Pitch in to cleanup along the Pigeon River in Canton
 

Pitch in to cleanup along the Pigeon River in Canton

Volunteers are needed for a cleanup day along the walking trail and stream bank of the Pigeon River at Canton…
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Marathon mountain bike race rolls in to Tsali
 

Marathon mountain bike race rolls in to Tsali

A 12-hour bike race in Nantahala National Forest near Bryson City will test the mettle and stamina of participating peddlers.…
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Duckett’s Produce enters tenth season
 

Duckett’s Produce enters tenth season

Duckett’s Produce has reopened for a tenth season at three locations in Haywood County, including Maggie Valley, Crabtree and Canton,…
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Salamander to be celebrated at Cradle of Forestry
 

Salamander to be celebrated at Cradle of Forestry

The Southern Appalachians have the world’s highest diversity of salamanders, and Salamander Saturday will introduce some of the key players,…
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Avian experience coming to Sapphire
 

Avian experience coming to Sapphire

A raptor demonstration at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, at Sapphire Valley Community Center will give participants a chance to…
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Story of the Cullowhee lily to be told at Lake J
 

Story of the Cullowhee lily to be told at Lake J

The tale of the once-common Cullowhee lily will take center stage at the next meeting of the Tuscola Garden Club,…
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Obstacle race serves up family-friendly adventure
 

Obstacle race serves up family-friendly adventure

The Merrell Adventure Dash, held at 4:30 p.m. May 24 in the Nantahala Gorge, will give participants of all ages…
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Ducks on the Tuck fundraiser floats into Swain County
 

Ducks on the Tuck fundraiser floats into Swain County

Ducks — of the rubber variety — will take to the Tuckaseegee River 1 p.m. Saturday, May 24, in an…
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Parkway project funding announced
 

Parkway project funding announced

More than $700,000 in funds raised from license plates, gifts and grants will go toward projects and programs on the…
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Turning away the invaders: Natural stream banks key to healthy waterways
 

Turning away the invaders: Natural stream banks key to healthy waterways

Take a walk in mid-May, and you probably won’t get far before finding somebody bent over a garden bed, weeding.…
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Smokies home to rare synchronized lightning bugs
 

Smokies home to rare synchronized lightning bugs

Spots are going fast to view the unique synchronous firefly display in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains…
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Regional counties to form Mountain United Classic soccer teams
 

Regional counties to form Mountain United Classic soccer teams

Soccer players ages 11 to 18 looking for a challenge beyond their local leagues will have a chance to try out…
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Birds of prey program swoops into Cherokee
 

Birds of prey program swoops into Cherokee

A Birds of Prey program planned for 1 p.m., May 9, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center will give visitors an…
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Smokies to offer glimpse of park careers
 

Smokies to offer glimpse of park careers

Anyone who’s wondered what a day in the life of a National Park Service employee looks like will get a…
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Springtime, garden time
 

Springtime, garden time

Unearth the secret of square-foot gardening A free introduction to square-foot gardening at 5:30 p.m. May 13 at the Canton…
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Growing Season: New farmers markets to bring local focus to Cowee, Maggie Valley
 

Growing Season: New farmers markets to bring local focus to Cowee, Maggie Valley

The grassy field is empty and the playground vacant as the sun sheds evening beams across the grounds of Cowee…
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Mastercast: The perfect cast is an elusive catch
 

Mastercast: The perfect cast is an elusive catch

When I finally roll up Pavilion Road for my casting lesson, I’m nearly half an hour late. A wrong turn…
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Fishing festival to take over
 

Fishing festival to take over

A deluge of fly fishermen will soon descend on Western Carolina University. It’s the annual Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival, and…
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Opportunity for Highlands birders
 

Opportunity for Highlands birders

Free, weekly bird-watching trips from the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society will start up in Highlands beginning May 3. Walks leave…
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Hike to take in rare pink shell azalea blooms
 

Hike to take in rare pink shell azalea blooms

A hike to see the rare pink shell azalea on the slopes of Black Rock Mountain near Panthertown, scheduled for…
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Déjà vu in the woods
 

Déjà vu in the woods

I was invited to help lead a bird walk focusing on wood warblers at this year’s 64th annual Spring Wildflower…
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Hike to wildflowers and waterfalls
 

Hike to wildflowers and waterfalls

Wildflower blaze expected on Highlands hike A wildflower hike will step off from the Jones Gap parking area near Highlands at…
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Plant sale, plant clinic
 

Plant sale, plant clinic

Plant sale planned for Franklin The 12th annual plant sale of the Macon County Master Gardener Association will be held 9…
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Cherokee language exhibit tours region
 

Cherokee language exhibit tours region

Cherokee language and culture is the focus of a touring exhibit slated to visit ten sites in the region throughout…
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Rule would limit dog hunting on some game land
 

