//Outdoor Updates: National Park sign vandalized, Assassin bug, Fat Bears, and more

Outdoor Updates: National Park sign vandalized, Assassin bug, Fat Bears, and more

Great Smoky Mountain National Park sign vandalized with racist message, real bear skin

Officials at Great Smoky Mountain National Park are asking the public for help identifying the person responsible for vandalizing the Foothills Parkway West Entrance sign to the park, near the highway intersection in Walland, Tenn. 

Park visitors reported seeing a real black bear skin hanging from the sign Saturday morning along with a  piece of cardboard scrawled with the words “from here to the lake black lives don’t matter.” Officials say the incident occurred sometime between September 18 and 19. They are offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Falls Creek Falls inducted into Old Growth Forest Network

Falls Creek Falls State Natural Area in Tennessee has been inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network, a national network designed to protect native and publicly accessible mature forests, News Channel