Cougar: Ghost of Appalachia

The Eastern cougar was declared extinct in 2011 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But that doesn’t keep other species of mountain lions from passing through the region, leaving behind blurry pictures and occasional eerie screams in the forest.

Read More

Sumac: A Winter Spice

The bright red berries of the sumac plant add color to the winter landscape. While poison sumac has earned a bad reputation, other varieties of the plant have a long and multicultural history of use, including as a spice and as a dye or tanning agent.

Read More

The Coyote Conundrum

Coyote populations in the Appalachian region are growing, and increasingly they are adapting to urban settings. As a result, interactions with humans are becoming more common.

Read More

Elk Make Slow Return to Appalachia

When European colonists arrived in the 1400s, Eastern elk were the most widespread hooved animal on the continent, but the subspecies was declared extinct by 1880. Today, however, another type of elk are slowly returning to Appalachia.

Read More