Due to the Delta variant’s continued impact on public health, the Outdoor Economy Conference originally scheduled for Oct. 12-15 has been postponed until April 2-7, 2022 — but other opportunities to connect with the outdoor community will be scheduled in the meantime.

Chiseled by an Emmy- and Academy Award-winning artist, a 2,400-pound bronze piece depicting Harriet Tubman leading a young girl out of slavery is now installed at Bridge Park in Sylva. 

In celebration of its 50th anniversary year in 2022, the Nantahala Outdoor Center has announced a schedule of international travel tours beginning in the spring.

Mainspring Conservation Trust recently closed on an in-holding of the Nantahala National Forest Service in the Caney Fork Valley of Jackson County.

Nearly $3 million in newly announced funding will support further development of the outdoor-driven community and economy in Western North Carolina. The project aims to generate 325 jobs and generate $18.1 million of new investment in the region’s outdoor economy.
The three-year project, managed by Mountain BizWorks and the Growing Outdoors Partnership, will rely on three core pillars to accomplish its goals.

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in North Carolina fell below 3,000 last week for the first time since Aug. 10 as the summer surge due to the Delta variant appears to be receding. 

The 30th annual Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Chamber Challenge Golf Tournament drew 92 golfers to participate in 23 four-person teams on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

The future of a three-star hotel project at the Sequoyah National Golf Club in Whittier is uncertain after Tribal Council voted unanimously Sept. 20 to withdraw a resolution requesting $3.5 million to pay Tribal Construction for site work on the property. 

The Brevard-based business Black Folks Camp Too was recently given The President’s Award from America’s State Parks during the organization’s annual awards.

When the Davidson River first hit flood stage on at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, it was a normal — albeit rainy — workday for employees at the Bobby N. Setzer Fish Hatchery and the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. But by 5:45 p.m. a river that had mere days ago flowed less than a foot deep peaked  at 14.19 feet, plunging the fish hatchery raceways under feet of water and leaving employees — as well as a volunteer and member of the public who had been at the education center — to scramble for higher ground. 

Waves, water and mountain streams will be key design elements at Jackson County’s new indoor pool complex, commissioners heard during a Sept. 14 work session  with the company carrying out the $20 million project. 

Two new changes to Sylva’s rules for downtown parking are now in effect following a pair of unanimous votes at the Sept. 9 town board meeting. 

Enrollment, retention and freshman interest at Western Carolina University are all down this fall compared to last year, and university leaders are preparing to combat what they believe will be a lingering issue through the pandemic and beyond. 

This year marked both the 16th birthday of the Benton MacKaye Trail and the 100th anniversary of its namesake’s flagship idea. Proponents of the trail want Congress to honor these milestones by designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as the nation’s 12th National Scenic Trail . 

On the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 17, Rob Young was watching the rain fall. He watched it first through the windows of his office at Western Carolina University and then later at his home in Webster — and, continuously, on his computer screen, where ever-changing river depths were displayed through the state’s Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network, or FIMAN . 

The $633 million budget Tribal Council approved Sept. 7 represents a return to growth, after a cautious 2020-2021  budget relied on just 50% of the previous year’s casino proceeds and clocked in 19.5% slimmer than the 2019-2020 document. 

After nearly two hours of discussion, debate and even tears during its Thursday, Sept. 9 meeting , the Cherokee Tribal Council shot down an effort to change a law banning the licensing and solemnization of same-sex marriages on the Qualla Boundary. 

For the first time since 2015, Western Carolina University has posted a fall enrollment figure lower than that of the previous year.

Eric Romaniszyn had been Haywood Waterways Association’s project manager for less than six months when the legendary floods  of September 2004 tore through Clyde and Canton, challenging him to execute his new role addressing watershed health and education in the face of a once-in-a-lifetime weather event. 

Bernadette Peters arrived in Western North Carolina in 2011 as a novice in the world of food service and an outsider to the tight-knit Sylva community. 

Until 2016, then-Chancellor David O. Belcher spent much of his time and energy as leader of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee telling anyone who would listen that WCU’s future was in danger. Specifically, the future of its engineering, science and nursing programs. 

Tribal Council passed a 2021-2022 budget today that incorporates recommended salary increases for employees, board members and elected officials following the results of a compensation analysis from the consulting firm REDW.

Three current Tribal Council members will not return in October following the Sept. 2 General Election, but the 2021-23 government will feature only one new face — unless a potential recount should change the results in Painttown. 

In a historic vote, Cherokee voters said yes to expanded alcohol sales on the Qualla boundary following a Sept. 2 referendum. 

