It's All in a Picture

Another throwback from my time managing the Appalachian Bear Center (present day ABR).



I sat in the board meeting just happy to be there.

There I was, sitting proudly in late-September, in a small meeting room in the outskirts of Knoxville amongst a group of dedicated individuals who had poured their heart and soul into this unknown facility called the Appalachian Bear Center. Calling it a facility at that point in time was probably a stretch considering what most people think of when they hear the term "facility". Yes, there was some structure in those serene, peaceful hills outside of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) but at that point, the bear center existed more on paper and in the imagination of a few than actually on the ground. At that time, a 1972 dilapidated single-wide trailer, an unfinished cement-block shed, and two glorious half-acre codified bear pens WAS the "facility".

Appalachian Bear Center 1997.

Thinking about it, the meager beginnings of the bear center were justified. A small grant allowed us to construct the bear pens and most of the other items on location were gratefully donated by the few that knew about us. Unfortunately it was only a very few. Only four bears had ever set foot within the center's enclosure, only two of which were returned to the wild. The other two were temporarily housed as a favor to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while they prosecuted a court case (but that is another story). Maybe that would change soon.

The board meeting droned on.

There were pleasant casual conversations, mostly focusing on fundraising or awareness events since at the time there were no cubs in our care. It was during this "pleasantness" that I received one of the greatest shocks of my life. It occurred when one of the board members was providing the treasurer's report. It went something like this...

"...and our monthly balance as of September 15, 1997, is hereby recorded at $721.38."

My head swiveled as if trying to re-hear that number again in hopes that I missed a few digits.

I leaned over to Tom Faulkner (Board Member) and asked if I heard that number correctly. He gave a solemn nod.

I couldn't help but immediately follow with a selfish question. "Does my salary come out of that same account?" Another solemn nod.

Maybe it wasn't such a pleasant board meeting after all.

I went home that night resigned to the fact that I ought to get my resume up-to-date and ready.

Unless a miracle happened, the bear center's future appeared as if it was going to remain on paper and in imaginations.

................

        The Malicious Miracle - Be Careful What you Wish For

Not even a week had passed since the now-reclassified "dreadful" board meeting had occurred when I received a call from Doug Scott, the TWRA regional bear biologist. He had a cub that was in need of help and was hoping we would take it. Of course we would. If anything, caring for the cub would at least serve as a pleasant distraction from our financial woes. At least the bear center could be useful until the bitter end. Though stretched to our limits we were committed and we were going to be there for them, not just for the state wildlife agency but for the National Park Service and especially for the bears.

As luck would have it, the "miracle" was upon us.

It came in the fall of 1997 in the form of a severe hard mast failure that had struck the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. Hard mast is simply a fancy term for the natural acorn and nut crop that is produced by our forests. And bears, reliant on these acorns to fatten up before winter, were hard pressed to find food. Although the adult bears could get by, the unfortunate casualties of the food shortage was usually the weakest of the bunch...the cubs.

The first cub had arrived in early October. A few days later Doug brought me two more bears. Soon afterwards, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park had some bears that needed help. Another week had passed and TWRA had their hands on a few more cubs. Then a few more came in from the National Park. All told, within about an eight-week period, we had admitted almost a dozen orphaned and/or injured black bear cubs.

With this many cubs in our care times were too busy to think about our financial troubles.…

...or were they?

........................

Up to this point, the bear center remained relatively unknown. But who in their right mind couldn't get behind the work we were not only doing but now inundated with?

We needed to get the word out but unfortunately, we were stuck. You see, due to our rehabilitation technique we could not invite the media over to cover "our story". No one was allowed to go down to the enclosure to see the cubs, let alone take pictures of them.  

After all, HEARING a story about an orphaned bear cub will only go so far...

SEEING a story about an orphan bear cub...

...well, that's a much more effective dose of reality. Now multiply that by a dozen!

Then it dawned on me...

"Heck, if we can't bring them to the cubs, we will bring the cubs to them!"

The first thing I did was place a call to Walter Cook, the Captive Wildlife Coordinator for TWRA. Not wanting to do anything in violation of our permit, I asked Mr. Cook if it was OK if I took pictures of the cubs during my daily feeding routine, ensuring that no additional interaction with the bears would take place. Mr. Cook agreed that this was perfectly fine. I then asked if those pictures could then be shared with the media, understanding that they were not allowed to obtain their own photographs should they ask. Once again Mr. Cook was in complete agreement adding that the newspapers ought to credit the bear center for the pictures we supplied.

We were now on the same page and little did I know, we were now in business.

-----------------------------------

It all started with a simple picture.



With cubs in good care and a picture in hand, a call was placed to the Maryville, TN newspaper, The Daily Times. The interview was short, the story was simple and the picture was clear.

A casualty of the 1997 mast failure and quite possibly the savior of the bear center.

The next morning, the story of the bear center, highlighted by a picture of an orphaned cub graced the front page of the Daily Times.

The pebble at the top of the mountain had been kicked.

The Knoxville News Sentinal was the first to call.

The next day we were on the front page of the News Sentinal.

The following day, a photographer from Associated Press had called. He had read the story in the Knoxville newspaper and was wondering if I could possibly supply him with another version of the story and of course, another one of those "cub" pictures.

The cubs soon graced the A.P. Wire.

Within a two weeks I had been sent news clippings from Seattle, Washington, Jacksonville, Florida and Dallas, Texas.

Then came a call from Atlanta. It was CNN. They wanted to drive down and do an interview for television.

Needless to say it was one heck of a thrill to call my parents in Buffalo, NY, and tell them to watch TV that evening. I was awful but thankfully the bears stole the show.

The following day a gentleman from New Jersey called and told me he had just finished watching a broadcast on CNN about "some orphaned cubs in Tennessee" and was wondering if we might be able use $5,000 to help them out.

The donations began to pour in.

Not because of me. Not because of a board member. Not because of some brilliant plan.

Photo courtesy of ABR.

But because of a simple picture.

Sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 words.

Sometimes it may be worth $5,000.

But sometimes.... every once in a great great while, a picture can turn out to be priceless.