Call Highlands home and you live in Macon County, right?

Not necessarily.

Some town of Highlands residents have discovered they actually live in neighboring Jackson County — which can make matters confusing, all the way from the voting booth to which county responds to a 911 call.

“Those folks could actually get a Highlands fire truck, Macon County ambulance and a Jackson County deputy,” said Warren Cabe, director of Macon County Emergency Services.

And with a general election just around the corner, election directors in both Macon and Jackson counties are starting to sort out which Highlands residents vote in what county.

“It is just confusing for everybody,” said Kim Bishop, director of the board of elections for Macon County. “For us, Jackson County, and all of the residents who are involved.”

The list that has been compiled shows 113 possible Jackson County voters living in the town of Highlands. But the number will probably prove much smaller when it is scrutinized address by address, said Lisa Lovedahl-Lehman, Bishop’s counterpart in Jackson County.

That is because it is often just the end of a road, or part of a road, that creeps over the line into Jackson County. A whole road might be questionable, but in reality, only a few residents on that road usually actually live on the Jackson side.

Prior examinations have shown about 25 people or so are residents of both Highlands and Jackson County.

Ultimately, however, only a few of those identified before the last general election even showed at the polls to cast their vote, Bishop said. Many of the people who live in Highlands, an upscale resort town, are seasonal residents who do not vote in North Carolina anyway.

During general elections, those Highlands residents living within Jackson County’s borders drive to nearby Cashiers to vote and also pay Jackson County taxes. During odd-numbered years, when a town election is held, these same residents vote in those elections in Highlands. This means these dual residents pay town taxes to Highlands and county taxes to Jackson.

The oddity was discovered in about 2001, Lovedahl-Lehman said, when mapping techniques and 911 technologies became more advanced. Address pinpointing became commonplace, and continues being refined, meaning more people might one day discover they live in a different county than they thought.

Over at the Macon County 911 and emergency services office, Cabe is crystal clear about what happens when an emergency unfolds at a residence that might or might not actually be within his county.

“We treat those people just like Macon County folks,” he said.

Emergency responders go to these houses without quibble or question.

Jackson County, Cabe said, kicks in some money every year to help support the fire department for serving its Highlands-based citizens. However, law enforcement — to respond to an official call — must have jurisdiction. So Jackson County deputies, not those from Macon County, must handle legal matters when they arise.

Macon County is no stranger to the difficulties blurry boundary lines can cause, and not just with neighboring counties, but the state of Georgia.

Luckily, the county’s emergency services and law enforcement offices have established close working ties with Jackson County officials and with their counterparts in Georgia.

As an example, residents of both Sky Valley (in Georgia) and Scaly Mountain (in North Carolina) jointly man Sky Valley-Scaly Mountain Volunteer Fire and Rescue. The people in that area are building a new fire station, which will also serve as a community building.

The Sky Valley-Scaly Mountain fire and rescue volunteers are dispatched independently by 911 offices located in both Macon County and Rabun County, Ga., Cabe said. The looking-after-your-neighbor concept extends even further.

The town of Sky Valley, population about 250, and Macon County, population just more than 33,000, are currently at work on a mutual-aid agreement. This is being drafted in the event a Sky Valley police officer traveling through nearby North Carolina sees an accident. N.C. 106, or Georgia State Route 246, zigzags across the state line five times.

“If they run up on something, they’ll be able to stop and help the people legally,” Cabe said. “They want to help.”

Sky Valley’s five officers are trained to the first-responder level. This is a national designation, so it encompasses all states.

In the event there is a question about which county — Macon or Rabun, Ga. — should send an ambulance, both always elect to send one. This means on occasion, two ambulances respond to emergencies along the state line.

“We have great mutual-aid agreements,” Cabe said.

Routers are used to siphon 911 calls to the proper designation. There is a router in Sylva, with a backup all the way in Durham, to sort out which Highlands phone calls go where. The same is true for the Nantahala community, which borders Cherokee County, though the router, in that case, is set up in nearby Andrews.

Thanks to a group of enthusiastic volunteers from the area, a new Patrick Dougherty sapling sculpture has been constructed at The Bascom Art Center in Highlands.

Dougherty constructs outdoor sculptures all over the world and has finished more than 200 major site-specific pieces, but has fashioned only a few in his own home state.

“Do Tell” is a 15-foot-high by 27-foot-wide by 21-feet-deep, sinuous woven stick monumental work of art.

The community is invited to drop by and admire the sculpture’s whirling shape, maze-like interior, and natural features that echo the landscape around it. Walk inside the sculpture, as the cavernous magical interior is part of the experience.

Made up of native hardwood species including maple, beech, birch, elm and hazel tree saplings, the wood sculpture took three weeks, 75 volunteers and over 800 volunteer labor hours to build and install. Four tractor-trailer-truck loads of hardwood tree saplings were collected at neighboring Highlands and Scaly farms.

All in all, more than six tractor-trailer loads of construction material were used in the final creation.

According to Dougherty: “The sculpture’s 15 sides or facets or facades have two eye-like or window openings at the top and mouth-like or door openings at the bottom. On each panel, there is a suggestion of a face. The sculpture’s facets or walls spiral inward. There is mystery in this piece. You cannot see it fully from one vantage point. This is a work of art that you must circle around and enter into in order to discover all of its features. The title ‘Do Tell’ suggests that mystery. ‘Do Tell’ invites the viewer to come closer and have a deeper experience.”

An idea is planted

In the 1980s, current Bascom Director Linda Steigleder saw a twig-works outdoor sculpture by Dougherty at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and was mesmerized. When Steigleder joined the staff of The Bascom, she introduced the idea of commissioning a work by this artist whose critical acclaim and talent have grown.

