Displaying items by tag: ijams nature center

Grayson Subaru presented a check for $45,550 from Subaru of America’s 2025 Subaru Share the Love Event to Ijams Nature Center in June. Funds will help expand the Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve and the Mead’s Quarry Lake swim area. Pictured from left are Ijams Board Member Matthew Kellogg and his son, Louis, Ijams staff member Ben Nanny, Ijams Board President Carl Van Hoozier, Jr., Grayson Marketing Manager Dan Moyers, Ijams Board Member Joseph Mack, and Ijams staff members Leigh Feld, Amber Parker, Mackenzie Faust, Autumn Allman, Brandy Cox, Sarah Brobst, Kylie Preston, Paige Crane, Ray Griffin, Madeline Harper, Jupiter Istarwind, and Madison Watson. Ijams Nature Center

KNOXVILLE — Grayson Subaru recently presented a check for $45,550 to Ijams Nature Center to continue its work to expand the Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve and improve the Mead’s Quarry Lake swim area.

The local retailer chose the nonprofit nature center as its hometown charity for Subaru of America, Inc.’s (SOA’s) 2025 Subaru Share the Love® Event. From Nov. 15, 2025, to Jan. 2, 2026, Subaru and its retailers donated a minimum of $300 for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased at participating retailers nationwide to several national charities and a hometown charity chosen by each retailer.

This is the third consecutive year that Grayson Subaru has selected Ijams as its partner for this event and the sixth year overall. The funding Ijams has received through the program since 2023 is helping to create Phase 2 of Playscape and will add other features to the swim area.

“The Grayson Subaru family is so proud to participate in the Subaru Share the Love Event each year,” Grayson Marketing Manager Dan Moyers said. “Subaru fans are a diverse bunch who come together on one thing: They strongly believe in giving back and making a difference in their community. This gift reflects their devotion, and we always look forward to seeing how the Ijams team will transform these areas with their help.”  

“Words cannot express how grateful we are to our friends at Grayson Subaru for choosing Ijams to be their hometown charity,” Ijams CEO Amber Parker said. “Each year, we’re stunned by their generosity, as well as the generosity of their customers and Subaru of America.

“I’ve always said that ‘teamwork makes the dream work,’” she said. “All of these partners make dreams come true. Thanks to them, children will have another safe place to play and explore nature, and our visitors will have more access to the lake at Mead’s Quarry."

For the past year, the Natural Resource Management team has worked with the Education team to prepare a new play space on the south side of the Mead’s Quarry parking lot that connects Mead’s Quarry to Phase 1 of the playscape.

-Ijams Nature Center

Retired University of Tennessee philosophy professor John Nolt has been waging a one-man campaign against destructive invasive plants, such as the ivy seen in the background strangling live trees, in the Baker Creek Preserve in South Knoxville. JJ Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

City taps people power to fuel fight against creeping exotic plants that are displacing native species

KNOXVILLE — Death is slowly overtaking the Urban Wilderness, one tree at a time. 

A host of invasive species have taken root in the 1,000-acre network of trails, parks, and quarries that draws legions of outdoor enthusiasts from across the Knoxville metropolitan area and beyond. Their prolific growth may look healthy to the untrained eye, but in reality their presence is a neon-green warning sign.

English ivy, wintercreeper, honeysuckle, and privet are just some of the non-native species of flora that are slowly taking over the region’s forested spaces, threatening the very existence of the countless plants and animals that depend on the local food web.

The problem isn’t new, but it’s been growing more visible with each passing year and has drawn the attention of environmentalists, government officials, and local groups of nature lovers.

For instance, retired University of Tennessee philosophy professor John Nolt has been waging a one-man campaign against the destructive plants in the Baker Creek Preserve in South Knoxville.

Several times a week, he walks the trails and takes note of how thick bands of brilliant green vines have wrapped themselves around the trunks of elm, birch, and sycamore trees. 

The Whip-Off is always a high-flying hit with Knoxville Adventure Festival crowds. The weekend of fun is set for May 1-2 at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. Smoke Signal Photo

Outlandish Adventure Festival returns to Ijams Nature Center May 1-2

KNOXVILLE — The Outlandish Adventure Festival is back at Ijams Nature Center this weekend for a free two-day celebration of the outdoors. The live music, large-scale spectacles, and immersive experiences spread across the trails, quarry, and open spaces make this venue unlike anywhere else.

