Outdoors

 

Notes from a plant nerd: Hope for the Hemlocks

In springtime, all things are possible. Everything around you that is alive is imbued right now with the same hopeful energy.

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Word from the Smokies: 'Gradient of spring' offers opportunity for exploration

By the third week of April, spring is in full bloom throughout the picturesque valleys of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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Finding healing and acceptance at the end of a trail

Peter Conti seemed destined for a life of chronic pain. 

For nearly two years after a devastating motorcycle accident left him with a shattered pelvis and nerve damage in his leg, Conti battled depression and suicidal ideation while struggling to manage his debilitating, demoralizing condition with dangerously addictive opioids. 

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Notes from a plant nerd: Invasive Plants Part II: Revenge of the Sterile Cultivar

All around Western North Carolina are thousands upon thousands of small to medium trees blooming white, stinky flowers along roadsides, fence lines and driveways.

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Lawsuit challenges Forest Service timber targets

A lawsuit filed last month in a Washington, D.C., federal court alleges the U.S. Forest Service’s practice of setting “timber targets” puts the climate at risk, undermines the Biden administration’s climate goals and violates federal law. 

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Notes from a plant nerd: Invasive Plants

I’ve been writing this column for over a year and a half and every plant that I have highlighted and celebrated evolved and co-evolved in the bioregion of Southern Appalachia.

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Soldiers for sustainability: Common fly could help address pollution, boost sustainability

They can eat just about anything and multiply like crazy. They live all over the world, in a variety of environments — wherever you go, they’re likely nearby. 

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Keep telling the story

When I first arrived in Western North Carolina just after New Year’s Day, 2014, I wasn’t planning to stay. 

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Ramsey Cascades Trail closes on weekdays

The National Park Service (NPS) will close Ramsey Cascades Trail on weekdays while trail crews finish the full-scale rehabilitation work started in 2022.

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