Written by Delaney Holman

Deep in the Appalachian foothills, and along the Tennessee River, lies America’s only National Park City (NPC). A historically significant city tucked in the Tennessee Valley, home to over 100 parks and a community uniquely invested in outdoor culture, helped make Chattanooga, Tennessee, the third NPC in the world. Chattanooga earned the NPC title on April 3, 2025, just 55 years after being named the dirtiest city in the United States. 

In 2019, Dan Raven-Ellison founded the NPC movement by establishing London as the first city to adopt the vision of building a new collective understanding of what a city is and who it is for. The National Park City Foundation combines long-term and large-scale versions of National Parks within cities. 

“That’s the whole idea behind the NPC campaign – locals working hard to protect, cherish, enjoy, and celebrate nature all around,” said Scott Martin, Chattanooga’s former administrator for the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors. 

Martin saw the vision of Chattanooga as an NPC in late 2021 because of the town’s outdoor culture. “We should go work on all levels to preserve it and see about being a national model of how great work is done by locals who love their home places,” said Martin.

Chattanooga, once named the dirtiest city in America by Walter Cronkite, has completely changed. This transformation was not spontaneous; it was intentional, driven by local community effort. This same effort made Chattanooga an NPC. 

In late 2023, Brian Smith, the project leader and Communications and Marketing Director of Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors, welcomed the community into the Outdoor Chattanooga center to ask the question “What if?” Locals wrote their ideas for “What if Chattanooga became a National Park City?” on post-it notes, which covered the walls, allowing the concept of Chattanooga as an NPC to take shape for the first time. 

“What if we help clean our rivers better? What if we maintain our trails better and open them up more? What if we got kids involved?”

“We started looking at those items and those thoughts that people had, and we realized that about 70-80% of those things that they were saying and putting post-it notes on, we were already doing,” said Smith. The Chattanooga community comprises 27,544 people employed in over 3,389 organizations and non-profits.

“So we utilized what the community was suggesting, went to our nonprofits, said, ‘Are y’all doing all this?’ They said, yes,” said Smith. Smith organized these same nonprofits and organizations into Chattanooga’s NPC charter to continue building the city through the hands of locals. 

“I didn’t want to start a big, massive nonprofit (…). No, I want to bring together the people that are already doing the work,” said Smith. The Chattanooga charter outlines the city’s seven core commitments, unique to the town, which still align with the grand vision of NPC’s. 

A journey book for each city must also be prepared, along with the city’s commitments when applying to become an NPC. 

“That was a challenge, they told me, we need a book to put on the coffee table. And I said, ‘Well, our book doesn’t have an end. It’s impossible. We’re not done,” said Smith. Nonetheless, the digital journey book was built, detailing Chattanooga’s timeline of transformation: from Chattanooga’s ice-age beginnings to its turbulent past of removing native people, Civil War battles, the birth of a newspaper that preceded the New York Times, mass industrialization that caused thick smog, to its present status as a National Park City. 

“As ice began to thaw, life expanded outward. What was surviving began to flourish. This is the spirit of the park, long before parks existed,” reads the journey book. 

“This is Chattanooga,” said Smith as he paraded the NPC Foundation members through Chattanooga after the submission of the journey book. The foundation granted Chattanooga the NPC title just days after visiting just 23 locations in the city: Stringers Ridge, the bouldering fields at the bottom of Lookout Mountain, Reflection Riding to witness the rescued red wolves, the Chattanooga Zoo to see rescued salamanders, and South Chickamauga Creek to see the rapids in the center of Chattanooga. 

“There is no better city in the nation to be the first North American National Park City than Chattanooga. Its biodiversity is off the charts (…), and the outdoors, as part of everyone’s lifestyle, is unmatched. And, it has the spunk enough to say, ‘Bigger isn’t better, better is better,’” said Martin. 

Each NPC is unique from the others. Adelaide connects people to nature within the city. London focuses on making the city greener. Breda hopes to transform into a city within a natural park.

“When you go to a national park, you are challenged to leave no trace (…) In a national park city, you are challenged to do something. You are challenged to be involved. You are challenged to join the forces and make a change,” said Smith. “We want people to be involved here.” 

