The Macon County League of Women Voters will sponsor a program on the Natural Areas Inventory of Macon County at 12:15 p.m. on Dec. 9.

The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) works to identify and protect the best examples of the state’s natural areas. For the last two years Ed Schwartzman, inventory biologist with NCNHP, has been working in Macon County, exploring the peaks and valleys looking for unique places and documenting them in order to promote their conservation.

From the high summit of Standing Indian to the granite domes of Highlands and across the Cowee Mountains to the Little Tennessee River valley, Schwartzman has turned up populations of rare plants, animals, and unique habitats such as bogs and old-growth forest. He will show pictures and discuss these special areas and how landowners, researchers, and the public benefit from knowing about them.

The program will be held at Tartan Hall in Franklin. Lunch is available at noon, by reservation. Call 828.371.0527 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The program will begin at 12:15.

The public is invited.