Climate change a hot topic for conference

The annual Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Conference will be held Nov. 17 through 19 in Asheville.

This year’s theme is “Climate Change in the Southern Appalachians.”

The conference is a forum for researchers, environmentalists, planners and resource managers to compare notes and practices about how to address shared challenges. Learn about the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem and what the region can do to prepare.

For more information, go to www.samab.org.

Geothermal seminar to be held at HCC

A seminar on geothermal heating and cooling systems will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, at Haywood Community College High-Tech Center.

The seminar is organized in conjunction with the Southern Appalachian Sustainable Building Council. The speaker is a certified installer of geothermal systems and trains others on their proper implementation.

Geothermal systems tap air from beneath the earth’s surface to cool homes in the summer and heat them in winter. There will be a geothermal display and geothermal model to view.

Free pizza and soft drinks. 828.627.4632 or dporto@haywood.edu.

Helping farmers embark on alternative crops

Farmers who want to diversify with alternative crops can apply for grants of between $3,000 and $9,000 from the WNC Agricultural Options.

Projects funded in past years run the gamut, including a refrigeration truck for transporting hydroponic lettuce, a germination chamber for vegetable and flower starts, pick-your-own berry operations, and trellises for hops production.

“Our experience has shown that participating farmers utilize these grants for innovative, resourceful and profitable enterprises that can make a huge impact on their farming operation,” said William Upchurch, Executive Director of the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

www.wncagoptions.org.

Learn about the Space Station mission

A program on the International Space Station will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute.

Learn about what is happening aboard the space station, its mission, current status and how to track its movement, which is visible without a telescope if you know when to look.

The program will include a tour of the PARI campus and celestial observations using PARI’s optical or radio telescopes.

Reservations required. $20 per adult, $15 for seniors, $10 for children. 828. 862.5554 or cwhitworth@pari.edu or www.pari.edu.

Become a citizen scientist for field day

Volunteers are needed to help comb the woods for ash, sycamore and butternut trees as part of a forest inventory of threatened tree species on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The ground-trooping will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Smokemont area, near the main N.C. entrance to the park outside Cherokee.

Volunteers will learn how to identify common trees found in the Smoky Mountains, read a topographic map, and use a GPS unit. The project gets citizens directly involved with the collection of scientific data in the park.

Ash trees are at risk from the non-native Emerald Ash Borer. Mapping ash trees will help park rangers keep tab on populations and detect possible outbreaks. Meanwhile, butternut trees are threatened by the butternut canker disease.

Volunteers should be able to hike up to 5 miles on Park trails and in rough terrain off the main paths. To sign up, contact Ranger Susan Simpson at 865.436.1200, ext. 762.

WATR meeting on Nov. 9

The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River will outline its conservation initiatives for 2010 at a program scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at the Sylva Community Center.

Speakers will be Dr. Bill McLarney of the Little Tennessee Watershed Association and Steve Fraley of the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission. Anyone interested in protecting water quality is encouraged to attend.

828.488.8418.

Bear season in gear

Bear hunting season is in full swing this month, running through Nov. 21 and resuming from Dec. 14 through Jan. 1.

If you encounter dogs in the woods that don’t seem to have an owner around, they could be bear dogs. Hunters keep track of their dogs through radio collars and are usually nearby. It is illegal to tamper with the radio collars of a hunter’s bear dog.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking hunters to pull the upper pre-molar teeth of any bears they kill to help hone data on the state’s bear population. Biologists can tell the sex and age of the bear by this particular tooth. Hunters who mail in a tooth get a hat. 919.707.0050

Needmore neighbors work toward vision of campground

A celebration marking five years since the preservation of the Needmore tract will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, at West Swain Elementary School.

The 4,500-acre Needmore Tract along the Little Tennessee River in Macon and Swain counties was saved from private development thanks to a massive public fundraising campaign to buy the property from Duke Power for $19 million. The tract was designated as a gameland preserve under the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“Our vision for this group has been to ensure that the public use of Needmore be preserved, as well as protecting the land we’ve always known as ‘our community backyard.’” said Cheryl Taylor, the group’s current chairman.

There will be a free barbecue dinner, music by the bluegrass group Rye Holler Boys, a cake auction and door prizes. Representatives from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will talk about the tract’s past, present and future.

Donations will be accepted to help with the cause of the campground.

For more information, contact mountainneighbors@verizon.net.