After the federal government shutdown cut staffing and services at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, local governments and nonprofits in the region stepped up to foot the bill and keep the park open during the peak fall season.

As East Tennessee recovers after Hurricane Helene, farmers find their land has changed in unexpected ways. University of Tennessee soil scientists are testing the ground to create future plans.

Grassroots activism is on the rise in Scott County, where a new landfill could have devastating effects on the environment. Despite strong community opposition, some state legislators say they don’t want to get involved.

The Johnson County Commission failed to opt into Tennessee’s “County Powers Act,” which would have given them the authority to restrict development of crypto mines and data centers.

After radioactive leaks in the 1970s, the American Nuclear Corporation abandoned its Clinton, TN site. It sat empty for decades until the EPA stepped in. Cleanup is now complete.

For weeks, citizens of Scott County, Tennessee and McCreary County, Kentucky have been organizing to resist development of a 700-acre landfill in Oneida. Now, at least two lawyers have been retained in the fight.

The tech industry is increasingly eyeing rural communities to warehouse servers for cryptocurrency mining and data storage. In Mountain City, locals banded together to push back.

In Tennessee, biologists are advocating for the restoration of thousands of acres of native grasslands on the Cumberland Plateau and beyond. Some warn that time is running out.

With concerns over environmental damage and toxic runoff, communities in Tennessee and Kentucky are weighing legal action to halt landfill plans.

A nitric acid plant in a rural corner of Greene County has leaked chemicals into the air and water several times in the last decade. Now US Nitrogen is under investigation by a federal watchdog.