Hail, hail the gang’s still here
 

Hail, hail the gang’s still here

I’ve recently been seeing lots of posts like these on Carolina Birders’ FaceBook page: “… My pine siskins have departed,…
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Mark your calendar for Spring
 

Mark your calendar for Spring

The weather is wintry, but spring is just around the corner. Mark your calendar for some of these upcoming springtime…
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Fees increase at Glenville campground
 

Fees increase at Glenville campground

For the first time in more than 18 years, fees at the Ralph J. Andrews Campground on Lake Glenville, which…
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Report spottings of the latest invasive plant: the fig buttercup
 

Report spottings of the latest invasive plant: the fig buttercup

A new invasive plant species is springing up in moist, nutrient-rich soils across eastern North America and has been spotted…
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Waynesville pursues bike-friendly roads
 

Waynesville pursues bike-friendly roads

Big white stencils of helmeted bikers now adorn a growing number of streets throughout Waynesville.
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WNC gear builders to show their stuff
 

WNC gear builders to show their stuff

Outdoor lovers will get a chance to see some of the best locally made gear during Outdoor Gear Builders of…
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Public greenhouse space up for grabs in Haywood
 

Public greenhouse space up for grabs in Haywood

Gardeners can get a head start on the growing season by renting greenhouse space for their seed trays at the…
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Prescribed burn planned for Cataloochee
 

Prescribed burn planned for Cataloochee

A 550-acre prescribed burn will start soon near Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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Sales strong for Smokies plates
 

Sales strong for Smokies plates

Friends of the Smokies got its largest-ever fourth-quarter check from sales of the Smokies bear license plate, accruing $105,080 for…
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WNC teens strut environmental know-how
 

WNC teens strut environmental know-how

Teams of middle and high school students from across Western North Carolina went head-to-head over their knowledge of environmental science…
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Paddling for Gold: NRC’s world-class whitewater stars are paddling hard this winter to secure a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team
 

Paddling for Gold: NRC’s world-class whitewater stars are paddling hard this winter to secure a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team

By Michael Beadle It’s 26 degrees on a November morning, and Jamie Tidmore has just finished another whitewater kayaking run…
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Eureka! Dilemma dissolved
 

Eureka! Dilemma dissolved

I can’t understand how imminent ornithologists, in particular, and biologists, scientists and researchers in general have overlooked the obvious truth…
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Blazing a trail: Work starts on first Bartram Trail addition since the 1990s
 

Blazing a trail: Work starts on first Bartram Trail addition since the 1990s

It’s been nearly 20 years since Burt Kornegay first started looking into land along Hickory Knoll Road in Macon County,…
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Brevard company recognized in international competition
 

Brevard company recognized in international competition

Brevard-based SylvanSport has been named a finalist in the internationally renowned Edison Awards for its product GO, a lightweight pull-behind…
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Celebrate the diversity of the Smokies
 

Celebrate the diversity of the Smokies

The public is invited to mingle with researchers from around the world March 19-21 during the annual conference of Discover…
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Jump on the solar train with Solarize WNC
 

Jump on the solar train with Solarize WNC

A campaign to introduce homeowners and businesses to the option of solar energy is underway in Jackson, Haywood, Macon and…
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Renowned nature photographer to talk in Sylva
 

Renowned nature photographer to talk in Sylva

Les Saucier, a professional nature photographer, will speak at the Sylva Photo Club at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at…
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AT lay-over, Fontana Dam knighted as official trail town
 

AT lay-over, Fontana Dam knighted as official trail town

Hiker Haze Weekend will welcome the season’s first Appalachian Trail thru-hikers at Fontana Village Resort March 25-26, along with a…
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Bring on the bikes: Mountains to coast bike ride to kick off from Waynesville
 

Bring on the bikes: Mountains to coast bike ride to kick off from Waynesville

The plans are set: Waynesville’s getting invaded this fall, and the army will be 1,000 strong.  Semi trucks will haul…
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Volunteers sought to adopt tree plot
 

Volunteers sought to adopt tree plot

Smokies rangers are looking for tree-lovers who want to try their hand at science to adopt a tree monitoring plot…
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Buy Haywood guide seeks new listings
 

Buy Haywood guide seeks new listings

An agritourism guide for Haywood County is looking for new listings to help visitors and locals alike explore everything from…
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Weigh in on Cold Mountain Game Land management plans
 

Weigh in on Cold Mountain Game Land management plans

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is working on a plan to guide management at the Cold Mountain Game Land in…
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WNC farmers expand business through grants
 

WNC farmers expand business through grants

Farmers in Western North Carolina will branch out with new crops and alternative growing methods, thanks to 31 grants totaling…
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Life on LeConte: Winter on the top demonstrates the harshness and beauty of nature
 

Life on LeConte: Winter on the top demonstrates the harshness and beauty of nature

Sipping hot tea while swaddled beside a propane heater, warmth beaming as wind whips snowflakes around the mountaintop outside. A…
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Database to showcase purveyors wood and forestry products
 

Database to showcase purveyors wood and forestry products

A “buy local” directory for wood-related products from Western North Carolina is looking for more businesses, artisans and organizations to…
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Celebrate winter Smoky style
 

Celebrate winter Smoky style

Maggie Valley’s inaugural WinterFest Smoky Style will celebrate the best of the cold-weather season 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday,…
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Game on (the table) at fundraising dinner
 

Game on (the table) at fundraising dinner

An annual Wild Game Dinner hosted by the Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College will serve up a meal of…
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New Satulah trail in the works
 

New Satulah trail in the works

Learn about the Highland Plateau Greenway’s vision to build a public trail to the top of Satulah Mountain at a…
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State bill seeks to strike down fracking rules
 

State bill seeks to strike down fracking rules

Bills to get rid of the oil and gas extraction rules developed by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission have…
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Hike explores Smokemont
 

Hike explores Smokemont

The season’s first hike in Friends of the Smokies’ “Classic Hikes of the Smokies” series will explore Smokemont Loop Trail…
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WCU launches outdoor speaker series
 

WCU launches outdoor speaker series

A speaker series featuring outdoor adventurers at Western Carolina University will kick off at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, with…
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A Golden secret
 

A Golden secret

There is one winter visitor to our North Carolina Mountains that is probably happy the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed…
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WNC conservationists honored
 

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
 

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 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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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 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
 

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 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
 

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
 

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
 

Arboretum to memorialize landscaping great

The father of American landscape architecture will soon be memorialized at the North Carolina Arboretum.
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