Volunteer and local artist Bo Sweeny has worked nearly every available work shift during the entire project.

“I was familiar with Patrick and his work from having seen it previously and was very impressed and I never thought I would have a chance to work with him,” said Sweeny. “This has been a chance of a lifetime.”

Bascom member and an accomplished artist Peggy Wilcox added, “I had seen Patrick’s work and became enchanted with it. I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer.”

Located in a green space next to the art center’s kiln barn, the impressive tree sapling structure is visually prominent from the moment you enter the campus through Oak Street or the art center’s main entrance off Franklin Road, the covered bridge. Dougherty’s sculpture will be on continuous view at The Bascom for at least two years or as long as the structure endures.

About the artist

Dougherty has created hundreds of monumental, site-specific sculptures around the world. His work is constructed from thousands of deciduous tree saplings and sticks gathered from local sources and shaped into massive, swirling forms as high as 40 feet. The artist loves the production phase of his work. “We are all hunters and gatherers,” Dougherty said. “It’s primal.”

In his work, Dougherty combines his carpentry skills with his love for nature. In the 1980s, he made small sculptural works, fashioned in his own North Carolina backyard and quickly moved from pedestal-sized pieces to monumental site-specific installations that require sticks by the truckload.

The Dougherty installation and sculpture, which took three weeks to construct, is made possible through tireless volunteer hours and the support of exhibition sponsors Mary Ann and Knox Massey.

For more information call 828.526.4949 or  www.thebascom.org.

A pair of endangered peregrine falcons has established a new nesting spot on Whiteside Mountain near Highlands, forcing a relocation of the climbing route on the face of the mountain.

Whiteside Mountain has been home to a nesting pair of falcons for years, but this year they have moved their nest from the west to the east side of the cliff.

“This year, they’re mixing it up a bit,” said Chris Kelly, Wildlife Biologist with N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and coordinator of the peregrine falcon monitoring program. “It’s hard to say why they moved to the other side of the cliff, but we do know that a new female is on territory this year.”

The move could also be a response to disturbance in 2009. The closure was violated last year, and the nesting attempt failed for the first time in 11 years.

“Peregrine falcons do not respond well to disturbance,” says Kelly. When falcons are tending eggs or nestlings, the presence of people near the nest may cause the adult birds to spend time away from the nest, leaving eggs or nestlings exposed to the elements and delaying food deliveries.

A young bird flushed off the nest will fall to its death. By adhering to the closure, climbers can help ensure that the birds will be able to finish nesting in a timely fashion. If they are disturbed, they will attempt to re-nest, which will delay opening of this cliff significantly, as was the case in 2009.

“It’s in everybody’s best interest that the falcons nest undisturbed,” said Kelly.

The east side of the cliff will be closed to climbers through August 15 — specifically the cliff face east of the “Mainline” climbing route. When facing the cliff, east is to the right. The west side of the cliff will be open this year for a change.

The Forest Service has updated the proper climbing routes in the trailhead kiosk and is posting signs on the trail.

Whiteside Mountain Trail remains open for hiking. The cliff is so enormous that the birds do not respond to hikers up top. Visitors may catch a glimpse of the falcons from the trail as the falcons wheel around chasing vultures and hawks and swooping after prey.

www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc or 828.524.644, etc. 424 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Upper Cullasaja Watershed Association and the Cullasaja Club are pursuing state funding to restore the headwaters of the Cullasaja River. The partners have applied to the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund for money that would allow them to clean up 4,300 lineal feet of impaired stream located on the Cullasaja Club’s golf course in Highlands.

The project would restore native habitat and streambed structures as well as mitigate the impact on water temperature and runoff effluents caused by the golf course.

Highlands Mayor David Wilkes said the project could be the start of a broader movement aimed at restoring the Upper Cullasaja headwaters between Lake Ravenell and Lake Sequoia.

“One of the problems with the river that’s run through these communities that have golf courses is we’ve altered the stream habitats,” Wilkes said.

Wilkes said the project would work to re-route the stream in a way that would insulate it from the temperature fluctuations caused by water released directly from ponds on the golf course.

“Their intent is just to clean up that section of the river but you would hope that as the work is finished there that the next property owner down the line would recognize the value of the effort,” Wilkes said.

The entire project would cost an estimated $755,710 and would require the permission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On Monday night the Macon County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution in support of the effort and the Highlands town board is expected to adopt a similar resolution at its meeting later this month.

Several years ago I wrote about Bradford Torrey’s A World of Green Hills, which was published in 1898 by Houghton Mifflin and Co. The book is divided into two parts, equally devoted to Torrey’s travels in Western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia (Pulaski and Natural Bridge). The North Carolina portion was set primarily on the Highlands Plateau, which he accessed from Walhalla in upcountry South Carolina via a horse- and mule-drawn wagon.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Restaurant patrons in Highlands will soon be able to sip on rum and coke while eating a steak or order a pitcher of beer while eating pizza now that citizens voted “yes” to an alcohol referendum.

By Michael Beadle

Indulge in a seven-course meal that includes roasted pheasant, foie gras and braised wild boar. Sip award-winning wines from Tuscany. Savor sushi, soft-shell crab and sake. Tempt your tongue with rich chocolates.

Each weekend, Carol Austin figures out what meals her family is going to eat during the upcoming workweek. She shops for groceries and fills her vehicle’s gasoline tank before Monday morning.

When the well heeled are in need of a pampered retreat in Western North Carolina, they often look toward the Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands.

By Michael Beadle

Cyrano’s Bookshop in downtown Highlands may be all of 700 square feet, but that hasn’t stopped its new owners, Clair and Arthur Simpson, from setting up book signings for such nationally notable authors as Pat Conroy, Steve Berry, Sharyn McCrumb and Nicholas Sparks.