Rule would limit dog hunting on some game land

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is accepting comments on a proposed temporary rule change that would prohibit using dogs to…
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Working for play: Trail groups pass forest stewardship to the next generation
 

Working for play: Trail groups pass forest stewardship to the next generation

The woods are quiet on a cool Saturday morning in late March. There’s no wind swaying the still-bare trees or…
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Spring celebration planned for Parkway
 

Spring celebration planned for Parkway

Live raptors, green building and spring flowers will all be part of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Greening of the Parkway…
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Wildflower Whimsy kicks off in Highlands
 

Wildflower Whimsy kicks off in Highlands

The Wildflower Whimsy event, May 2-3, at the Highlands Biological Foundation, will feature guided garden tours, a live plant auction…
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Farmers market kicks off in Waynesville
 

Farmers market kicks off in Waynesville

Another season is underway for Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market, which starts up again at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 26. The…
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Rain barrels available in Haywood County
 

Rain barrels available in Haywood County

Rain barrels made from recycled food-grade containers are available for purchase at the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and the…
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A boon for bears
 

A boon for bears

Bear management will get a boost in the Smokies with $4,000 in Appalachian Trail license plate sales to go toward…
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Volunteers to naturalize Richland Creek banks
 

Volunteers to naturalize Richland Creek banks

Volunteers are needed to help Haywood Waterways root the invasive plants out of Richland Creek’s banks at Vance Street Park…
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Skatepark closed for repairs
 

Skatepark closed for repairs

The Waynesville Skate Park will be closed from April 28 to May 2 for repairs. The park will reopen May…
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Smokies celebrate Junior Ranger Day
 

Smokies celebrate Junior Ranger Day

National Junior Ranger Day will spur festivities in Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April…
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Growing season yields new farmers market
 

Growing season yields new farmers market

The Franklin area will be getting a new farmer’s market this year, held on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 7 p.m.…
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Disc golfers to descend on Cullowhee
 

Disc golfers to descend on Cullowhee

Disc golfers will have a chance to show their stuff at the Inaugural Disc Golf Tournament at 5:30 p.m., Friday,…
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WNC home to most popular National Park
 

WNC home to most popular National Park

Western North Carolina can lay claim to two of 2013’s top three most visited places in the National Park System.…
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History and watershed hike in the Smokies
 

History and watershed hike in the Smokies

A guided hike along Big Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be held at noon April 26…
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Anonymous donation rocks the national park
 

Anonymous donation rocks the national park

An anonymous donor gifted $2.2 million to Great Smoky Mountains Association last week, one of the largest cash donations ever…
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Haywood agritourism guide available
 

Haywood agritourism guide available

From farmers markets to roadside stands to U Pick farms to plant nurseries to historic preservation sites, Haywood County’s agricultural…
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Graveyard Fields closing for upgrades
 

Graveyard Fields closing for upgrades

One the Blue Ridge Parkway’s most popular recreation areas will soon be closing for construction. The Graveyard Fields parking area…
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Bring in the army: Initiative will link allies in fight against hemlock wooly adelgid
 

Bring in the army: Initiative will link allies in fight against hemlock wooly adelgid

As stand after stand of towering hemlocks falls to the appetite of an insect smaller than a grain of rice,…
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Blood moon grand slam
 

Blood moon grand slam

Somewhere beyond the rain and clouds, in the wee hours yesterday morning (April 15), there was a striking blood moon…
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Hundreds of free garden kits passed out in Cherokee
 

Hundreds of free garden kits passed out in Cherokee

Tribal families got some help jumpstarting their summer gardens when Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Principal Chief Michell Hicks handed…
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Carolinas to experience total lunar eclipse
 

Carolinas to experience total lunar eclipse

Astronomy lovers and night owls in the Carolinas will get the chance to witness a total eclipse of the moon…
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Roadside bottles: a death trap for shrews
 

Roadside bottles: a death trap for shrews

Learn how bottles tossed out along the roadside are killing small mammals in the mountains during a talk held on…
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Turkey season open
 

Turkey season open

Turkey hunting season will open April 12 and run through May 10. A youth-only turkey season is already underway.
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Monarchs declining as habitat and food source shrinks
 

Monarchs declining as habitat and food source shrinks

A multi-media program, Make Way for Monarchs, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. April 19 at the Cradle…
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Help clean up a stream to honor Earth Day
 

Help clean up a stream to honor Earth Day

Haywood Waterways Association is heading up several Earth Day themed activities this month, including a series of stream clean-ups. 
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Forest users negotiate need for wilderness in new management plan
 

Forest users negotiate need for wilderness in new management plan

Western North Carolina is covered with more than 1,500 square miles of national forest, and residents often measure their assets…
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