WNC conservationists honored
Several Western North Carolina conservationists earned a spot in Wild South’s annual list of nominees for the Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards,…
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Smokies visitation sets records
January was a record-setting month for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 351,670 visitors, achieving a lifetime visitation of…
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Waynesville continues Tree City USA tradition
Waynesville was named a 2014 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, keeping running a streak that began in…
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Changing attitudes: Carlson reshaped ideas about conservation
History will no doubt remember Paul Carlson as one of the great visionaries of our time in Western North Carolina.…
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Behind the wheel with Paul Carlson: a two-hour tour of the Little Tennessee
As Paul Carlson tooled out of downtown Franklin, houses faded into rolling hayfields, and the Little Tennessee River soon took…
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Countin’ in the cold
I had originally intended to spend today (Monday, Feb. 16) doing a couple of short surveys for the annual Great…
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N.C. Wildlife Federation wins $30K grant
A $30,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation will help the N.C. Wildlife Federation further its mission of conserving…
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Mountain thunder: Maggie musher takes up snowless dog sledding
Stepping into Kirk Wall’s custom-carpentered, immaculately decorated mountaintop home, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d knocked on the wrong…
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HCC nabs accreditation from Society of American Foresters
Haywood Community College just became the only two-year community college in North Carolina to offer a forest management technology program…
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Polar Plunge lands cash for waterway education
Lake Junaluska was only 39 degrees on Jan. 31, but 120 people still braved the cold to participate in Haywood…
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Smokies invites you to meet new superintendent
Two open houses this month will offer the chance to meet and greet the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent,…
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One foot in front of the other: Haywood runner seeks to push her limits, share the joy of running
Pushing through 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 of biking and 26.2 of running, it was all Jennifer Jacobson could do…
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The bizarro world of plan revision
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners decided that today (Feb. 2) was the day they would boldly venture into the…
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Up close with the Smokies
The Experience Your Smokies program is looking for applicants who want to get an insider’s look at park operations while…
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Two areas added to potential wilderness inventory
Two potential candidates for wilderness designation in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests were accidentally left off a master list…
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Wildlife Commission says no more red wolves
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has publicly denounced the red wolf reintroduction in coastal counties, calling for the red wolves…
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Little Sandy Mush Bald slopes purchased for nature preserve
The northern slopes of Little Sandy Mush Bald, an iconic view for those who live in the coves and farms…
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Arboretum to memorialize landscaping great
The father of American landscape architecture will soon be memorialized at the North Carolina Arboretum.
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Learn from Leopold
Aldo Leopold and his writings are cornerstones of modern environmental ethic, and a program teaching how to use his work…
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Winter on the ridge: Wintry conditions cause Parkway closures despite warm temps at low elevations
Though a mixture of rain and ice pelted the windshield as I headed toward the Balsam Gap access of the…
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New museum to celebrate Fontana Dam’s 70th
A community museum and learning center at Fontana Village along Fontana Lake will commemorate the 70th anniversary of power production…
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More land conserved around Waterrock Knob
A 10-acre tract along the Blue Ridge Parkway and a new section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Jackson County will…
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Grant allows kids hiking trails to expand
Trail adventures for kids will expand in North Carolina over the coming years, thanks to a $921,000 grant from the…
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National park wraps up three years of stream mapping
A three-year stream-mapping project in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now complete, revealing new information about the park’s…
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The open water: Improved access, mapping set to spur water recreation in WNC
It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for water-lovers in Western North Carolina. After more than a decade of…
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Sylva man reflects on televised Alaskan survival experience, the adventure lifestyle
Scott McCleskey didn’t really know what he was saying yes to when he boarded the plane to Alaska, pack of…
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The uncommon common goldeneye
The best way I know of to get a rare bird to fly the coop is to write about it.…
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Hike the Dirty Dozen
Looking for a new way to explore the wilderness? Check out the Dirty Dozen Wilderness Hike Challenge.
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The A.T. just got a little longer
The Appalachian Trail has a new official length. It increased by 3.9 miles from last year to 2,189.2 miles due…
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Venus flytrap poachers caught
Four men, ages 22 to 49, were arrested with 970 Venus flytraps in their possession earlier this month at the…
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Access on Lake Emory gets better
A new canoe portage around the Lake Emory dam is expected to open in Franklin sometime in late spring.
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Couple conserves private tract in Jackson
A new conservation agreement finalized by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will protect 104 acres in Cullowhee from…
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Smokies visitation tops 10 million
For the first time in more than a decade, Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw more than 10 million visitors…
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Smokies makes must-see list of World Heritage sites
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is part of a new online travel itinerary from the National Park Service that…
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Clean Water Fund awards $1.3 million to land conservation in western counties
Projects in Haywood and Swain counties will benefit from an additional $4.5 million of Clean Water Management Trust Fund dollars…
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Insect wars hoped to take a bite out of pests
Pitting insect against insect, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission released predator beetles last month on the Sandy Mush Game Land,…
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Bird count catalogues avian diversity in WNC
Birders turned out throughout Western North Carolina — and the globe — to participate in an avian enthusiast’s favorite winter…
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Community support delivers new kitchen to Outdoor Mission Camp
Outdoor Mission Camp in Maggie Valley, an affiliate of Youth for Christ USA, is being outfitted with a new kitchen…
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Dog fight in the forest: Woman crusades for legal change after hunting dog attack
Kadie Anderson was packing up camp after a night in the backcountry with her two Australian shepherds when the peace…
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Double the fun
I had the pleasure of participating in two Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs) this past weekend. The first was the Balsam…
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Blue Ridge Biofuels expands
Blue Ridge Biofuels, an Asheville-based biodiesel company, is planning to expand to a new facility in Catawba County.
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Dig in to the white-collar side of farming
Learn the business side of farming with the Appalachian Farm School, a pilot agricultural business training program for farmers in…
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Haywood Waterways invites you to take the plunge
There’s something alluring about plunging into icy midwinter water — enough so that it spawns polar plunge fundraisers for sundry…
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Sparrowing at Kituwah
A quest for sparrow sightings will commence during the morning of Jan. 14 at Kituwah, an area of about 300…
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Land trust gets new executive director
Land Trust for the Little Tennessee has a new executive director in Sharon Fouts Taylor, who will move into the…
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Wildlife commission roles out proposed hunting and fishing regs
A public hearing on proposed changes to hunting, fishing and wildlife management regulations will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday,…
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School on the slopes: Cataloochee’s expanded kids program spreads the joy of sliding
Rain was beginning to set in on a fog-ridden day on the slopes when Annie Dephouse gave her 5-year-old charge,…
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Forest Stewards honored for conservation forestry
A Cullowhee-based forest management group was recently recognized for its work by Root Cause, a regional initiative to raise awareness…
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Haywood Waterways does good work
Editor’s note: The following is a submission from Haywood Waterways Association reflecting on the organization’s work to protect and improve…
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Roan Mountain viewsheds protected by land trust
A 76-acre tract along the Appalachian Trail on Roan Mountain has been permanently protected thanks to the Southern Appalachian Highlands…
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