Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories from this past semester in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots.
Continue reading “Rising Rock Radio Showcase”Category: Chattanooga Audubon Society
Written by Alexis McMurtry
At the end of a rugged, unpaved mountain road in Trenton, Georgia, John Stokes and Dale Kernahan’s home stands as a sanctuary surrounded by the wild beauty they work to protect. Outside, hand-built enclosures house majestic birds of prey, while bird feeders invite a chorus of smaller birds. Here, nature is more than a backdrop – it’s the heartbeat of their lives.
Wings to Soar, a nonprofit organization founded by the duo 11 years ago, serves as a sanctuary for birds of prey that can no longer survive in the wild alone. These raptors – many of whom are injured or have imprinted on humans – are given to them by various wildlife veterinarians and rehabilitation facilitators. This organization also focuses on education by offering programs that help the public understand the vital role these birds play in maintaining the balance of nature.
Continue reading “Healing Wings”Written by Bethany Cothran
(Photo by Bethany Cothran)
In a cold hospital room, Scarlen Valderaz gave birth to her first child in a room full of strangers, enduring the pain of childbirth while tackling every question thrown her way.
Finally seeing her baby boy, she was ecstatic, but she knew that she did not want to have another baby in a hospital.
“We actually didn’t know until my husband and I talked about our first born again that they kept offering me an epidural, and I had to say no because I didn’t want that,” Valderaz said. “…the last thing that you want to do when you’re pushing an entire baby out is having to make good decisions that are going to affect you.”
A couple years went by and Valderaz discovered she was pregnant once again, and this time, things would be different.
Valderaz and her husband researched and interviewed midwife after midwife, not stopping until they found the one they trusted best to deliver their baby.
Trading the cold hospital full of strangers and illnesses for the warmth and comfort of her own home, Valderaz could relax and give herself the space she needed to do what she felt would be best for her and the baby.
“We go with homebirth because now there’s so much that happens in the medical system, especially when it comes to the lady through it,” Valderaz said. “There is a lot of autonomy that gets stripped away from the woman when she’s birthing.”
For Valderaz, there would be no race to the hospital for an on-call OB to deliver the child, she would instead be in the safety of her bedroom surrounded by her husband and trusted midwife. Rather than staring at the foreign furniture of a delivery room for hours with her baby wheeled away to the nursery soon after, she would look to her familiar bedroom walls and know that her baby would always be close to her.
Continue reading “Homegrown Miracles”Written by Maleah Holder
“All aboard!” Benny Braden, founder and former president of Responsible Stewardship tied his trash bags and tossed them on his jon boat as his volunteers shuffled back through the woods. The shoreline of Watts Bar Lake, previously covered in loose trash, old tires, and tangled fishing line, was near spotless after Braden and his team took on the challenge of collecting the debris.
Responsible Stewardship is a non-profit organization that works with a volunteer base to remove trash from outdoor recreation spaces such as Watts Bar Lake to keep the space clean and family-friendly. Braden started his organization in August of 2022 working to clean up illegal dump sites and move them to landfills while recycling what he can.
“That is something we are striving for in the next couple years to…recycle everything. We typically like to do zero added waste cleanups which means we use the barley bags and reusable gloves,” says Braden.
In just over a year of action, volunteers turned into ambassadors leading their own teams all over the country collecting trash and weighing it to report back to Braden. Recently, a new ambassador in Taiwan took it upon herself to collect trash overseas after being inspired by his work in the U.S. and has so far collected over 1,000 pounds by herself.
Continue reading “Responsible Recreation”Written by Maleah Holder
As the sun peaks over the horizon, lighting the waters of Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, thousands of trumpeting birds flock to the sky. Standing at just over three feet tall, the loud Sandhill cranes were a species once locally extinct east of the Mississippi River before making a victorious comeback.
These unique red-headed cranes take up residence at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Birchwood, Tennessee during the months of November through February for winter migration to feast on corn, wheat, and legumes planted by rangers along the river.
The Sandhill cranes, though far from the only species to winter at the refuge, make up the majority of the avian population that roost along the waters of the Hiwassee River and have steadily grown in number in the nearly thirty years they have migrated there.
Their unique appearance and success story have inspired a tight knit community. Locals from surrounding counties and an even larger population of photographers, birdwatchers, and storytellers alike are drawn in from across the nation for a chance to watch the cranes perform their sunrise spectacle.
Continue reading “Chasing Cranes”Adrienne Long, a Chattanooga resident, raises $1,105 while hugging a walnut tree for 10 hours.
Story by: DeWayne Bingham, Haili Jackson, Nessa Parrish, and Sierra Wolfenbarger
How to raise over 1,000 dollars by hugging a tree?
Chattanooga resident Adrienne Long broke the Guiness World Record on September 19th for the longest consecutive tree hug and raised $1,105 for the Chattanooga Audubon Society. Adrienne said it was a New Year’s resolution and a way to honor her mother’s strength. The event took place at Heritage Park from 8 a.m to 6 p.m., where Adrienne wrapped her arms around a black walnut tree for 10 hours and 5 minutes, breaking the previous record of 8 hours and 15 minutes.
The Chattanooga Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization that helps preserve and protect various sanctuaries around Chattanooga. Long said the nonprofit had been “hit hard” without donations and volunteers because of COVID-19. Long said that when she mentioned the world record to Sarah Medley, friend and owner of the all natural Chattanooga salon Studio 59, Medley suggested turning it into a fundraiser to benefit the Chattanooga Audubon Society.
Adrienne said tree hugging was a way to honor her mother because they were always outside and active together. Long’s final message to everyone was to “get outside and enjoy Chattanooga,” because that was something she and her mother loved doing together. Following the event, Adrienne said, “I feel grateful because it was a goal of mine that many people helped me achieve. I feel equally happy because it was something I wanted to do in a small way for my mom, and I think she would be happy.”
Adrienne has plans to break her own record in the future.