Chattanooga stands out because its efforts to become a National Park City were community-based. The locals who made up the organization in the charters, the residents who asked “what if,” the citizens who took a stake in cleaning the dirtiest city in America to make it the first NPC, and the neighbors who use Chattanooga’s outdoor spaces have led the charge for a greater Chattanooga. 

“Chattanooga has it all,” said Smith. The city may not have the biggest mountains, the longest trails, or the fastest water, but it has it all, and a community to care for it.

 “We’re also just some town in Southeast Tennessee,” said Smith, “You would think these awards would go out in San Francisco and all that. No, dang it. Chattanooga is it.”

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Ansley Barry

Warm sunlight breaks through the tree canopy at Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Reflection Riding, glistening off the surface of Lookout Creek with a gentle fog rising in the early autumn morning. As community members gather along the banks for the city’s annual River Rescue, a group of local high school students help them settle into their canoes before sending them off to spend the day clearing the river of its trash. These students are a part of the city’s initiative to involve its youth in environmental conservation efforts.

Dedicating to making nature accessible to everyone, Reflection Riding is an organization that has taken steps to educate its local youth through the creation of their Native Landscape Management Apprenticeship program. Through this, students at The Howard School, a historically underserved high school located in the city with a minority enrollment of 99% (Institute of Education Sciences, 2025). They have the opportunity to learn conservation techniques through land restoration.

Not only does this program prioritize the preservation of Chattanooga’s natural environment, but it is making an active effort to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to be involved. Historically, the environmental activist movement in the US has been primarily spearheaded by white, middle-class citizens while minority and low-income communities have often been left out of the conversation (USDA, 2002). 

Lead Naturalist and Summercamp Co-Manager at Reflection Riding, Ailani Ramirez-Pineda, helps lead the apprentices in navigating the outdoor world, which may be unfamiliar to them. 

The original intent of the apprenticeship was to “diversify the conservation pipeline in getting more people of color into conservation work,” according to Ramirez-Pineda. “With The Howard School, they have a large population of Black and Latinx students who live in very urban neighborhoods. They don’t have a lot of trees. Sometimes the parks aren’t well-kept. Sometimes they’re not safe, so they don’t necessarily have access to the outdoors. And even if they did, I don’t know that they would feel comfortable exploring it by themselves. One of the big things when asking for grant money was getting these students out to Reflection Riding, so they can see that there are spaces that are safe for them and where they are welcome.”

The program began as a result of grant funding received by the United Way to bring local high school students to the Reflection Riding campus on field trips with their environmental science classes. These field trips provide hands-on learning for the students, allowing them to view what they’re studying in the classroom in the real-world.

“Sometimes they have students that are not as engaged in certain parts of their class, but when they get here and are doing the hands-on thing, they really blossom and even become leaders for other students,” said Ramirez-Pineda. 

It is on these field trips that students are often informed of the apprenticeship and encouraged to apply. For many of them, this is their first time exploring the beautiful mountains that surround their city, and they feel inspired to delve even further. 

Sixteen-year-old Blandy Chilel Lopez has been working as an apprentice since the beginning of the program in January 2023.  

“I hope to spread the word about landscape management. Since working here, I’ve found out how much damage it really does when people litter and grow plants that look pretty but are not supposed to be there,” said Chilel Lopez. 

The program is making a difference in the lives of students far beyond equipping them with a knowledge of the natural world.  

“We have seen a growth in confidence. A lot of them are super shy. We also get updates from their teachers, and they definitely see an increase in engagement, and in participation, and in helping others,” said Ramirez-Pineda. 

For eighteen-year-old apprentice Jahore Vann, this rings true. “Working at the Reflection Riding apprenticeship has impacted my life in multiple ways. Before I started working here, I used to have really bad social anxiety. I didn’t like talking to anyone no matter what. Now, I’m not afraid to talk to people,” said Vann. 

While the apprentices’ curriculum is growing, their daily tasks consist of removing invasive species, restoring natural landscapes, taking care of young plants in the nursery, and harnessing other outdoor skills. Alongside participating in community events, the students have recently begun connecting with various organizations across the city, like the City of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Aquarium, to broaden their educational experience. 