A “reasonably colorful” fall leaf season with a less pronounced peak than usual is predicted for Western North Carolina, according to Western Carolina University fall color forecaster Beverly Collins.

A week before Tropical Storm Fred unleashed historically high floodwaters on Western North Carolina, Greg Philipp was in Washington fighting the wildfires  now enveloping the bone-dry American West. Now, Philipp is the U.S. Forest Service incident commander for the aftermath of heavy rainfall that will impact favorite recreation sites in the Pisgah National Forest for years to come. 

Sylva Town Manager Paige Dowling presented two options during the town board’s Aug. 26 meeting for funding the $2 million needed to repair landslides on Allen Street, but her ultimate recommendation was that commissioners pass on both and wait for help. 

The Cherokee Tribal Council approved more than $110 million for new health facilities on the Qualla Boundary and in Cherokee County, giving unanimous endorsement to two separate projects during its Aug. 5 meeting. 

For the second year running, the much-awaited Cherokee Indian Fair is canceled due to COVID-19.

After a three-month lapse, Jackson County has re-instituted its masking requirement for county facilities. The mandate applies when entering “interior public spaces” and being within 6 feet of another person.

A man found dead in the Hazel Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last September likely died due to a bear attack, making Patrick Madura’s death the second bear-related fatality in the park’s history. 

In addition to claiming lives, homes and livelihoods, Tropical Storm Fred has had a significant impact on many beloved sites on Western North Carolina's public lands. News related to closures, impacts and damage to WNC's outdoor offerings will be posted here as it is received. 

Friday, Aug. 13. Rivers are at normal levels, with a gauge about a mile upstream from Jukebox Junction on the East Fork Pigeon River reading 0.4 feet at 8 a.m., while a gauge on the Pigeon River just outside of Canton reads 1.61 feet.

Election Day is coming to Cherokee on Thursday, Sept. 2, with voters set to choose Tribal Council and School Board representatives, as well as weigh in on three alcohol-related referendum questions. 

Though Tropical Storm Fred bears the brunt of the blame for last week’s flood, a cold front moving ahead of the tropical storm set the table for destruction. 

Rain was coming down hard as Gary Griffith surveyed his fields in Bethel, around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Harvest season was in full swing, and before he went home to Ratcliff Cove, he wanted to make sure his 15 acres of peppers and cucumbers growing along the Pigeon River would make it through the storm. 

While the Cruso area undisputedly received the worst of the flooding in Western North Carolina, it did not receive the worst of the rainfall.

The Indiana Gaming Commission has approved a deal that would put an Indiana casino in the ownership of a company held by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. 

A man found dead in the Hazel Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last September likely died due to a bear attack, making it the second bear-related fatality in the park’s history.

The highest-elevation mountain bike trail on the East Coast is on the path from concept to reality after the Cherokee Tribal Council and Sylva Board of Commissioners approved an agreement to begin a joint master planning process for the 912 acres of ridgetop land.

The N.C. General Assembly has declared 2023 to be “Year of the Trail” in North Carolina, marking it as a year to showcase, promote and celebrate trails in the state.

Kaitlyn Nelson was three-and-a-half months into living her Australian dream when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, forcing her and her partner to cut short their plans for a yearlong adventure driving their van around the Pacific continent. 

Fixing ongoing landslide issues on Allen Street could cost up to $2 million — an amount equivalent to more than 40% of the town’s current budget — Sylva commissioners learned during a discussion at their Aug. 12 meeting  that lasted over an hour. 

Amid a nationwide struggle to fill open positions in a multitude of sectors, higher education institutions in Western North Carolina say they’re not experiencing more vacancies than is typical as they navigate their most hiring-heavy season of the year. However, in some instances filling those vacancies is taking longer than in years past. 

Morning cool still hangs over the grassy fields at Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa Farm  as Catherine Topel approaches a pair of 350-pound sows with a bucketful of breakfast. 

With case numbers surging and fall semester beginning, local colleges and universities are reinstituting indoor masking requirements that had been lifted for the summer months. 

Sylva may soon be home to the first certified forest therapy trail in North Carolina following the town board’s unanimous vote to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Mark Ellison, a certified nature and forest therapy guide who lives in Jackson County. 

On Thursday, Sept. 2, Cherokee voters will select the next Tribal Council, three School Board representatives and answers to three alcohol-related referendum questions.

The Cherokee Tribal Council today approved a 42-page ordinance that will establish a system to support legalized medical marijuana on the Qualla Boundary.