What stalks the Blue Ridge Parkway? Through a project funded by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation the National Park Service is trying to determine just that! Using heat and motion sensor cameras, park biologists and a cadre of citizen scientists are setting up “camera traps” at locations along the 470-mile route of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The cameras are mounted to trees and capture photos of animals as they walk in front of the camera.

Why is this study important? The Blue Ridge Parkway runs for nearly 470 miles and connects Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Blue Ridge Parkway extends almost 4 degrees in longitude and 2 ½ degrees in latitude, giving the Parkway the third longest geographic range in the National Park system. Further, with an annual visitation of over 15 million people it is one of the most visited units of the National Park Service in the country! The Parkway travels through the heart of the southern Appalachians– one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. As a result, the Parkway forms a unique transect from which to study biodiversity and the role and impact people have on the regions wildlife.