Sponsored by the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation and Friends of Steele Creek Nature Center & Park, this milestone event will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct.13, with a welcome reception and lecture titled “Creatures of the Night” by Chris Ogle.
Chris is a native son of Sevier County. He works as a Nongame/Endangered Species Biologist for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) in Region IV which covers the 21 eastern counties. Chris’ job is to inventory nongame wildlife on the agency’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and provide technical assistance to private landowners for issues concerning nongame species. He specializes in rare, threatened, and endangered species. Chris holds a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a M.S. from East Tennessee State University where he conducted a project on tiger salamanders in East Tennessee. He is also heavily involved in the local community. Chris teaches Hunter’s Education throughout Sevier County. He attends and works with many ministries at Richardson’s Cove Baptist Church. Chris is the Scoutmaster for Scout Troop 211 in Gatlinburg, and he is the Regional Commissioner, a coach, and a referee for AYSO Region 440 in Sevierville.
