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The flooded Oconaluftee River at Great Smoky Mountains National Park 9-27-24. NPS photo.

Who could have predicted that Hurricane Helene would carry her fury from the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Florida hundreds of miles north into Appalachia? While there were forecasts calling for the hurricane to be downgraded to a tropical storm and drop quite a bit of rain in the region, the extent of damage in western North Carolina has been breathtaking.

Jacqueline Harp had her hands full when she took over as CEO of Smokies Life, a nonprofit organization that works with the National Park Service to develop educational and interpretive materials for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She had barely settled into that job when Helene reached North Carolina.

We’ve invited Jacki to join us today both to learn how recovery efforts are going in the national park, and to discuss her new role and ambitions with Smokies Life.

0:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
0:12 Episode Intro with Kurt Repanshek
0:53 Whispering Winds - Grant Geissman - Sounds of the Caribbean
1:10 Smokies Life
1:33 Friends of Acadia
2:00 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
2:22 NPT Promo
2:39 Episode 295 - The Aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene
38:01 Blue Mist - Randy Petersen - The Sounds of Shenahdoah
39:01 Episode Closing
39:30 Orange Tree Productions
40:03 Splitbeard Productions
40:14 National Parks Traveler footer

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There are sounds that wake you up out of a deep sleep, only to be dismissed as you fall back to sleep. And then there are sounds that rivet you, make you sit bolt upright.

That was the type of sound that woke us while we were deep in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Sunrise hadn’t yet come, yet we were wide awake, listening to one of the most mesmerizing sounds you can encounter in the wilds: The melodious rising and falling howl of a wolf.

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