Reflection Riding has taken the steps to educate their local students. Ramirez-Pineda said that her hope is they “will gain a sense of confidence in themselves and grow a love for conservation, even if it’s decided it’s not the career path they necessarily want to take. I hope they take the love and share it with others… I also want them to feel a sense of ownership in the projects they’re working on and become future stewards of nature.”

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Ella Sole

Walking along the shoreline, a small plastic straw reflects the sun’s rays and catches a child’s eye, sparking a life dedicated to making a change in the man-made, polluted environment. At the age of 7, this is precisely what happened to Cash Daniels.

“Before that, I had always loved getting out on the river: fishing, kayaking, swimming, things like that. When I found that plastic straw, I knew it would harm the animals in the environment that I loved, so I knew I had to do something to help defend it,” said Daniels. “Due to that, I have been able to remove 46,000 pounds of trash from the river so far.”

Plastic waste is ever-present on the banks of the Tennessee River and Chattanooga Creek, harming aesthetics and the biodiverse habitats. With these waterways so close to Daniels’ home, he felt a personal responsibility to do something to help sustain and improve them. Daniels, now a 16-year-old Chattanooga, Tennessee native, has shown his passion for cleaning up the environment around him by constructing and placing fishing line recycling bins in six states.

He began by making an impact in his local community, enlisting the help of his family and friends to guide him on this journey to make a difference.

“I started doing regular old cleanups with my family, just going out and picking up trash,” Daniels said. “I got support from my church, Trail Life, and several other groups. And, my entire family is also very supportive.”

Getting the community together to come out and help was no easy task. Daniels and his family diligently organized cleanups, providing everything that the volunteers needed to succeed in the remediation efforts.

“Preparation for a cleanup is just me and my family finding a spot, and figuring out parking, getting buckets, trying to get people out, and making sure we have everything like buckets, bags, grabbers, gloves, things like that,” Daniels said.

Daniels began building his support through social media, using the nickname “The Conservation Kid,” to create and spread his mission across different platforms. 

“I started posting it on Instagram and Facebook,” Daniels said. “I went on several news stations and newspapers, and then it just started getting bigger and bigger.”

Being close to the Tennessee River, Daniels had easy access to a high-pollution area, mainly because of its location near downtown. Due to Chattanooga’s growing tourist population and traffic along the river, the city’s waterways have been indirectly affected by plastic waste, polluting the water and harming the vegetation and animals that inhabit them. 

“The Tennessee River in particular is one of the most polluted rivers with microplastics than any other river recorded in the entire world, and that’s just in my backyard,” Daniels said. “So it being there, and me knowing that I can do something about it, is really what got me involved, is knowing that I can make a difference.”

Frequent cleanups along the Tennessee River and similar bodies of water help remove harmful macro- and microplastics, preventing further contamination and environmental harm.

“Most trash is definitely in high traffic areas like parks, state parks, boat ramps, places like that,” Daniels said.

Daniels receives funding grants from organizations such as National Geographic’s Slingshot Challenge and Cox Enterprises. These grants enable cleanup projects, as Daniels maintains personal motivation from visiting schools to partake in monthly cleanups

“I’d say one way is just seeing the difference that I’ve made, whether that be all the trash that I’ve picked up, the animals that I saved, and also just seeing other kids get involved. I have had the pleasure of meeting several other youth who are in conservation,” said Daniels. 

Daniels continues to see the impact he has on his peers, fueling the energy and positivity around environmental efforts and activism within the youth. Reaching youth through his own community and his outside connections has been one of his primary missions.

“The biggest reward from my work is definitely meeting new people and going to new places,” Daniels said. “Also, just seeing kids that I go and give talks to get pumped up for conservation. It warms my heart to see other kids wanting to get involved.”

Even with increased environmental awareness in the 21st century, marine macroplastics persist in littering Chattanooga’s waterways. However, Cash Daniels and the next generation continue to create new efforts to clean up the local environment, reaching out to the community and using their voices to highlight the significance of preserving the aquatic biodiversity in Chattanooga and all around the world.

