Winged migration of a different sort
After getting all the two-leggeds to bed last night I went out to the yard to wrangle the four-leggeds. Dusk…
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The ivory-billed swami predicts
For those not acquainted with the ivory-billed swami, I will give you a bit of history. This is from the…
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Happy trails: Franklin mountain biker sets his sights on a busy racing season
By Michael Beadle Some people bike for the fun of it. Some people bike to race. For Franklin’s Owen Simpson,…
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I wanna another peep outta ya!
Jeepers creepers, don’t ya here those peepers. Gram for gram, Pseudacris crucifer is one of the loudest amphibians out there.…
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Park: Don’t blame us for the ladybugs
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials say they have been erroneously blamed by some residents for introducing large, black and…
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Gus the gruffy grouse gets territorial
Jerry Smathers is public enemy number one for a ruffed grouse named Gus that lives on the forest bordering Smathers’…
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Deep into Gorges State Park
By Ed Kelley Tiptoeing quickly across the Toxaway River, my ankle gaiters did the job and kept the cold water…
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Alien vs. Predator in the GSMNP
A new breed of predator beetles that could help fight the hemlock wooly adelgid were released in the Great Smoky…
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Park lifts ban on brookies thanks to long-term trout recovery
For the first time in more than 30 years, fishermen in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be allowed…
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Burroughs Wellcome Fund welcome
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has renewed its commitment to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s inquiry-based, hands-on science education programs.…
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Filming on the fly
By Sarah Kucharski Standing in the shallows of the Tuckasegee River between Webster and Dillsboro, cold water flowing around the…
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Whose woods are these? N.C. governor battles Bush administration over road-building in national forests
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley called last week for roadless areas to be protected in the Nantahala and Pisgah national…
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The need for speed: Waynesville elite cyclist Nancy Lux competes nationally with BMW-Bianchi women’s cycling team
By Michael Beadle By day, Nancy Lux crunches numbers as a certified public accountant in Waynesville. After work, you may…
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Spring is on the wing
Step out on the deck with your morning coffee or pause in the yard for a moment after you strap…
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Conservation groups file lawsuit to protect endangered warbler
Concerned by continuing decline of the cerulean warbler, five conservation groups, including some based in Western North Carolina, filed a…
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Burroughs Fund adds $138,600 for WNC science education
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has announced a three-year, $138,600 grant to renew its support for science education programs for middle…
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A daffodil by any other name
Around 8 a.m. last Sunday (Feb. 26), my wife and I backed out of the driveway and headed to Clyde’s…
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Land for sale — yours
When Dick Morgan, a fisherman from Maggie Valley, heard that two acres on Hurricane Mountain was on the chopping block…
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Just the dregs
Those pitching the plan to sell off pieces of the national forest claim the parcels on the list are inconsequential.…
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Handouts by the numbers
Counties with national forest or park land in their borders get two types of money from the federal government: payment…
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A double crested whammy
We were leaving Monroe, La., just after dawn last Sunday, Feb. 19. We crossed over a small levee and dam…
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Logging plan for Kirby Knob forest upheld
A coalition of environmental groups and local residents lost their appeal against a logging operation in the Nantahala National Forest…
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A pickle of a Prong
I felt like I should have had crampons on my boots, like the spikes mountain climbers use on ice. The…
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The guns of winter
There was a blast from Vice President Dick Cheney’s 28-gauge shotgun — a gun, by the way, that one Web…
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Land trusts launch national vetting process
Land conservation trusts cropping up across Western North Carolina and the rest of the country will soon be able to…
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We’ll weather the weather, whatever it is
One of my daughter Izzy’s favorite videos is “Little Bear’s Winter Tales.” She likes the episode with the blizzard. The…
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The Bigfoot crew
The team of Bigfoot researchers who came to Cherokee last week to investigate reports of a mysterious creature encounter run…
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The hunt for Bigfoot comes to town
Stealth is not the preferred modus operandi of the Bigfoot team when they roll into town. Their black suburban, bound…
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Bigfoot: personal encounter?
For 12 years, Wanda Childers has brushed off encounters with a mysterious creature lurking around her trailer in the Whittier…
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TVA lawsuit Q&A
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper issued the following question and answer column on the state’s air pollution law suit…
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State sues TVA for polluting mountains’ air
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority last week seeking to significantly reduce pollution…
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Cornell – it’s more than just ivory-billeds
Cornell University and the ivory-billed woodpecker have been inextricably linked since the announcement in 2005 of the rediscovery of the…
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Elk negotiations continue
Dick Hamilton, director of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Biologists with…
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A lone cry of reason from the wilderness
The January 2006 edition of “The Auk,” the journal of the American Ornithologists’ Union, includes a 15-page article by Jerome…
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Local BMX teen aims high
A 15-year-old from Waynesville hopes to be part of the women’s USA BMX bike team at the 2008 Olympics after…
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Congress debates longevity of the Endangered Species Act
A move to rewrite the Endangered Species Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to come…
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Time spent outdoors always validates itself
By Ed Kelley When I think of the mountains of Western North Carolina, I like to believe I know a…
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Winter Fishing is more than it gets credit for
By Eugene Shuler Winter is a great time to go fishing. Don’t believe me? Just look at what you don’t…
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Seeking a new chill
By Michael Beadle Freezing temperatures may keep some people bundled up indoors, but not Adam Fox. When the temperatures dip…
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Trees up close and personal
Winter is a great time for studying tree identification. The mountains look steel-gray from a distance. The forest, up close,…
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Two-wheel motion: Long-time mechanic opens bikeshop
A new cycling shop opened in Waynesville just in the nick of time for Bob Gatis. The notion recently struck…
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Bird nerds unite
I learned, when I worked full-time for the Smoky Mountain News, that it helps if newspaper writers are thick-skinned. It…
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Cherokee reels in North Carolina Casting Championships
Top fly and bass fishermen will be coming to Cherokee to show off their skills at the North Carolina Casting…
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Smokies: Road to Nowhere won’t impair park
Controversy over proposed changes to the mission of the National Park Service has landed at the doorstep of the Great…
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Holiday Bird Nerd Diary: Yellow-headed blackbird highlights Balsam bird count
The Carolina Field birders, friends and volunteers conducted their fourth annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on Thursday, Dec. 29.
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Striking at the heart of Parks
An attempt by the National Park Service to rewrite the guidelines governing protection of parks has prompted conservation groups to…
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Debate erupts over wording of new Park Service guidelines
The National Park Service says the management guidelines governing national parks need to be clarified in the face of a…
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Bear, skunk, coyote targeted in hunting regulations
Citing increased problems for humans, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has proposed new regulations that will step up hunting of…
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A wintry mix
Christmas Day brought showers interrupted by buckets full of sleet. Sometime late Christmas night or before dawn the next morning,…
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Ladies first: Cataloochee Ranch hosts skiing and snowboarding classes tailored to women
By Michael Beadle Once again Cataloochee Ski Area will be hosting a series of once-a-week skiing and snowboarding classes this…
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