Food dehydration subject of hiking club meet
 

Food dehydration subject of hiking club meet

Hikers can learn how to use proper dehydration techniques to make their own trail and backpacking foods at the monthly…
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Every breath sings mountains
 

Every breath sings mountains

Friday, Sept. 23, is the autumn solstice. The solstice is about balance and harmony — the day and night are…
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Meet, learn about llamas
 

Meet, learn about llamas

It’s not everyday you get to have afternoon tea with llamas, those unusual but valuable pack animals that are showing…
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Cowee Mound site of bird-monitoring work
 

Cowee Mound site of bird-monitoring work

Cherokee students and teachers have undertaken the first part of a long-term monitoring project of birds at the Cowee Mound…
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Moonlight Race makes a comeback
 

Moonlight Race makes a comeback

The Maggie Valley Moonlight Race this past weekend had 430 runners take to the street, a respectable comeback after a…
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Youth dove hunt to be held in Haywood
 

Youth dove hunt to be held in Haywood

About 20 young hunters, accompanied by licensed-to-hunt adults, will take part in a dove hunt Saturday, Sept. 3, at the…
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Learn about Monarchs on the Parkway
 

Learn about Monarchs on the Parkway

Monarch butterflies are back. The first of the monarch butterflies have been spotted recently on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a…
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Swain kid launch outdoor adventure club
 

Swain kid launch outdoor adventure club

Swain’s newest 4-H Club, the Outdoor Adventurers, waded into a mountain stream recently looking for salamanders, damselflies and other critters…
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Cataloochee Ranch commemorates the chestnut tree
 

Cataloochee Ranch commemorates the chestnut tree

Come celebrate the return of the great American chestnut tree Saturday, Sept. 10, at Cataloochee Ranch outside Maggie Valley. This…
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HCC student turns business plan into business reality
 

HCC student turns business plan into business reality

Dustin Cornelison of Haywood County has turned his belief in living a sustainable and frugal lifestyle into an actual business.…
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New heirloom corn strain discovered
 

New heirloom corn strain discovered

It’s not everyday that someone gets credit for contributing a previously unidentified variety of seed to the national seed bank,…
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Friends of the Smokies telethon tops $200,000
 

Friends of the Smokies telethon tops $200,000

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park raised $201,209 through its 17th annual “Friends Across the Mountains” telethon — topping…
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Save seed with Frankebelle and the greasy-bean team
 

Save seed with Frankebelle and the greasy-bean team

Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect…
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Save seed with Frankebelle and the greasy-bean team
 

Save seed with Frankebelle and the greasy-bean team

Macon County’s Frankebelle Scruggs and a local “greasy-bean team” from the Cowee community will show folks how best to collect…
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Twenty promising crops to “farm” in the forest
 

Twenty promising crops to “farm” in the forest

Learn about turning your woodlot into a farm through a Mountain BizWorks workshop on Forest-Farming Practices from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept.…
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Feathered hurricane hunter
 

Feathered hurricane hunter

On Aug. 24 Chinquapin soared into the dangerous northeast quadrant of then category 3 Hurricane Irene. The Lockheed Martin C-130…
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Keeping the well full: WCU researchers probe fractured rock aquifers in the mountains
 

Keeping the well full: WCU researchers probe fractured rock aquifers in the mountains

A maze of pores and rock fractures in the Appalachian Mountains make it one of the most complex hydrological systems…
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Blue Ridge Breakaway tops 400 participants
 

Blue Ridge Breakaway tops 400 participants

More than 400 riders participated in the second Blue Ridge Breakaway, held this Saturday (Aug. 20) in Haywood County. The…
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Farm bill supports water quality efforts
 

Farm bill supports water quality efforts

If you are farming in Haywood County, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service is accepting applications to support efforts that…
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Don’t just own a forest, manage it for wildlife and tax benefits
 

Don’t just own a forest, manage it for wildlife and tax benefits

Learn how to manage forests for wildlife and timber production, plus review tax strategies and estate planning at an upcoming…
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Taste of the Market to feature Jackson farmers
 

Taste of the Market to feature Jackson farmers

The Jackson County Farmers Market will hold its annual “Taste of the Market” starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27,…
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Professor to talk about human-animal relationships
 

Professor to talk about human-animal relationships

Hal Herzog of Western Carolina University will discuss the complications of human-animal relationships, the focus of his recently published book,…
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Time to break out that camera
 

Time to break out that camera

Shutterbug alert: A fall field photography program will run for four weeks starting in September in Haywood County. Class members…
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Grant money to fund gardening research, education in Haywood
 

Grant money to fund gardening research, education in Haywood

Need help paying for research or educational outreach about the environment, gardening or horticulture? The Haywood County Master Gardener Volunteer…
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Budding gardeners hone greenthumbs
 

