Western Carolina University will welcome eight-time Emmy-nominated showrunner Dan Tapster to talk about the making of our planet. 

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Spring Litter Sweep kicked off April 12 and runs through April 26. This biannual cleanup event invites residents across the state to bag litter and beautify roadsides, all while helping protect North Carolina’s natural charm. 

Picture this — your bottle of body wash, discarded and forgotten, now sits floating in the Pacific Ocean, mingling with millions of others in a toxic soup of waste. Like you, I toss containers into the trash without thinking twice.

To the Editor:

My family has called Webster, N.C., home for six generations. In the past I have served the community as the vice mayor of Webster, president of the Webster Memorial Cemetery Fund and currently serve on the Webster Board of Adjustments and as a board member on the Webster Historical Society.

Haywood Community College in Clyde will welcome multiple speakers, guests and partners to campus for the WNC Environmental Summit from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 21,. 

Jackson County is embarking on a conservation plan with goal of protecting certain tracts of land. 

“Jackson County is, from a natural resources perspective, a phenomenal county,” said Owen Carson, senior ecologist at Equinox Environmental in a presentation to commissioners Feb. 4.

Residents of western Haywood County and eastern Jackson County will have the chance to learn about the Spongy Moth infestation that has hit several areas of the region, as well as what the N.C. Department of Agriculture plans on doing about the problem. 

With wrinkly skin that comes in various shades of brown, eastern hellbenders aren’t easy to spot. These giant salamanders, which average 20 inches in length, spend most of their lives nearly invisible under rocks on the bottom of cool, fast-flowing streams.

By now, the story of Hurricane Helene is a tragically familiar one: the endless rain, the swollen rivers, the angry water indiscriminately destroying lives and homes. The storm killed more than 230 people across five states, including 104 confirmed dead in North Carolina and 18 in Tennessee. 

More than 90 free educational sessions, five days of outdoor excursions and key note speakers await attendees of Pigeon Forge’s 33rd Wilderness Wildlife Week Jan. 28 through Feb. 1.