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Zoie Denton

 For 27 years, Crabtree has been more than just soil and crops; it emerges like a hidden oasis of green tucked quietly within a neighborhood, just amongst the hum of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The farm has been a place where neighbors gather, hands dig into the earth, and the community learns together the rhythms of farming. Crabtree’s commitment to sustainable agriculture is matched only by the way it nurtures curiosity, connection, and a sense of belonging for everyone who steps through their fields.

Spanning 22 acres, the farm stretches out like a patchwork quilt of green and soil, with about half its land neatly fenced for growing rows of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. At the center of it all is Corey Hagan, the Director of Farm Programs, who helps oversee everything. The land is in the middle of the Clifton Hills neighborhood, and this is intentional, proving just how close the property can be for its people and helping blur the boundaries between “urban” and “rural” farming.

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit status of Crabtree Farms allows the organization to receive the grants, donations, public funds, and upkeep needed to combine community and educational programs. There are currently 30 active gardening beds with plans to add eight more. The workers supply everything each gardener needs: soil, compost, starter plants, and tools to help maintain them. 

Hagan stated, “The garden beds are for the people to come out and produce for their families.” These beds help families focus on planting and harvesting with the guidance of staff and volunteers.

While the community garden beds are ideal for personal growing, Crabtree also runs an Emerging Farmers Program to train people in farming on a larger plot. This offers more hands-on experience on real land, without the financial risks and burdens of purchasing and running one’s own farm. Hagan said that this idea is to “allow them to farm without the risks of owning their own farm.” 

Crabtree Farms’ mission is evident through programs, activities, and teaching agricultural skills. The farm’s educational effort extends through providing hands-on nature and farm-based learning for children and homeschool students through a partnership with Nature Kin Farm and Forest School. 

“It is an opportunity for these kids to be able to come out and learn what it’s like to work in nature,” said Hagan. Through this collaboration, the kids not only learn about plants and soil but also about the ecology of nature. 

Operating in an urban setting, Crabtree offers a connection between people and their food. Providing green spaces, farmland, and education within walking distance of neighboring homes. 

Over the past 27 years, the farm has become a hub for locals while giving back to the community. Crabtree donates plants, supports local food access, and opens its gates to locals who may lack access to fresh produce.

By lowering barriers to farming skills, Crabtree’s Emerging Farmers Program empowers more people to see themselves as producers, nurturing new growers who help seed local food resilience and enterprise.

It’s easy to walk past Crabtree, but once you step into the fields and gardens, the farm’s purpose comes alive. Every bed of soil, every shared tool, and every mentoring moment is designed to help people grow food for their families and themselves. For the locals, Crabtree is more than land, it is a place of learning, connection, and care.

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Zoie Denton

On the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, nestled in the mountains and valleys, lies 80 acres of rolling green pastures and bustling farm life. Quail Run Farm, one of Lookout Valley’s most well-known farms, is a living example of regenerative agriculture. Bought in October of 2022 by Joe and Rachel Riley, Quail Run has turned this beautiful countryside from a quiet homestead to a community-driven ecosystem of animals and hospitality. 

“There weren’t any animals here at the beginning,” said Melissa Shepherd, Head of Operations. The land has transformed into a vibrant working community. It offers pasture-raised meats, locally grown produce, and honey—all cultivated with sustainable, regenerative practices.

Shepherd is originally from Yorkshire, England, and joined Quail Run through a program called Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) while traveling through the US. 

Since then, the farm has expanded significantly. “We now have cattle, pigs, laying hens, meat birds, turkeys, chickens, ducks, beehives, and roses here on the farm,” Shepherd stated.

The farm is alive with movement, and every animal living on the land plays a role in its health. Quail Run isn’t just about its food, but also about how to work in harmony with the environment. “It’s a very symbiotic system that we’re trying to run here,” Shepherd said. 

The farm operates under regenerative principles, which means every part of their operations gives back to the environment. For example, cattle are rotated across different pastures for grazing, naturally fertilizing the land and promoting healthier grass growth. The same goes for chickens and turkeys, which dig and scratch at the soil. Pigs are forest-raised and help tear up forest floors where they forage for food.

