This terrestrial species inhabits the humid forests of the Blue Ridge Physiographic province (Crespi et al. 2010). Adults are active at night and can be found on vegetation above ground up to 1 m (Hairston 1949). Individuals hide under moss, leaf-litter, logs, bark on stumps, and rocks, and winter is spent in underground seepages. Eggs are laid in underground cavities among rocks of spring seeps, where they develop directly without a larval stage.

This species is endemic to the Southern Appalachians in the United States, where its type locality is Mt. LeConte, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Sevier County, Tennessee (King 1936). It reaches its greatest abundance above 1,400 m, but it is also commonly found between 950 m and 1,400 m (Crespi et al. 2010).

This species was previously known from southwestern Virginia into eastern Tennessee, southwestern North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina, primarily in high-elevation forests (Harrison 2000). However, following the description of Desmognathus organi by Crespi et al. (2010), this species is restricted to the areas south and west of the French Broad River in Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Records retained under this name are from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Plott Balsams, Great Balsams, Cowee Mountains, Nantahala Mountains, and Unicoi Mountains. The extent of occurrence (EOO) of the revised mapped range is 9,453 km².

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species occurs in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and a variety of other protected areas are within its range. It is listed as State Rare in North Carolina and is considered a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan (LeGrand et al. 2014). In Tennessee, this species is considered to be "Very Rare and Imperiled" and in need of management (Green et al. 2014).

Regarding the threat of disease, in an effort to prevent the introduction of Bsal into the US an Interim Rule of the Lacey Act has been enacted that bans the importation of 201 species of salamanders (USFWS 2016). Additionally, a temporary voluntary trade moratorium of imports of Asian salamander species that are known to carry the disease until such time as effective testing and treatment regimens can be developed and distributed has been recommended to all exporters, shippers, sellers and buyers by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC). A North America Bsal Task Force has also been created, with working groups designed to address a variety of disease prevention and mitigation goals (North America Bsal Task Force 2021).

Conservation Needed
Expansion of effective forest preservation and continued management of existing protected areas is recommended for the conservation of this species.

Research Needed
More information is needed on this species' distribution, population status, ecology, and threats.