• Approximately 1,500 black bears live in the national park.

    Great Smoky Mountains

    National Park NC,TN

Dispatches from the Field: Issue 4

NPS and USGS biologists collect Brook trout for DNA studies.

NPS fisheries biologist Matt Kulp hands off a Brook trout to USGS biologist John Switzer during a DNA collection.

NPS photo.

Resource Roundup: Highlights of scientific projects and findings for June-July, 2009

Meet the Managers: Fisheries Management & Water Quality Monitoring

Focus On… Water and what lives within

  • NPS Profile: The return of the native Brook trout
  • Partner Profile: University of Tennessee researchers take the pulse of Smoky Mountain streams
  • Links to… information about fisheries, further research, and volunteering opportunities
  • And for those in school… information about education & experience needed to become an expert in fisheries & water quality

Return to Dispatches from the Field issue index page.

Did You Know?

The park is named for the misty clouds that hang over the mountains.

The wispy, smoke-like fog that hangs over the Smoky Mountains comes from rain and evaporation from trees. On the high peaks of the Smokies, an average of 85 inches of rain falls each year, qualifying these upper elevation areas as temperate rain forests.