Quail Run wouldn’t be in operation without the help of volunteers and the staff. Over the last two years, more than 40 volunteers have stayed on the property, contributing their time and efforts to operating the farm. Today, they average about 10 regular volunteers who work alongside the main team.

“Farming is not a one-person job; it requires a team to get things done,” said Shepherd. 

The team includes Darren Flanagan, the farm manager who oversees day-to-day operations, and Alexandria Brooks, who manages the farm’s presence at the local farmer markets.

Joe Riley mostly focuses on the cattle, while his wife, Rachel, oversees the gardens and chickens. The whole team operates as a family, with a genuine connection between each and every member. Volunteers like Liam Flanagan, Adélaïde Koszul, and Claire de Jacquelin have become an essential part of the rhythm as well. All three rise at dawn each day, ready to feed animals, gather eggs, and lend a hand wherever it’s needed. 

“Even the staff has its own community,” said Shepherd. “We run more like a family than anything else.”

Helping people understand where their food comes from is another goal of Quail Run Farm, and transparency is everything. When customers buy a cut of beef from their stand at a local market, they are going to know exactly how the animal was raised before it hits their plate. This builds trust between the farm and the customer. 

 “We are very keen on educating the people about the kind of food they eat and how they get their meals. It’s a way of connecting consumers with farmers and bridging the gap between them,” Shepherd said. 

Aside from agriculture, Quail Run also shares the beauty of its land with its customers. The Riley’s have developed 11 different Airbnbs on the farm, drawing in guests from all over for a relaxing stay. 

With more Airbnbs in the works, Quail Run’s hospitality continues to grow. Dreams of open fire cooking sessions led by a local chef, and the hopes of a new educational program to be able to educate students on what it’s like to work on a farm, are just a few examples of the farm’s future aspirations.

Every acre of Quail Run tells a story, one rooted in the timeless rhythm of American land and the values that grow from it. What Joe and Rachel Riley have built is more than a farm; it’s a living cycle where the soil, animals, and people depend on one another. Where industrial agriculture dominates much of the regenerative space, the farm proves that health, sustainability, and community offer a better path forward. The land flourishes, and in turn, so does the community, sharing a testament to how harmony between nature and nurture can thrive on Tennessee soil.

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Sydney Banks

Out of seven species of sturgeon in North America, three call Tennessee home: the pallid, the shovelnose, and the Lake Sturgeon. Of these, the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) carries the most complicated history with the Southeast’s rivers, and perhaps, the most powerful lesson for the region’s future. 

By the 1960s, the Jurassic-era descendants, which can grow up to eight feet in length, weigh 300 pounds, and have a lifespan of 150 years, had nearly vanished from the Coosa, Tennessee, and Cumberland river systems.

“This occurred from three factors. Number one, there was a commercial fishery in the Tennessee River for sturgeon, and they would take them for their meat and caviar. Number two, water pollution was really bad in our big rivers. Waste treatment plants did not clean the water very well, and if they did, they used chlorine, which is very toxic to aquatic animals. And number three, TVA did not have any environmental standards below its dams,” said Dr. Bernie Kuhadja, an aquatic conservation biologist at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. 

But the 1990s marked a turning point before the Lake Sturgeon’s story could end. 

“​​What changed? Number one, Lake Sturgeon are state-listed throughout the Southeast as protected or endangered. Number two, in 1972, we enacted the Clean Water Act, which really cleaned up our big rivers. And number three, in the 1990s, TVA implemented dam improvement programs where they oxygenate the water that’s coming from the bottom of those reservoirs,” Kuhajda added. 

With protections in place, Tennessee’s waters were finally suitable for sturgeon. The state contacted the Wild Rose Hatchery in Wisconsin, which graciously donated 50,000 eggs. Together, TVA and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency stocked them above the Norris Reservoir, marking a brand new beginning for the species. 

Feeling the smooth, slimy skin and bumpy plates of Lake Sturgeon is an experience Tennessee Aquarium visitors know well. But the Aquarium’s relationship with the species extends far beyond display. In 1998, the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) joined the sturgeon’s stirring narrative with other partners in the Southeast Lake Sturgeon Working Group. In 2000, TNACI released the first batch of reared Lake Sturgeon. Since then, the program has worked to raise and return the species to its native rivers. 