Budding gardeners hone greenthumbs

Young gardeners from Junaluska Elementary School won first place recently in a landscape design competition at the N.C. Master Gardeners…
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Testifying
 

Testifying

I just wanted to shout an amen to brother George Ellison’s Aug. 10 Back Then column, “Late summer is an…
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Get your horse vaccinated
 

Get your horse vaccinated

A horse in the eastern part of the state tested positive this month for Easter Equine Encephalomyelitis, a warning to…
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Dahlia show coming to Waynesville
 

Dahlia show coming to Waynesville

Three local dahlia growers in Haywood County, Jack Leatherwood, Johnny Trantham and Ken Zula, were recently visited by Southern Living…
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A great race makes a comeback
 

A great race makes a comeback

There aren’t too many road races in Western North Carolina with the storied history of the Maggie Valley Moonlight Race,…
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Ancient trails serve as basis of today’s transportation system
 

Ancient trails serve as basis of today’s transportation system

Want to understand and know about the Cherokee trails that shaped this region? On Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.,…
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Popular off-road triathlon coming up
 

Popular off-road triathlon coming up

If you are feeling tough and fit, then the Tsali Challenge is just the right event to showcase your paddling,…
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Hearing set next month on proposed hunting and fishing changes
 

Hearing set next month on proposed hunting and fishing changes

There a few proposed changes being made to the state’s wildlife management and fishing regulations that would impact Western North…
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Bears force shutdowns in popular areas
 

Bears force shutdowns in popular areas

Increased bear activity in the Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest has led to closings in Yancey County…
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Have a barrel of fun at the Rickman Store, plus learn a few things
 

Have a barrel of fun at the Rickman Store, plus learn a few things

Learn how to make your own rain barrel, create a stormwater wetland and about habitat rehabilitation projects in general at…
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Learn how to build a rain barrel
 

Learn how to build a rain barrel

Learn how to build your own rain barrel at a Haywood Waterways Association workshop. Rain barrels are a great source…
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The state of the Tuck
 

The state of the Tuck

A workshop on the State of the Tuckaseegee River will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug.…
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Photographer to talk about international project in Highlands
 

Photographer to talk about international project in Highlands

Clay Bolt, an award-winning natural history photographer, will be at the Highlands Nature Center at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25.…
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Get those cameras out for the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition
 

Get those cameras out for the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition

Shutterbug alert: The ninth annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is now open for registration and submissions. Amateur and professional photographers…
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Take a volunteer trail vacation on the AT
 

Take a volunteer trail vacation on the AT

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Rocky Top Trail Crew is looking for horse packers and crew volunteers this fall to help…
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Hike Panthertown? Then help keep the trails up, too
 

Hike Panthertown? Then help keep the trails up, too

Want to help keep Panthertown Valley beautiful and accessible? Volunteers are needed Saturday, Aug. 20, for a Trail Work Day.…
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Rankin Bottoms
 

Rankin Bottoms

I can always count on Rankin Bottoms Wildlife Refuge when I need a Loosiana Delta fix. This musky backwater with…
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Going the distance: Bike riders fuel up right for Blue Ridge Breakaway
 

Going the distance: Bike riders fuel up right for Blue Ridge Breakaway

If you’re going to put on and sponsor what has quickly evolved into one of the region’s most popular road-bike…
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Stand-off over the Chattooga nears finale
 

Stand-off over the Chattooga nears finale

Paddlers are ever-so-slightly winning a tug-of-war over the Upper Chattooga River, a Wild and Scenic River that plunges off the…
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Haywood Fair to host farm fresh dinner and mini-market
 

Haywood Fair to host farm fresh dinner and mini-market

The Haywood County Fair this year will feature a Farm Fresh meal to celebrate agriculture in Western North Carolina at…
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All about the local food movement in Macon
 

All about the local food movement in Macon

A talk on the local food movement will be held at noon on Thursday, August 11, in Franklin hosted by…
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Foundation to hold banquet for 10th anniversary of reintroduction
 

Foundation to hold banquet for 10th anniversary of reintroduction

An annual banquet and auction to benefit this region’s chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is set for Saturday,…
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Tour nursery that caters to wildlife
 

Tour nursery that caters to wildlife

Learn about plants that attract birds, butterflies and other wild critters on a field trip to Spring Valley Nursery in…
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Wild gardener comes to Sylva
 

Wild gardener comes to Sylva

Peter Loewer, a.k.a. the “Wild Gardener”, will present a program about native plants at 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 30 at…
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Backpackers in the Smokies may soon pay for permits
 

Backpackers in the Smokies may soon pay for permits

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park boasts the largest backcountry in the Eastern United States, yet for backpackers hoping to…
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Learn drift boat how-to’s from retired WCU engineering prof
 

Learn drift boat how-to’s from retired WCU engineering prof

Want to know how to use a drift boat? There’s an opportunity to learn from an actual designer, builder and…
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