Black bear with head stuck in plastic jar rescued after roaming three weeks

NEWPORT - A black bear which had a large plastic jar stuck on its head for three weeks was finally freed. The bear had been roaming around Cocke County in indescribable discomfort. clearpxl

Authorities’ first learned of the bear’s predicament on June 28 when the bear was spotted by a worker at the Newport Utilities water plant.

It is believed it got stuck while foraging for food in the garbage.

Bear with plastic jar stuck on head. Over the next week and a half there were numerous reports of a black bear wandering around the foothills of the Smokies with what some described as wearing a space helmet on its head. Eventually a large plastic jar stuck over its head was removed and the bear has been released in the Cherokee National Forest 85 pounds lighter but otherwise unharmed.

The male bear's predicament was first reported June 28 when an employee of Newport Utilities spotted the bear near the Newport water plant. Wildlife officials believe the bear's head got stuck in the large plastic jar while it was foraging in garbage.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency responded the next day but could not locate the animal. Almost one week later, on July 4, wildlife officers responded to reports that the bear was back in the same area, but again the bear disappeared.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer Shelley Hammonds had been trying to track the animal and realized this meant that it must have traveled over a very steep part of English Mountain or went completely around it.

In a Chattanoogan report Hammonds said, “I was utterly amazed that it had crossed the mountain and was still alive. Its will to live gave me a lot of encouragement and made me determined to help save it.”

She eventually used a tranquilizer gun and shot the animal with a dart rendering it unconscious. She and other first responders treated the adult male animal that was described as being in “emaciated condition.”

Hammonds said, “On every level he was in a deficit. For three weeks he had not eaten, had been breathing his own breath, and the only way he must have been able to drink was by lowering his head under water and filling up the jug.”

Luckily, the bear made a full recovery and was transported to the Cherokee National Forest and released.

Contract awarded to continue construction of Foothills Parkway's "Missing Link"

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK - A $33.8 million contract to continue construction on the “Missing Link” of the Foothills Parkway has been awarded. The Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (FHWA) made the award to Lane Construction Company of Charlotte, NC to design and build a substantial portion of the uncompleted section of the Foothills Parkway between Walland, TN and Wears Valley, TN.

The contract is for the construction of approximately one-half mile of the Parkway, including three bridges, two that will extend eastward from the Walland end, and the third to run west from the Wears Valley end. Park officials have dubbed this recent project “The Multiple Bridges Project”. Under terms of the contract, Lane Construction has until October 25, 2015 – five years - to complete the project, beginning with the preparation of detailed plans and specifications for approval by the Federal Highway Administration and continuing through construction.

Funding for the project came from a variety of funding programs administered by the National Park Service and the FHWA, including $7.7 million that was made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

Work is already underway on a $24.7 million, ARRA-funded, project to design and construct an 800 foot-long bridge which will extend west from the Wears Valley end. The current project is expected to be completed in November 2011, so that work under this latest contract can begin where it leaves off.

“The completion of these contracts will be a huge step toward meeting our goal of having this Walland to Wears Valley segment of the parkway completed in time for the National Park Service’s Centennial in 2016,” said Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent, Dale A. Ditmanson.

Currently, this 16.1 mile segment of the parkway is made up of two partially-completed portions, one extending east from Walland, and the other extending west from Wears Valley. With the latest contract, work is now partially-completed or under contract for approximately 15.77 miles of the 16.1 miles of this section. The NPS and FHWA are still seeking the funding to award a contract, or contracts, to construct the remaining .33 miles, including the last two bridges, and to pave and finish the entire 16.1 miles so that it can be opened to traffic.

The Wears Valley section is currently closed to all public access while the construction of the 800 foot bridge is underway. Park officials closed the Walland section to all public access in Dec. 2010 when work on the Multiple Bridges Project began.

The Foothills Parkway is a scenic parkway congressionally authorized in 1944. The parkway corridor is 72 miles long, but to date, only two discontinuous segments totaling 22.5 miles are completed and open. Administered by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Parkway parallels the Park’s northern boundary from Chilhowee Lake, TN to Interstate 40 near Cosby, TN.