Outlandish is built for those who want a full weekend of adventure and music. 

The weekend features spectacles and performances across two days:  climbing competitions, a bike whip-off, highline walkers over Mead's Quarry, kayak sprints, nine live music acts, a fire performance, and a late-night rave in the woods. Families are welcome, and there's dedicated programming for kids throughout the weekend.

Start your day watching climbers scale the rock face. Spend the afternoon at the water's edge. End the night under the trees with fire in the air and music carrying through the dark. Outlandish is built for wandering. Just show up and follow what pulls you in.

The Outlandish Adventure Festival is a collaborative effort by Knoxville’s outdoor enthusiasts and organizations, including Visit Knoxville, Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness, Appalachian Mountain Bike Club (AMBC), Knoxville Adventure Collective, River Sports Outfitters, Tennessee Riverline, Two Bikes, The Maker City, and The City of Knoxville. Together, they’ve created a weekend to inspire exploration, connection, adventure, and celebration of Knoxville’s natural beauty. 

KNOXVILLE — The 37^th annual Ijams River Rescue on March 21 brought together 584 volunteers to clean up 39 sites, removing an estimated 34,800 pounds (17.4 tons) of trash from the Tennessee River, creeks, streams, and shorelines in Knox, Anderson, Blount, and Sevier Counties.

Volunteers collected 1,273 bags of trash as well as 114 tires and large items, such as traffic barrels, shopping carts, broken windows, and a riding lawnmower. Other finds included 40 feet of barge line, 125 square feet of docking, two toilets, medical equipment, a box of shotgun shells, underwear, and a full plate of food that had been abandoned on a bench.

This year’s cleanup surpassed the 2025 Ijams River Rescue, which removed an estimated 17.2 tons of trash and large items from 34 sites in Knox, Anderson, Blount, and Loudon counties.

The 37th annual Ijams River Rescue was made possible thanks to City of Knoxville Stormwater Engineering, Dow, First Horizon Bank, Tennessee Valley Authority, Borderland Tees, Brunswick Boat Group, Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, Vulcan Materials Company, Old Sevier District, and Tailwater Properties.

-Ijams Nature Center

Homecoming celebrates a story that ‘weaves across generations’

Cindy Hassil is Ijams Nature Center development director.

KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center will celebrate 50 years of being a nonprofit organization dedicated to nature, education, and stewardship at an Ijams Homecoming on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

This free event will feature fun, hands-on activities for all ages, historic materials, guided hikes, refreshments, and more at the Ijams Visitor Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. in South Knoxville.

“This is a special milestone for Ijams Nature Center,” Ijams President and CEO Amber Parker said. “We’re celebrating 50 years of continuing the legacy of respect, wonder, and protection H.P. and Alice Ijams began more than a century ago when they bought 20 acres along the Tennessee River to raise their family. 

University of Tennessee professor emeritus Gary McCracken is seen this summer near the new massive bat house built at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. McCracken, who will help with research at the site, spent his life studying bats; he attributes their northward migration to climate change and warns of critical pest-control gaps if bats continue their decline.  J.J. Stambaugh/Hellbender Press

New exhibit will host research into critical pest-control species; could attract 200,000 bats to urban wildlife refuge

Bat, bat,
Come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice
of bacon;
And when I bake
I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.

— Traditional nursery rhyme 

KNOXVILLE — Of all the critters that share this Earth with Homo sapiens, bats might have the most schizophrenic reputation of all.

Depending on who you ask, bats — of which there are at least a dozen species in East Tennessee alone — are seen as creepy, adorable, weird, useful or diseased. Opinions may vary, but the one thing that most folks might agree upon is that bats are, well, fascinating.

And that’s a good thing for local nature lovers, because up to 200,000 of them should soon be living at South Knoxville’s own nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, Ijams Nature Center.

Under the direction of University of Tennessee professor emeritus Gary McCracken and Ijam’s conservation director, Ben Nanny, a bat house has been constructed near Meads Quarry that’s expected to attract a large colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that will prove to be a delight for Ijams visitors. 

