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Haywood Community College’s Department of Arts, Sciences, and Natural Resources and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will offer a variety of hunter safety courses this fall.

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The Franklin Bird Club leads weekly birding walks along the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin at 8 a.m. Wednesday mornings, with the public welcome to join.

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The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) is offering six free hunting-related webinars September through December.

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials welcomed two new members to the Park Management Team.

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MADE X MTNS announced grant recipients of its Outdoor Equity Fund.

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Get ready for softball season with an organizational meeting for an adult co-ed league at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21, at the Vance Street Park pavilion in Waynesville.

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The N.C. Department of Transportation is beginning to evaluate projects for its next 10-year capital plan and wants the public to be involved.

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A series of meetings this month in seven communities along the Blue Ridge Parkway will help formulate an action plan for Blue Ridge Rising, a regional planning effort uniting gateway communities along the Parkway.

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 Rich Mountain Road in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed to all traffic until further notice after a bear scratched a visitor over the weekend.

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Help Haywood Waterways Association celebrate its 25th birthday with trivia and reminiscing 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at BearWaters in Waynesville.

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A Cherokee Preservation Foundation grant awarded in March is allowing the N.C. Arboretum’s ecoEXPLORE program to deliver monthly environmental programming for kids at locations throughout Cherokee.

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Help the Carolina Mountain Club rehabilitate the trail to the Sam Knob summit during a workday Saturday, Aug. 19.

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The N.C. Tomato Growers Association will conduct an August referendum on assessments per harvested commercial tomatoes.

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Go birding at Buck Spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway with an expedition meeting 8 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Jukebox Junction in Bethel.

Howard Browers will lead the walk. Loaner binoculars are available. Cost is $10. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.

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Halfway through the season for its weekly E. coli sampling program in Western North Carolina swimming holes, MountainTrue reported 11 sites in the Hiawassee and Little Tennessee river basins that passed all seven tests and six locations that failed all tests.

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Following two months of cooler-than-average temperatures, July came in hot in North Carolina. According to the N.C. State Climate Office, it was the state’s 20th warmest July since 1896.

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Four years ago, the Carolina Mountain Club identified the “forgotten 14” as an unsafe section within its 155-mile maintenance responsibility on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

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Learn how to stay safe in the woods with a course 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Standing Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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Catch a doubleheader in mountain education with a pair of programs offered through the University of Tennessee Smoky Mountain Field School Saturday, Aug. 19.

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A one-hour, one-person show, a production of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan MacMillan will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-5, 11-12, 17-19 and 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 13 and 20 on the Fangmeyer Stage at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

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The Haywood 4 Good community wellness program announced that registration is open for the fall 2023 program.

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The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) has established a charitable fund to support nonprofit organizations and municipalities impacted by the Pactiv Evergreen closure in Canton. 

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to list the green floater, a freshwater mussel found in North Carolina, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to pursue listing the Venus flytrap as a threatened or endangered species after an evaluation determined that, due to current protections and active management, populations are likely to remain stable into the future. 

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The last Zahner Conservation Lecture of the year will focus on the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of neighboring South Carolina at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.

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Break in the new snorkeling site at East LaPorte Park in Cullowhee during an event 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8.

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Take a hike through the old-growth forest at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near Robbinsville at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, with Creation Care Alliance and MountainTrue.

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Learn to fly fish this month with lessons offered by Haywood County Recreation.

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Explore the trails of Haywood County with a series of hikes offered this month from Haywood County Recreation and Parks.

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It’s time to start entering exhibits in the 2023 N.C. Mountain State Fair, coming Sept. 8-17 at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher.

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The National Park Service issued a decision and a “Finding of No Significant Impact” for the Gatlinburg Spur Improvements Environmental Assessment.

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The Town of Waynesville is looking for members to serve on its new Environmental Sustainability Board.

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Learn how to live safely with black bears during a program at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

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A program to assist those who have lost health insurance due to the closure of Pactiv Evergreen is underway thanks to a joint effort between Mountain Projects, United Way of Haywood County and Haywood County government.

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Mountain Projects, one of 52 regional human service organizations working on North Carolina’s groundbreaking Healthy Opportunities Pilot program (HOP), under the auspices of Impact Health, has been recognized by Mission Health Partners with its 2022 Community Partner Award. 

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Gain insight into the cultural heritage of the Cherokee and their historical, sacred landscapes during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Highlands Nature Center.

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The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a plan to cut trees on 195 acres in the Nantahala National Forest. The goal is to boost nut production from trees like oak and hickory and improve habitat for the golden-winged warbler.

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A free screening of the critically acclaimed documentary “The River Runs On” will display the mesmerizing beauty and profound significance of the Southern Appalachian region at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the Highlands Nature Center.

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In May, 327 two-year-old red spruce trees grown by the Southern Highlands Reserve in Lake Toxaway traveled to the Black Mountains for planting in Mount Mitchell State Park.

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Three new species of spiders have been discovered in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, bringing the total number of new-to-science species found in the park through Discover Life in America’s All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project to 1,079 since the project launched in 1998.

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Richmond County resident Monty R. Crump has been elected for another term as chairman of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Board after leading the body for the past two years.

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The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has launched a new, custom licensing system and mobile app that both residents and non-residents can use to buy licenses, register vessels, apply for permits and shop for merchandise.

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Registration is open through July 31 to take part in the guided hikes, science classes, birding and live music that will mark the Great Smoky Mountains Association’s annual Members Weekend in Gatlinburg Sept. 15-16.

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The 22nd annual Talking Trees Trout Derby will invite children from across the area to fish in Cherokee Aug. 4-5.

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In the latest in a long line of efforts by the  Southwestern Commission  to help those affected by the Evergreen closure, the  U.S. Department of Labor  has announced an award of more than $2.5 million to support employment and training services for people in WNC affected by the closure of Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill and by the company’s reduction in operations at its Waynesville facility.

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Champion Credit Union announced it has been named to the Great Employers to Work for in North Carolina 2023 list by Best Companies Group, a BridgeTower Media Company.

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Hike through old growth forests, streams and past the historic Palmer house during a trip along the Boogerman Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Saturday, July 29.

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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is using nearly $19 million in funding from the Great American Outdoors Act to reconstruct Lakeview Drive in Bryson City and repair Heintooga Ridge Road on the Haywood/Swain county line this summer.  

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Author and biologist David George Haskell will delve into the captivating world of sonic communication and its profound impact on the planet’s evolution and cultural tapestry during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.

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The DuPont State Recreational Forest in Henderson and Transylvania counties is launching a master planning process, with an online survey and an upcoming drop-in session 2:30-6:30 p.m. Monday, July 24, at the Henderson County Public Library, planned to take public input.

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