REGISTRATION FOR THE 2023 COURSE OPENS MONDAY, JANUARY 9 AT 8PM
NOTE: Long Hunter State Park’s TNP chapter was formerly known as and located at Cedars of Lebanon State Park from 2015 through 2022.

Since 2014 Ijams Nature Center has offered the Tennessee Naturalist Program core course, and we are happy to announce that registration for the 2023 season of TNP will soon! Classes begin on February, 18th 2023 and meet every month through November. Ijams can’t wait to host another successful season of TNP!

South Cumberland State Park is located within four different Tennessee counties: Grundy, Franklin, Marion and Sequatchie. The park is composed of approximately 30,845 acres in nine separate areas and boasts some of the best hiking and backcountry camping in the region.

The Paris Landing/TNWR Chapter, created through a partnership between Paris Landing State Park and the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, joined our program in January of 2020. Paris Landing State Park is an 841 acre park located on the western shore of the Tennessee River, which is dammed to form Kentucky Lake (160,000 acres). Adjacent to the Park, the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 51,000 acres stretched along 65 miles of the Tennessee River. Established in 1945, the refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was created as a conservation area for migratory birds especially wintering waterfowl.

Discovery Park of America is a 100,000-square-foot museum sitting on a 50-acre heritage park. The nearby Reelfoot Lake is a unique ecosystem that is incomparable to any other found in Tennessee. I

Audubon Acres is a beautiful sanctuary that serves as the headquarters of the Chattanooga Audubon Society and features a Visitor’s Center, gift shop, multiple exhibits, including and a timeline museum tracing the human habitation of the property and the Avian Jewels Egg Collection.

Learn about waterfowl biology, and wetland ecology in this exciting new TN2 course! Students will have 2 hours of classroom time followed by a trip to the heart of the Duck River Bottoms wetland area for a look at wetland habitat, management for waterfowl, waterfowl identification and their conservation needs.

Join Casper Cox, writer and designer of Snorkeling the Hidden Rivers of the Southern Appalachians, on a snorkeling adventure at Big Swan Creek. No experience required!

Let’s “Mussel Up” to the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge for this TNP Continuing Education course teaming the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to provide instruction on the life, ecology and conservation efforts of these amazing aquatic species.

Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary is a 300-acre wildlife sanctuary in northwestern Williamson County, Tennessee. Fossil traces in Ordovician limestone and 300-year-old giant trees, vestiges of the great eastern deciduous forest that once covered Tennessee, are important collections on the site, as are pioneer trees and seasonal wildflowers. The ponds and wetlands provide valuable amphibian habitat, home to more than a dozen species. 125 species of birds have been recorded on site through population surveys performed by the National Audubon Society. Nearly all mammals native to Middle Tennessee are in residence at Owl’s Hill.