Clay couple donates land for conservation
 

Clay couple donates land for conservation

A Clay County couple has conserved their 50-plus-acre property and will donate it as a life estate to Mainspring Conservation…
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Crashes cause deaths in the Smokies, Parkway
 

Crashes cause deaths in the Smokies, Parkway

A trio of collisions in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway over the past week have…
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Swain students win softball title

Two Swain Middle School eighth graders helped their softball team win a tournament title during the Native American Youth Organization…
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Tree seedlings for sale
 

Tree seedlings for sale

Seedlings are available for sale from the N.C. Forest Service Nursery Program, with specimens offering superior growth, form and disease…
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Friend your farmer
 

Friend your farmer

Empowering Mountain Food Systems will be highlighting the stories, personalities and passions of Western North Carolina farmers through its new…
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Ticket, please: Smokies to explore paid parking, shuttle service as crowd control tools

As visitor use in the already-crowded  Great Smoky Mountains National Park continues to climb, for the first time ever the…
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Dive into folklore this Friday
 

Dive into folklore this Friday

Blue Ridge Parkway rangers will host a new outdoor interpretive series dubbed “Fridays at the Folk Art Center” at 7:30…
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Bills aim to fund wildlife conservation

Bipartisan legislation aiming to fund local efforts to support struggling wildlife is now under consideration in both houses of Congress…
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Mountain Wildlife Days director to step down

More than 450 people participated in the 17th annual Mountain Wildlife Days this month, but it will be the last…
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New landslide mapping tool available
 

New landslide mapping tool available

A new website uses GIS, aerial imagery and field work data to create a landslide mapping tool that provides critical…
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Staying alive: MountainTrue protects A.T. ash trees as research progresses against invasive threat

For millions of years, ash trees have grown tall and strong across the landscape today known as the United States…
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Conservancy marks land protection achievements

The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina celebrated a pair of conservation achievements in recent months that together protect more than…
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Local conservationists earn statewide recognition
 

Local conservationists earn statewide recognition

Conservation leaders from Asheville and Brevard were among the 16 people and organizations to earn recognition during the N.C. Wildlife…
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Pilot program will bring shuttles, paid parking to Laurel Falls

In a virtual public meeting this evening, Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials unveiled a pilot plan to manage congestion…
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Bryson City paddler to appear in Olympic semifinals

Bryson City Olympian Evy Leibfarth, 17, will advance to the semifinal women’s kayak slalom competition following her performance in the…
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Highlands Biological Foundation Board elects new president
 

Highlands Biological Foundation Board elects new president

Jennie Stowers has been elected as the new president of the Highlands Biological Foundation Board after Julia Grumbles wrapped up…
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A new chapter for Max Patch: Forest Service issues two-year camping ban for iconic bald

Following an explosion of use at Max Patch, the U.S. Forest Service is prohibiting camping and fires on the iconic…
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New Max Patch restrictions include ban on camping, fires

Following an explosion of use and impact at Max Patch, the U.S. Forest Service is prohibiting camping and fires on…
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Fish and Wildlife Service reviews status for 37 species
 

Fish and Wildlife Service reviews status for 37 species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now conducting five-year status reviews for 37 species, two of which can be…
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Smooth coneflower recovery spurs downlisting proposal
 

Smooth coneflower recovery spurs downlisting proposal

Due to continually strengthening populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to downlist the smooth coneflower from an endangered…
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N.C. logs record bear harvest in 2020
 

N.C. logs record bear harvest in 2020

Hunters harvested a record 3,748 black bears in North Carolina last year, an 8% increase over the previous season. 
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Mountain turkey harvest flags amid high statewide numbers
 

Mountain turkey harvest flags amid high statewide numbers

This year’s North Carolina turkey hunting season yielded the second-highest harvest on record, second only to the record-breaking 2020 harvest…
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Outdoor Industry program offers new study track

A third track is now available within Western Carolina University’s Professional Outdoor Industry Certificate. 
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Ginseng populations now too small for sustainable harvest

