said.
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From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)
More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.
The land could be transferred under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The two organizations signed an Agreement in Principle on Wednesday, December 15, that “lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land to the state,” a press release said.
“Transferring this federally owned land will increase natural resource management and designate areas for greenspace and mixed-use recreational opportunities for the public,” the press release said.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today. Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
A deer hunter was seriously injured early Saturday morning when a boat ran aground on Melton Hill Lake near the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area, state officials said.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers said three deer hunters who had been drawn to hunt the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area launched an aluminum boat at Solway Boat Ramp and headed toward the management area in dense fog.
Around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Christopher Beckler, 47, of Cleveland, Tennessee, was ejected when the boat ran aground near the Freels Bend area, the TWRA said. Beckler had been near the front of the boat using a spotlight to assist his son Dawson Beckler, 21, who was operating the vessel under dark and foggy conditions.
[Read more…]The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has scheduled two scout days and three quota hunts on the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area this fall.
During the scout and quota hunt days, these greenways and this park will be closed: Gallaher Bend Greenway, North Boundary Greenway, Haw Ridge Park, and the section of Melton Lake Greenway adjacent to Haw Ridge Park.
The hunts, which are open only to those with a valid TWRA quota permit, will take place on the following weekends:
[Read more…]The 2019 season of Oak Ridge Reservation nature walks continues on Sunday, April 14, with a wildflower and old growth forest walk.
More than 1,100 vascular plants, 72 fish, 34 mammals, and more than 200 bird species have been observed on the U.S. Department of Energy reservation. This year, the public is invited to eight nature walks designed to highlight the rich flora and fauna diversity of the ORR and to demonstrate the work being done to sustainably manage and conserve this resource, a press release said. The series closes with a history talk in August.
Reservations for the following events must be made in advance by noon the Thursday prior to each walk by contacting Tracy Clem at (865) 574-5151 ([email protected]). If weather forces postponement of an event, it will be announced on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Information Line at (865) 574-9836 (i.e. 574-XTEN) at least two hours before the scheduled start of the walk. Children are allowed on the walks; no pets, please.
Sunday, April 14: Wildflower and old growth forest walk
[Read more…]Controlled burns are scheduled soon on part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation.
DOE’s Oak Ridge Office said it will start controlled burns of woodland areas of the Oak Ridge Reservation that are within the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement East Tract and Parcel ED-6 along North Boundary Road and Wisconsin Avenue in west Oak Ridge.
“Firebreak installation activities supporting these burns will begin in the near future, with ignitions taking place as soon thereafter as weather conditions permit and continuing through December 2018,” a press release said. [Read more…]
The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout. The agreement was announced Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, at a press conference beside the Clinch River below Norris Dam. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)
The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout.
The partnership, which began in 2013, includes the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Since 2013, TVA has been funding trout production by the Service at three national fish hatcheries: Dale Hollow and Erwin in Tennessee, and Chattahoochee Forest in Georgia. The trout are then provided to the following tailwaters: Apalachia (Hiwassee River), Blue Ridge, Boone, Cherokee, Fort Patrick Henry, Normandy, Norris, South Holston, Tims Ford, and Wilbur. Trout-stocked reservoirs in the plan include Fort Patrick Henry, South Holston, Parksville, Watauga, and Wilbur reservoirs.
The four partner agencies announced the new agreement Tuesday at a press conference beside the Clinch River below Norris Dam. The agreement provides partnership funding through fiscal year 2021, a press release said. [Read more…]
Yoonsik Jung
An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy and a prisoner were injured in a three-vehicle rear-end crash at Interstate 75 early Sunday, and a Clinton man is facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving, among other counts, authorities said.
The crash was reported at about 1 a.m. Sunday on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard (Highway 61) at I-75.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley, 49, of Knoxville, was transporting a prisoner for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, and he was stopped at the traffic light at the I-75 southbound exit ramp when he was struck in the rear by a driver reported to be intoxicated, ACSD Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. TWRA had made an arrest on Norris Lake for domestic assault, and the Sheriff’s Department had responded to transport the person who had been arrested to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.
Stanley, the deputy, was stopped for the red light when his car was hit in the rear, Lucas said. Both Stanley and the prisoner, Eric Allen Rose, 25, of Powell, were taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge by Anderson County EMS for non-life threatening injuries after the crash, Lucas said. [Read more…]
An archived file photo of a black bear at Anderson County High School on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2016. (Archived file photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today
A black bear was spotted wandering through Clinton on Friday.
The city sent out a Code Red Alert to part of the city on Friday morning indicating that the bear had been spotted in the vicinity of JD Yarnell Industrial Parkway and the 1200 block of Seivers Boulevard, heading in the general direction of the Clinton Home Center.
Authorities say that if you see the bear, you should give it a wide berth and notify the Clinton Police Department at (865) 457-3112.
It’s not unusual to occasionally see black bears in East Tennessee in the summer, including in Oak Ridge, Anderson County, Clinton, and the Great Smoky Mountains. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has previously said that Oak Ridge and Knoxville are surrounded by very good bear habitats—including the largest black bear preserve in the world—and it’s not unusual to see up to a half-dozen bears come through the Oak Ridge area each year and at least that many in the Knoxville area. [Read more…]
Angler Stephen Paul caught the new pending state record musky on March 2, 2017, from Melton Hill Reservoir in Knox County. The fish weighed 43 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 51 and 3/8 inches in length. (Photo by Dylan Gano)
A fish caught in Melton Hill Reservoir on Thursday could break a state record, wildlife officials said.
The muskellunge, better known as a musky, was hauled in by angler Stephen Paul in the Knox County portion of Melton Hill Reservoir on Thursday evening, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said.
The giant musky weighed 43 pounds and 14 ounces. It bit Paul’s artificial lure around 6 p.m. Thursday and provided him with the “catch of a lifetime,” the TWRA said.
The fish could break a 34-year-old state record.
The TWRA said muskellunge are a challenging fish to catch, particularly when they get older and wiser.
Paul’s friend Dylan Gano was with him to document the historic catch. [Read more…]
Part of the Melton Lake Greenway is pictured above at the Haw Ridge Park parking lot.
Haw Ridge Park, North Boundary Greenway, and Gallaher Bend Greenway will be closed periodically for Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area managed quota hunts this fall, a press release said.
The closure on Haw Ridge includes the portion of Melton Lake Greenway adjacent to the park, from the lake to the parking lot on Edgemoor Road, the press release said.
The hunts, which are open only to those pre-selected in a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) quota drawing, will take place on the following dates: [Read more…]
Rescuers recovered the body of a missing Anderson County boater in Norris Lake on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. (Photo by TWRA)
Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has identified the man who drowned on Norris Lake on Monday as Roy McClenney Jr., 71, of Norris.
McClenney’s body was recovered from 46 feet of water at around 6:40 p.m. Monday.
The TWRA said they were called shortly after noon when the man jumped off of a pontoon boat anchored in a cove near Sugar Camp Lane in Maynardville in Union County and never resurfaced.
Rescue crews from Union County and Knoxville joined TWRA in the search for the man, who was located with help from a remote operated vehicle, or ROV. TWRA officers located the man’s body, and divers from the Knoxville Rescue Squad made the recovery. [Read more…]