This seemingly primeval scene is actually within the city limits of Knoxville at Ijams Nature Center. The popular park is part of the Urban Wilderness and will be home to the Outlandish Adventure Festival set for May 2-3.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Outlandish Adventure Festival’s celebrations of the outdoors include climbing competitions, SUP races, guided hikes and yoga

KNOXVILLE — The city’s great outdoors is calling — and the Outlandish Adventure Festival is answering with two days packed full of adrenaline-pumping fun, scenic exploration and unforgettable experiences. Set for May 2-3 at Ijams Nature Center, this action-packed celebration of the region’s rivers, rocks, and trails invites adventurers of all levels to get outside and play.

The Outlandish Adventure Festival is a collaborative effort by the area’s rich collection of outdoor enthusiasts and organizations, including Visit Knoxville, Ijams, Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness, AMBC, Knoxville Adventure Collective, River Sports Outfitters, The Maker City, Legacy Parks and The City of Knoxville. They’ve created a weekend to inspire exploration, connection, adventure and celebration of Knoxville’s natural beauty.

Debris hangs from trees on the banks of the French Broad River near the main building of Hot Springs Resort and Spa. The river gauge at Hot Springs was offline during the main rain events immediately preceding the Sept. 27, 2024 floods but registered a peak just under 21 feet. The record stage is 22 feet, but that record will likely fall after review of provisional weather-gauge data by the National Weather Service. Much of the debris generated by flooding on the French Broad River in Western North Carolina made its way downstream toward Douglas Lake in Tennessee.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Volunteers needed for 36^th Ijams River Rescue set for March 8

KNOXVILLE  — The thousand-year rains brought by Hurricane Helene flushed incalculable amounts of garbage from multiple major watersheds in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina in late September 2024. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority, for instance, resorted to booms and cranes to corral and collect thousands of tons of garbage along more than 200 miles of Douglas Lake shoreline. The cleanup continues.

High water downstream also carried debris and detritus of every description into Knox County via the French Broad River, which then deposited it along urban and regional lake and stream banks.

Removing this pulse of pollution and flotsam from the Tennessee River, already known as a conduit of microplastics, could take years or generations. You can start the process March 8 along multiple TVA lakes in the area. We all live downstream.

Here’s the release from Ijams Nature Center, one of the main sponsors of the annual event:

Volunteer and make your community a cleaner, healthier place to live, work and play during the 36^th annual Ijams River Rescue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8. A severe weather date is set for Saturday, March 15.

Ijams Nature Center’s annual cleanup event brings together hundreds of individuals, families, Scout troops, businesses and church groups to remove tons of trash and tires from sites along the Tennessee River, creeks and streams. Sites are typically located in Knox, Anderson and Blount counties. 

The limestone cliffs and bluffs of Ijams Nature Center are home to the Berry Cave salamander. The cave is very hard to find, is gated, and entry is forbidden to protect both the salamander and bat populations.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Lawsuit prompts federal agency to reconsider protections for rare East Tennessee salamander

KNOXVILLE — The Southern Environmental Law Center, which championed the conservation of a salamander found only in a series of caves within the Knoxville Metropolitan Area, announced Jan. 16 that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to reconsider inclusion of the Berry Cave salamander on the Endangered Species List.

The release from SELC follows; the original story published in July 2024 continues below.

“The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requires the agency to reconsider listing the Berry Cave salamander—a rare salamander that is only found in a handful of East Tennessee caves—as an endangered species.

The already rare salamanders are under immense pressure from sprawling development in the region, and even the largest observed populations of the Berry Cave salamander are quickly declining. Survey results indicate that a population found in Knoxville’s Meads Quarry Cave—historically one of the salamander’s relative strongholds—fell by 65 percent between 2004 and 2019.

Thursday’s agreement comes eight months after the conservation groups sued the Service, arguing that the agency violated federal law when it denied Endangered Species Act protections for the Berry Cave salamander in 2019. The surprising denial came at a time when the agency’s regional leadership had directed staff to implement a quota system that set annual targets for denying species protections—a system that may have inappropriately influenced the Berry Cave salamander decision. 

The agreement requires the agency to reevaluate the Berry Cave salamander’s status and determine by August 2029 whether it should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“This agreement is an important step toward securing long-overdue protections for the Berry Cave salamander and correcting a harmful mistake from the Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Liz Rasheed, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We hope the agency will follow the science — as required by law — and give these one-of-a-kind salamanders the protections they need to have a shot at survival.”