There are now too few ginseng plants in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests to allow for sustainable harvesting, leading…
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Launchpad to space: Camp builds enthusiasm for middle grades

At 10 a.m. Friday, June 25, the parking lot above the Jackson County Early College was nothing but a mundane…
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Bring Special Olympics to Cherokee
 

Bring Special Olympics to Cherokee

Volunteers are needed to help with the upcoming Special Olympics season on the Qualla Boundary. 
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Summer is here at Lake Junaluska

The pool at Lake Junaluska is now open for the season, and 2021 passes offering pool admission and special discounts…
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Report highlights toxic waste risk in hurricane paths
 

Report highlights toxic waste risk in hurricane paths

A recently released report from the Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center and the N.C. PIRG Education Fund highlights…
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Parkway motorcycle crash leaves two dead
 

Parkway motorcycle crash leaves two dead

Two people are dead following a June 22 collision between a motorcycle and a passenger van in the Balsam area…
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Shoot clays for the Smokies

Friends of the Smokies will host the third annual Smokies Cup Tournament at the Biltmore Sporting Clays Club Sept. 16-17…
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Bear activity causes A.T. camping closure

A portion of the Appalachian Trail in the Pisgah National Forest is closed to camping due to bear activity.
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Bear activity prompts continued camping restrictions

A temporary ban on tents and soft-sided campers at Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway has been extended…
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Sylva discusses Pinnacle’s future

In February, Sylva’s town board gave its enthusiastic support to a plan that would bring 35 miles of multi-use trail…
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Tent ban extended at Mount Pisgah

A temporary ban on tents and soft-sided campers at Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway has been extended…
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July 4 marks grand opening for Equinox Ranch
 

July 4 marks grand opening for Equinox Ranch

Celebrate Independence Day along with the grand opening of Equinox Ranch in Cullowhee with a celebration starting at 1 p.m.…
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Parkway motorcycle crash results in fatality
 

Parkway motorcycle crash results in fatality

A June 5 motorcycle crash on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Laurel Springs left a 65-year-old North Carolina man dead. 
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FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge picks new director
 

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge picks new director

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge has named Julie Whalen as its new executive director. 
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Smokies paving project moves to nighttime work

Nighttime work has begun on an 8-mile section of Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 
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Garden club gets musical treat

The Mountain View Garden Club of Waynesville held its monthly meeting at the Jonathan Creek Biodome Art Studio of Nina…
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Bear euthanized following unprovoked attack

A bear has been euthanized and a backcountry site closed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a 16-year-old…
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Spend an evening in the garden
 

Spend an evening in the garden

ArborEvenings is back at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, offering opportunity to spend Thursday and Friday evenings strolling through the…
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Fund established to support the MST
 

Fund established to support the MST

Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail received its largest individual gift ever when an anonymous donor gave $100,000 to…
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Forest service seeks to re-engage regarding Macon County projects

The Nantahala Ranger District is resuming work on two projects in Macon County whose timelines were affected by position turnover…
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Summer reading program celebrates animal life
 

Summer reading program celebrates animal life

The 2021 Summer Learning Program at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City will celebrate all things related to books and…
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Black Mountain Trail section closed for maintenance

A portion of the Black Mountain Trail on the Pisgah Ranger District will be closed through approximately Aug. 15 for…
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Friends of DuPont asks users to share the trails

Friends of DuPont Forest’s new Share the Trails Campaign aims to help visitors share and care for the forest’s 80-plus…
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Bear activity reported in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock

Visitors to the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness on the Nantahala National Forest should take extra precautions after recent reports of bear…
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Severe drought hits southeastern N.C.
 

Severe drought hits southeastern N.C.

Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, 84 are currently abnormally dry or experiencing drought — but the far western region is…
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The 100-year trail: A century after Benton MacKaye proposed it, millions enjoy the A.T. each year

A wall of wind hurtles through the asphalt-covered mountain gap as I exit my car, popping open the trunk to…
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Smokies car crash results in fatality
 

Smokies car crash results in fatality

A teenager is dead and two other people injured following a car crash on Monday, June 7, in the Great…
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