In TNACI rearing tanks, small sucker-mouthed fish glide through the tanks like shooting stars, tilting their snouts to the water’s surface as beams of sunlight stream through high windows. For months, biologists and propagation staff have raised these baby Lake Sturgeon with meticulous care. 

“The staff works so hard from June to October,” Kuhajda said. “ I’m really excited for them because putting these sturgeon back in the river is the culmination of all that hard work.” 

On the bank of the Tennessee River on the morning of October 23rd, 2025, that culmination was nothing short of an abundance of joy as TNACI and the surrounding community celebrated the Tennessee Aquarium’s 25th anniversary Lake Sturgeon release. 

Before the big moment, Kuhajda crouched over a blue, plastic tank of fish and offered a few parting words to the species that he has dedicated much of his career to researching. “Alright, little buddies! You are my favorite fishes. I love sturgeon! You’ve been in great hands since June. You’re big and strong now, you guys are ready to go out on your own. So here are some rules: Avoid big catfish, eat a lot of little insects, grow up, find your true love, and have a bunch of babies. Okay, ready? Break!” 

Hixson High School students, teachers, and several wandering bystanders clustered beside reintroduction biologists, excited for their turn to release a baby sturgeon. Media cameras clicked, and choruses of laughter filled the air. Smiles were plastered across the faces of TNACI staff for hours as they assisted the public in guiding the fish into the current. 

“There’s no better way to be invested in a project or protecting the environment than actually getting to put your hands in the water,” said Kathlina Alford, a Hixson High School educator teaching environmental science. “I worked at the Aquarium for 12 years as a fisheries biologist, and I worked on this project. I’ve also talked about it in my classroom for years, and so it’s really fantastic to get to bring the kids to see things that they’ve heard about and get to experience them firsthand. That’s what makes science real and what makes people passionate about protecting what we have.” 

The excitement of release day captures what years of patience and effort have built. But releasing fish is only one step in a much longer journey. For biologists, evidence of independent reproduction is a waiting game.

“In a perfect world,” Kuhajda said, “we would slow down and eventually stop doing releases because the Lake Sturgeon would be reproducing on their own. But with this artificial river of many dam reservoirs, that may not happen. So in the future, we may really slow down in stocking and focus on headstarting local larvae. It might become homegrown sturgeon here in the Southeast. Time will tell.”

 Though the future of sturgeon reproduction is unclear, the undertaking of successful habitat restoration proves what’s possible through the intersection of science, policy, and the public. “Every community, every person, every operation, every construction of new buildings and new roads is potentially an impact on the Tennessee River. How did we all get together and improve the quality of the Tennessee River? It seems overwhelming, but we did it,” Kuhajda said. 

The return of the sturgeon to their home can’t be simply celebrated and forgotten. Their comeback story could be a blueprint for other endangered species, such as the Laurel Dace. 

“Everyone gets excited about a seven-foot, 100-year-old fish,” said Kuhajda. “Not everyone gets excited about a three-inch, three-year-old fish. There’s Western blacknose dace, there’s Tennessee dace, there’s a whole bunch of minnows all around. Why should I care about this one?” 

The difference lies in public impact. Coaxing the success of conservation efforts for any species is a combination of fascination and passion. “If the public does not have an awareness of all the cool stuff under the surface of the water, they’re not going to go to our state and federal politicians to help protect our unique things in Tennessee,” Kuhajda said. 

Restoration of a species takes time, awareness, and cooperation—qualities the effort for the laurel dace will need if the fish is to one day reclaim its streams. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and it is an uphill battle. And if I weren’t an eternal optimist, I would give it up long ago,” said Kuhajda. “But you can spark the imagination of anyone from four to 80 if you talk about all the cool natural stuff we have all around us in the correct way. Get rid of the scientific jargon and don’t talk with any politics. Be truly excited. That’s the best way to do outreach.”

