Rafting’s restrained rebound: Commercial outfitters attempt to paddle back from record rain year
The summer is shaping into a pretty good rafting season for Tee Davis. “It’s awesome, man,” said Davis, owner of…
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More dialogue – anyone listening?
The next USDA Forest Service public meeting regarding the National Forest Plan Revision will be held from 9 a.m. to…
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Forging a forecast: NASA, Duke project aims toward better weather forecasts in the Smokies
It’s no secret that an accurate weather forecast is hard to come by in the Smokies. But after two months…
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Following the arrow: Bowed Up Outdoors expands offerings, serves growing archery community
Walk into Bowed Up Outdoors, and the first thing you’ll notice is the friendly banter moving back and forth between…
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A wet and wonderful weekend
Thanks to the generosity of a friend, my family and I spent a long weekend on Fontana Lake. The small…
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Downward row: NOC guide canoes to world record waterfall run
It wasn’t until Brad McMillan got his canoe on the water that the moment hit him. He’d been preparing for…
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Synchronous fireflies draw thousands to the Smokies
It’s a little after 7 p.m. when the first trolley shows up to Elkmont Campground. Green, red and yellow, the…
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An unapologetic scientist
The cosmos loom large and wondrous again, and much of the credit goes to one charming, affable but steadfastly rigorous…
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Colliding worlds: Maggie Valley bear conflict ends with dead mom, orphaned cubs
A black bear — and possibly one of its cubs — is dead after a run of bird seed raids…
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Resurrecting Graveyard Fields: Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation funds makeover for popular recreation site
Rhododendrons are opening deep pink blooms along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and new spring foliage blends into a bright blue…
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Doin’ Puc Puggy proud
The Tennessee Valley Authority, in 1984, found itself with an extra $14,000 lying around. The money was available for outreach…
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In a lurch about larch: Mystery tree leaves retired professor probing for answers
To the untrained eye, the tree looks like just another evergreen, just another species thrown into the mix of natural…
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Turn it off: WCU comes out on top in national energy reduction competition
When the Campus Conservation Nationals Competition wrapped up this spring, Western Carolina University came out near the top of a…
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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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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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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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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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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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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
Somewhere beyond the rain and clouds, in the wee hours yesterday morning (April 15), there was a striking blood moon…
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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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Believe it or not, spring is around the corner
Despite last week’s chill and blustery snow, we are in the throes of spring migration. Actually, migration never stops. There…
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Lookin’ good up there: Ozone outlook positive for North Carolina
Warmer weather is on its way, but along with the sunny afternoons comes the return of ozone season. A bad…
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The AT experience won’t be left behind
It’s been nearly eight years since Amy “Willow” Allen passed through Western North Carolina as a tired-and-hungry AT through-hiker. But…
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Time to get your Green on
No, I’m not late. I’m not talking about puking green beer or waking up with Leprechauns — I’m talking about…
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Climbing to the top: Local school a hub for outdoor training
It’s a chilly day on the Tuckasegee River. Air temperature is in the mid-40s, and the water isn’t much warmer. …
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WCU cycling team brings regional race to Cullowhee
By Jake Flannick • SMN Correspondent About a year ago, Patrick O’Neal bought an old, chrome-rimmed Schwinn bicycle. He was just…
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Somebody got some splainen to do
People say the corporate world has no soul. Corporations don’t give a rat’s behind about their employees, especially after they’re…
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Hops growing on the minds of Appalachian agriculture
Heidi Dunkelberg is determined to make hops synonymous with Western North Carolina. “I’ve got to figure it out,” she said.…
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To the summit: Old age no match for record-setting Macon man
Not just anybody can keep up with Jim Pader. Last year alone, he hiked 534 miles and has logged 738.4…
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Study finds success in amphibian pond project
Take an evening walk through the woods this time of year, and odds are you’ll hear the grumpy quacking of…
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Will we extinguish another beautiful light?
A river of burnt umber flows every year from southern Canada through the U.S. to the oyamel fir forests in…
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Let it snow! Area photographers capture winter beauty in WNC
For every degree of cold or inconvenience, wintry weather adds two of beauty. Members of Waynesville’s Lens Luggers photography club…
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Dinosaurs, LEGOS and toads, oh dear
No better way to celebrate a big thaw than an impromptu field trip. We rounded up kids, friends and friends’…
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Hooked for life: Mills reels in memories with artisan rods
There’s nothing abnormal about the pair of armchairs in Jim and Baraba Mills’ living room, or about the television —…
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You yellow-bellied sapsucker
In my youth, never did a B-western movie make it to the end without the bad guy being cornered and…
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Forest fixer-upper: Logging clears the way for a more ecologically robust watershed
The silence seeped from the mountain ridges and hung heavily over the forest, silence like a deep well, so deep…
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Discovery Place
Looking for something fun for the kids on a cold and/or rainy winter’s day. The Discovery Place in Charlotte has…
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Energy on the horizon: Debate on drilling still hypothetical, but groundwork is being laid
From the oil fields of North Dakota to the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, the U.S. oil and gas industry is…
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Rules rule and rulers rue it
I mentioned the fact a couple of weeks ago that N.C. House Bill 74— the Regulatory Reform Act of 2013…
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The cost of cleaner air: New pollution standards would cost paper mill $50 million in upgrades
Evergreen Packaging’s Canton paper mill will be writing some big checks over the coming years as it moves to comply…
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CBC gods smile on Lake Junaluska
The annual Balsam Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place Saturday, Jan. 4. In the weeks prior to the count many…
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Ski Junaluska Weekends pair Christian fellowship with downhill fun
By Colby Dunn • SMN correspondent Perched atop the crest of a mountain, with two slim pieces of fiberglass strapped to…
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Seeds of Change: Trading seeds is at root of effort to save crops
Survey your supermarket and you’ll see pretty much the same stuff anywhere in the country: oranges from Florida, onions from…
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Time to rejoin the “battle outside”
This appears especially true in the Old Home State where the (first in over 100 years) Republican triad used the…
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Here a cluck, there a cluck: Backyard chickens make inroads with trendy urbanites
Jacob Flannick • SMN Correspondent Jonathan and Abby Landry don’t limit the spirit of giving to the holiday season. For this…
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A white Christmas
We touched on this winter’s irruption of snowy owls a couple of weeks ago, but these birds continue to pop…
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Slow day at Lake J
I believe Lake Junaluska has spoiled local birders like me. I spent about an hour and a half poking around…
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‘EPIC’: First-ever rail jam at Cataloochee attracts 50 competitors
By Lindsay Wertz • Correspondent After hours of work and preparation, six terrain elements sparkled imposingly under the lights on Cataloochee…
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Record snowfall
This snowfall is measured in feathers or bodies, not inches. This year is turning out to be a major irruption…
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