New members appointed to Wildlife Commission
Three new commissioners have been added to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and a new chairman and vice chairman elected…
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Help feed the hungry
Haywood Gleaners is looking for a co-field glean coordinator to assist in its efforts to feed the hungry with fresh…
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Junaluska golf course turns 100
The Lake Junaluska golf course turns 100 on July 24, and in honor of the anniversary golfers will be able…
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Dreams on the water: Bryson City paddler, age 15, wows international audience
On Friday, June 21, a 15-year-old girl from Bryson City took her place in the water for the first heat…
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Man dies following car accident near Clingmans Dome
Cherokee emergency responders were among those who answered the call following a fatal vehicle accident on Clingmans Dome Road in…
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Wilderness therapy provider joins chamber
A wilderness therapy business that launched locally in May 2018 is now a member of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce.
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Trailhead expansion complete near Mount Mitchell
The South Toe Trailhead parking area across from Black Mountain Campground in the Pisgah National Forest has been reopened now…
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Worth protecting: Conservation organizations partner to preserve Parkway lands
Born in the upstairs of the Post Office building his mom ran in Crabtree, Robert Williams, now 87, has always…
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Progress continues on clean air in WNC: State looks to accelerate shift to renewable energy
In an era when most environment-related news carries a hue of doom and gloom, the saga of air quality trends…
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Pollinator garden opens
A new pollinator garden has been completed in the Waynesville Recreation Park.
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Program doubles SNAP benefits at Asheville farmers markets
A new Double SNAP program is now available at Asheville City Market, offered through the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.
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The Naturalist's Corner: Buteo jamaicensis
A red-tail by any other name and there are several “named” red-tails. But I dare say for we sons and…
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Adopt-A-Stream turns 10
The Adopt-A-Stream program in Haywood County turned 10 this year, with 1,600 volunteers spending 4,000 hours removing more than 27…
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Rare shrub seeds for sale
Alarka Institute in Cowee is now selling seeds from the Franklinia, one of the rarest shrubs in the world.
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Parkway paving planned for 2019
More than 115 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway will be resurfaced this year as part of a pavement preservation…
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Better access to Bartram Trail
A relatively new trailhead now has a brand new parking lot that’s sure to make accessing the Bartram Trail in…
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Record-setting wild turkey harvest
Results from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s wild turkey harvest summary show this year’s harvest was the second highest ever…
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Longtime Mainspring board member retires
Longtime Mainspring Conservation Trust board member Richard Clark has retired from the board.
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Nantahala District ranger to retire
After 29 years at the helm of the Nantahala District of the Nantahala National Forest, District Ranger Mike Wilkins is…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Windy City peregrines
My bride and I spent a few days in Chicago last week. She was there for a business seminar and…
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Lumberjack ‘family’ to get a home: Construction underway on new HCC timbersports building
After more than 20 years of wood chopping and log sawing and award winning, the Haywood Community College Lumberjacks —…
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Law changes appointment structure for Clean Water board
Gov. Roy Cooper has signed into law a bill that reconstitutes several boards and commissions that the court previously held…
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Science program goes statewide: ecoEXPLORE program for kids now available in N.C. State Parks
A program that’s been getting Western North Carolina kids outside since 2016 is now a statewide offering, with a whirlwind…
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Baseball for autistic youth planned in WNC
The fresh cut grass, the din of the crowd, the white chalk lines on the dusty dirt infield — every…
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Waynesville Judo Club brings home awards
The Waynesville Judo Club recently competed in the South Carolina State Championship, coming away with 11 medals.
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Tennis courts get makeover at Lake Junaluska
Renovated tennis courts will greet Lake Junaluska visitors this summer season.
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Find local food
The 2019 edition of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Local Food Guide is now available, an essential source for finding…
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Help hellbenders
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission wants to hear about hellbender sightings, part of agency biologists’ ongoing effort to learn more…
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Bears active in Panthertown
Recent reports of increased bear encounters in Panthertown Valley have prompted a call for caution among visitors.
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The Naturalist's Corner: Birding daze
The six weeks from May 1 to June 15 are always a busy time for me. That is the window…
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Road work underway in the Smokies
A pavement preservation project is underway on Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, expected to result…
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New mapping program available for farmers
A new program will allow growers to map crops by herbicide-resistant traits.
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The Naturalist's Corner: 20 years are in the can; as they say in the biz
I can’t, thinking back now, remember what the two floors below us were at 9 Main Street, in 1999 when…
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Mainspring expands to Sylva
Mainspring Conservation Trust now has an office in downtown Sylva.
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Lime treatment reverses acid rain effects
You can’t always believe what you see. The water in our mountain streams is sometimes polluted even though it appears…
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Kids in Parks logs one million TRACK Trails adventures
In its mission to engage children with the outdoors, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s Kids in Parks program is marking…
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A vision for the Tuck: New WATR director looks to make strides in water quality improvement
The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River has a new leader. Two years after former executive director Roger Clapp retired…
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The story behind the man: First-ever Horace Kephart biography explores a complex man and momentous life
Horace Kephart has been dead for 88 years, but his name and his story still pull an undercurrent through Western…
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Life at two miles an hour: A.T. hikers share their stories
From flip-flops to overnights to the quintessential northbound thru-hike, there are many different ways to experience the Appalachian Trail on…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Eastern box turtle, our state reptile
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in a June 2001 issue of The Smoky Mountain News Taksi was a legendary…
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Smokies plates celebrate milestone
Twenty years after the program launched, drivers in Tennessee and North Carolina have passed the $15 million mark in support…
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N.C. deer harvest declines in 2018-19
Deer harvest in North Carolina declined 9 percent from the previous three-year average in the 2018-19 season, despite the fact…
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Believing Bigfoot: Locals log Sasquatch evidence in North Carolina’s mountains
Jeff Carpenter knows the woods. A native of Otto who’s spent most of his adult life the next county over…
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Boating fatalities abnormally high in 2018
On the heels of a year when more people died from boating accidents in North Carolina than in any other…
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Trillium Gap Trail rehab has begun
A two-year trail rehabilitation project is now underway at the Trillium Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,…
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Bethel student wins art contest
Eighth grader Gracie Burgess, of Bethel Middle School, will see her artwork worn by eighth-graders across Haywood County during Kids…
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Hiking club achieves nonprofit status
As of March 18, the Nantahala Hiking Club is officially a 501c3 nonprofit.
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Cost-share available for organic certification
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications from producers looking for help to cover the cost of organic…
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Landslide closes Jackson trail system
A landslide on Forest Service Road 4650 in Jackson County has resulted in closure of the Wayehutta OHV Trail System.
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Plans complete for Macon/Jackson timber project
An environmental analysis is now complete for the Southside Project, expected to improve forest health, diversity and wildlife habitat in…
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