The Lake Sturgeon’s return is an emblem of possibility. Connection, passion, and persistence ensured that a story of loss could be rewritten. With a bit of help from a large community, hope can be found for fish both big and small.

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Meet the Storytellers

Written by Addison Middleton

50 miles North of Chattanooga, a thumb-sized anomaly swims between the rocks and moss of the small streams on Walden Ridge. To the unknown eye, these fish, known as the Laurel Dace, could easily be overlooked or mistaken for any other small freshwater fish that is found in East Tennessee. The rarity of the fish doesn’t come only from their size and characteristics, but the extremely specific area they are found. Since their discovery in the 1950s, the Laurel Dace have only been found in one location in the world, Walden Ridge. 

The limited environment the Laurel Dace inhabit causes an extremely small population to begin with. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially listed the Laurel Dace as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). From first discovery, this species was found in only nine streams at Walden Ridge, but over the past 25 years, that number has shrunk drastically.  Over several decades, because of continued agriculture, dry seasons, and increased sedimentation, the Laurel Dace are now only seen having a healthy population in Bumbee Creek on Walden Ridge.

Once the fish were recognized as critically endangered, the Tennessee Aquarium and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) stepped in and began their preservation efforts. Over time, the TNACI continued to keep a close eye on the Laurel Dace by studying their environments and behaviors. Several rescues have been conducted where teams would go to Bumbee Creek and take several fish into their care for further monitoring and research. Through their ongoing observations in the wild, the TNACI was also able to take fast action to save the Laurel Dace when circumstances became drastic.

“Over the past 10 years, we have been very closely involved with Laurel Dace Conservation. We’ve done status surveys, habitat studies, and studied their behaviors. We’ve also brought them here into our care to try to understand how to spawn them, just in case the need ever arose. Unfortunately, last Fall in 2024, the need did arise,” said Dr. Anna George, the Vice President of Conservation and Education at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Dr. George serves as a leading member of the Laurel Dace conservation team and has been a part of the journey since the first rescue. During an extended drought in the summer of 2024, it was feared that the Laurel Dace could be moments away from full extinction without the help of human intervention. That July, the TNACI took action and travelled several times to the home of the species to begin an emergency relocation. Dr. George explained how, as the dry season continued, the conservation became more drastic.

“When I talk about the drought, we’re talking about a creek that’s normally free-flowing with water, and instead, there were just puddles. It was stagnant, algae-filled puddles, and honestly, we’re not sure how the Laurel Dace were even surviving given how bad the conditions were on the ground.” 

The emergency relocation became a life-saving success for the Laurel Dace. By September, the TNACI was confident that they had relocated every single Laurel Dace that they could catch into their care. The fish were kept in the TNACI facility until they could ensure the creeks would be an inhabitable and thriving environment for the fish again. 

At the end of September in 2024, Hurricane Helene swept through North Carolina and East Tennessee, causing an excess of rainfall, allowing for the creeks on Walden Ridge to fill once again. Although conditions were improving, the Laurel Dace were kept in the TNACI’s care over the Winter season to guarantee the creek’s condition would continue to stay steady and flowing. After consistent weather patterns, the decision was made to conduct the first Laurel Dace release in March of 2025.

“That was a really fun day. It’s always great when you get to release an endangered species, but particularly when you’ve been safeguarding them. We were out there with several partners two different weeks in a row,” Dr. George says. She explains that, “We chose the time we did because March is before the Spring spawning event happens, so we wanted the fish to have about a month in order to stabilize back in the river and get their bearings again before they had to start on repawning.”

Around 50 adult Laurel Dace are still kept at the TNACI facility for observations and have had notable success during the spawning season while in human care. Around 200 baby fish join the population after this spring’s spawning season, and another large release is planned for October of 2025. 

Although the Laurel Dace has seen immense improvement over the past year, conservation and awareness remain at the forefront of several minds. With recent surveys showing that population numbers continue to grow, TNACI seems hopeful for the future of these small but mighty fish. The Laurel Dace shows that although small in size and numbers, they share a big story about the importance of conservation and the role each of us can play in protecting the wildlife that lives in our own backyards, without sometimes even knowing it.

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Meet the Storytellers