Haywood Waterways lauds water quality heroes
The Haywood Waterways Association announced its water quality heroes for the year at its annual banquet in December. Here’s who…
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Public lands feel the pressure: a recurring theme
Conflicts over public land continued to heat up in 2009 as more people turn to outdoor recreation in WNC. More…
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Boars and otters among Wildlife Commission changes
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is now taking public comment on several proposed changes to hunting and fishing regulations. The…
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A look back at the year’s top environmental stories
The past year has been marked by some good and not so good news for the environment in Western North…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Snowbirds are here No, I’m not talking about your Uncle Bernie and Aunt Esther from New York City. I’m talking…
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Save the planet by changing your diet
By Rudy Beharrysingh • Professor, Southwestern Community College Editor’s note: This series of green living tips is provided by Sustainable…
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Dressing right for winter weather
By Doug Scarborough • Contributing writer With the winter season here, dressing appropriately to prevent cold injuries is often overlooked.…
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A stellar year for Cataloochee’s elk
When the first batch of 25 elk were released in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park seven years ago, it…
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Was the night really that silent?
According to old Appalachian tradition, you don’t have to be named Doolittle to hear the animals. You just have to…
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College students squeeze value out of trash
It took a team of Western Carolina University students just 10 days and dozens of discarded plastic bottles to design…
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Life in Hazel Creek: Mountain Discovery Charter School 8th-graders experience life as pre-national park settlers
Editor’s note: The following is series of student-written excerpts from a five-day camping trip taken to the Hazel Creek area…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Gun-toting tourist deters smarter than average bear Setting: A campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nightfall, Jan. 13,…
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HCC serves up student-grown produce
This spring, the greens served in Haywood Community College’s cafeteria couldn’t have been more local — they were grown just…
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National parks to lift ban on gun-packing visitors
Visitors could soon be toting loaded, concealed guns in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A long-standing ban on loaded…
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Smokies plate helps Friends help the park
The new specialty license plate for Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, sporting a black bear against a mountain…
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Gear crazy: Outfitters brainstorm on holiday gift solutions
With only a couple weeks left for holiday shopping, local outfitters are stocked with solutions for the outdoor aficionados on…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Bees do it and die Honeybees are not native to the States. But these prolific pollinators arrived with the earliest…
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Here come the seed catalogs
By Jim Janke Editor’s note: This is a regular feature on gardening by the Haywood County master gardeners. Look for…
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Biodiverse: WNC’s unique environment a major topic at multi-state economic development conference
The idea of using the region’s readily accessible natural resources in daily life is nothing new in the mountains, a…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Bad moon ‘risin
When we headed for the car after a glorious Thanksgiving dinner, the skies above Jonathan Creek were dark and clear,…
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Finding homes for wind towers: Balancing green energy with green forests
The National Forest Service is trying to hash out a new policy for building wind towers on public lands. The…
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Unexpected guest
There are almost as many reasons for watching birds as there are birders. Whether you are a backyard birder content…
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Campaign for Needmore campground goes public
Mountain Neighbors for Needmore Preservation hope to raise about $250,000 to make a family campground on the Needmore tract a…
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Camping to return at Needmore
When some 4,400 acres along the Little Tennessee River known as the Needmore Tract was taken over by the N.C.…
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The seach goes on
For the past four years — five years total, if you count the magical, muddy, mystery tour in Louisiana back…
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Grand plans in store for Cherokee trout hatchery
The Cherokee Tribal Trout Hatchery is embarking on $500,000 renovation project that will more than double its already impressive capacity…
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State forest users protests proposed bear hunt
A handful of lucky hunting parties were about to embark on a special bear hunt in DuPont State Forest last…
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Birdapalooza results
My brother and I conducted our annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge in…
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Endangered bat numbers rise, but mysterious illness poses threat
The endangered Indiana bat saw a 9 percent population increase between 2005 and 2007, continuing a 12-year rise in bat…
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A long time coming
The public is two-and-a-half years late learning that a popular area for swimming, rafting and fishing in Jackson County isn’t…
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My bags are packed
And I’m Loosiana bound — you do know it was named after Louis, not Louise?
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Mountain waters aren’t what they appear; Scotts Creek tests ‘scary high’ for contaminates
Unsafe levels of fecal coliform in the Tuckasegee River and two tributaries around Dillsboro have Jackson County public health officials…
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Final countdown to the Chattooga decision
There are nine scenarios on the table in the debate over whether paddling should be allowed on the Upper Chattooga.…
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Garden questions
By Jim Janke • Special to the Smoky Mountain News Editor’s note: This is the first of what will become…
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Wings of winter
Winter birding is often slow going. There is no chorus of rowdy and randy males singing lustily, and weather conditions…
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The Chattooga compromise: With solitude at stake, Chattooga recreation to be reined in
A long-awaited decision over paddling on the Upper Chattooga is expected within weeks by the National Forest Service.
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The Naturalist's Corner
There she was when I got up around 6:30 this morning, the buttons from her blue jeans shining radiantly just…
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Reward offered in Parkway bear killing
A driver on the Blue Ridge Parkway last November witnessed a group of hunters and their dogs corner a black…
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Anticipation
It’s nine o’clock and my 6-year-old is snug in her bed and sound asleep even though she’s been told it…
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Park’s brookie population withstands drought well
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer The Southern Appalachian brook trout population is surviving through the drought that has been…
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Watershed represents diverse ecosystems
Norm Christensen told the Waynesville Watershed Advisory Board (WAB), representatives from the town and a few interested onlookers that despite…
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Day hikes along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
Balsam Gap Segment This portion of the trail runs for approximately 35 miles from Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) Balsam Gap…
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Parkway rangers work to save hemlocks
With a massive die-off of hemlock trees all but imminent in the mountains, Ranger Chris Ulrey is putting faith in…
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At the helm: New director aims to complete the Mountains to Sea Trail
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail hope its first-ever executive director will be able…
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Hits and misses
The Carolina Field Birders (CFB) conducted their sixth annual Christmas Bird Count this past Saturday (12/29.) The annual CBC count…
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Parkway views from Waynesville overlook protected
A ridgeline tract adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooking Waynesville has been saved from development, thanks to the acquisition…
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A Christmas gift
Citizens of Washington County, hundreds of thousands of migrating waterfowl and Navy pilots who would have been put in harm’s…
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Hike to Pinnacle Peak
There are two ways to hike to Pinnacle Peak, which is renowned for its 360-degree views from the Plott Balsams.
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Pinnacle Park's future
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Sylva Town Board members are brainstorming for ways to manage Pinnacle Park, 1,100 acres…
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Gifts that keep giving
Looking for a Christmas present? Western North Carolina is home to many outdoors organizations, conservation groups, outing clubs, nature societies…
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