Experience the story of the American chestnut, a mighty wonder that once sustained all forms of life in the Appalachian Mountains, with a film screening at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. 

Keep the hemlocks of the Pisgah National Forest safe from the invasive hemlock wooly adelgid during a volunteer workday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, at the Old Fort Picnic Area near Old Fort. 

In the Cherokee cosmology, evergreen trees were given their ability to hold onto their leaves all winter as a reward for s taying up all night long for seven days, keeping the sacred fire lit.

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a proposal that would amend all 128 forest land management plans in its jurisdiction with language aimed at better maintaining, improving and expanding old-growth forests. 

At the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachians grow two evergreen trees that give the Balsam Mountains their name — red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser fir (Abies fraseri).

A namesake has been chosen for the $2 million greenhouse the Southern Highlands Reserve in Lake Toxaway is building to propagate red spruce trees for replanting on the landscape. 

Under the gray, misty November sky covering Panthertown Valley near Cashiers, we swish through shin-deep leaves in search of hemlock trees. 

Want to hear a corny joke about an oak tree? That was it. 

To the Editor:

As yellow falling leaves and cool, dry air are floating into the mountains, it signals to knowledgeable residents that it’s time to look up.

The N.C. Forest Service is now accepting tree seedling orders for its annual sale.