Women’s History Trail lands grant
A $740 grant from the Jim McRae Endowment for the Visual Arts will fuel efforts to create a Women’s History…
Read More
Smokies sets visitation record in 2017
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw a record number of visitors for the second year in a row, logging…
Read More
SCC instructor will guide outdoor leadership standards
Paul Wolf, leader of Southwestern Community College’s Outdoor Leadership Program, has been chosen as a member of the international Association…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner: Will eagles dare?
A pair of mature bald eagles has been hanging out at Lake Junaluska for a few months now. I have…
Read More
Input sought on Waterrock Knob planning
Ideas for the future of the land surrounding Waterrock Knob and Plott Balsam are welcome during a public hearing slated…
Read More
State parks see record visitation
North Carolina State Parks has logged its fourth consecutive year of record visitation, with 19.4 million visits to the state’s…
Read More
Breaking the backlog: Deferred maintenance in the billions for national parks
Drawing more than 300 million visitors each year, the National Park Service is both a reservoir of natural beauty and…
Read More
Watery restoration: Waynesville and partners restore stream flows, aquatic habitat
Waynesville is in the midst of a makeover on three of its streams, and it’s a renovation that fish, crayfish…
Read More
Land conserved along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Jackson
The Blue Ridge Parkway will soon acquire an additional 46 acres in Jackson County thanks to a pair of land…
Read More
CMC recognized for Parkway service
The Carolina Mountain Club was awarded the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 2017 Enduring Service Award, recognizing the efforts of the club’s…
Read More
2017 ends with slim wildfire count
In sharp contrast to the blazing wildfire season of fall 2016, December 2017 drew to a close with only one…
Read More
Waynesville Rec sets attendance record
The Waynesville Recreation Center logged a record attendance for the second year running, with 180,611 visits in 2017.
Read More
Bank supports education at Tremont
A $7,500 donation from SmartBank will help underserved kids experience the beauty of the Smokies through the Great Smoky Mountains…
Read More
Preschool sports program open for registration
A program designed to help preschoolers have fun while developing sports skills is now open for registration at the Waynesville…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner: Swimming with mermaids
Christopher Columbus had a lot of misconceptions about where he wound up in 1492 and what he saw. Mermaids were…
Read More
Resurrecting the truffle: Researchers look to learn about cultivation potential in N.C.
An Old World delicacy tied to myths of the supernatural, the truffle is often construed as a rare exotic, likely…
Read More
Volleyball offered in Waynesville
Winter volleyball is starting up in Waynesville, with options available for pickup and team play alike.
Read More
Bill aims to reauthorize Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
A bill to extend authorization of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area by four years has been filed in the…
Read More
Appalachian Farm School returns
An eight-week training course for anyone interested in operating an agriculture-based business will kick off Tuesday, Jan. 9, at Southwestern…
Read More
Cabbage patch kid
Third-grader Emily Prince, of Fletcher, won the North Carolina contest in the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program when she grew…
Read More
Hike the MST in nine minutes
A nine-minute tour of the 1,175-mile Mountains-to-Sea Trail is now available from the comfort of any couch within reach of…
Read More
District Ranger leaves Murphy
Angela Gee, district ranger on the Cheoah and Tusquitee Ranger Districts of the Nantahala National Forest, has left the position…
Read More
Christmastime for birders: Cold weather can’t cool enthusiasm for Christmas Bird Count
At 8 a.m. on a December morning, the newly risen sun had barely warmed the air over Franklin from the…
Read More
Information wanted on Elkmont fire
Tips are needed related to a human-caused fire that resulted in damage to cabins in the Elkmont Historic District of…
Read More
Prescribed burning projects proposed in the Nantahala
A proposal to reauthorize prescribed burning on 19,038 acres in Jackson, Macon and Swain counties is open for public comment…
Read More
Pigeon River Fund awards support water quality
Environmental groups across Western North Carolina got a boost from this fall’s Pigeon River Fund Awards through the Community Foundation…
Read More
New Needmore Game Lands plan released
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has released the final versions of five game land management plans, including the plan for…
Read More
Elk arrive at Grandfather
Three new elk have arrived at Grandfather Mountain State Park’s environmental wildlife habitats.
Read More
Former CMC president honored
Former Carolina Mountain Club president George Oldham received the organization’s highest award last month when he was presented with the…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner: Bamboo by any other name
Bamboo is the common name applied to a wide and varied group of woody grasses from all around the world.…
Read More
A fire-forged laboratory: Scientists look to learn from 2016 wildfires
When rain finally quelled the wildfires running rampant through the Southeastern U.S. last year, the public was breathing a collective…
Read More
At home in the snow
Muted under a blanket of fresh snow, the forests surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Western North Carolina stretch were quiet,…
Read More
Parkway maintenance causes closures
Boom axe operations along the Blue Ridge Parkway will result in closures at various locations along the Blue Ridge Parkway…
Read More
Buncombe makes clean energy pledge
Buncombe County Commissioners voted to commit to complete transition to clean and renewable energy during a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Read More
Rim Trail reopened following purchase
A portion of the Rim Trail near Hayesville that’s been closed since 2010 has now reopened to the public.
Read More
New species found in Tennessee
A new fish species has been discovered in the South, with Tennessee Valley Authority biologists identifying the logperch, or Percina…
Read More
Endangered fish found in new territory
A routine day of fish population monitoring turned exciting when Mainspring Conservation Trust biologists found a federally threatened fish in…
Read More
New district ranger hired for Appalachian District
The Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest has a new district ranger following the hire of Richard Thornburgh,…
Read More
Embracing the season: Cross-state trek presents challenge and reward for Asheville hiking legend
At 34, Jennifer Pharr Davis has conquered her fair share of long-distance hikes, and then some. Her 2011 hike of…
Read More
Disc golf tournament raises money for nonprofits
A recent disc golf tournament in Waynesville earned nearly $2,000 to support Haywood Waterways Association and Haywood County Special Olympics.
Read More
Land protected at Highlands of Roan
Land conservation in the Highlands of Roan area got a boost with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s purchase of 142…
Read More
New trail opens in Murphy
The first phase in construction of a new trail system is now complete with the opening of the Piney Knob…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner: A long time coming
Some time around mid-September I added tic number 207 to my 2017 bird list. It was a merlin I saw…
Read More
Keeping ash in the Smokies: Land managers, conservation groups work to protect ash from invasive pest
At some point roughly 20 years ago, a shipment from Asia arrived in the United States with a passel of…
Read More
Hiker finishes fundraising Mountains-to-Sea hike
Record-breaking hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis completed her 1,175-mile adventure on the Mountains-to-Sea trail Saturday, Nov. 18, just in time for…
Read More
Tremont gets $20,000
A $20,000 donation to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont from Brookfield Renewable will give low-income kids in the…
Read More
Forest restoration partnership wins award
A multi-year effort to restore forest landscapes in the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest has won the…
Read More
Dry-cleaning cleanup program celebrates 20 years of success
North Carolina’s Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act Program has hit its 20th anniversary, and since that time the program has handled…
Read More
Fires Creek purchase completed
After raising more than half a million dollars to protect 50 pristine acres in the Fires Creek watershed, Mainspring Conservation…
Read More
Rehabilitation almost done at Clingmans Dome
Clingmans Dome Tower reopened from a closure for rehabilitation work on Wednesday, Nov. 15, but access will be short-lived —…
Read More
