Paddling for Gold: NRC’s world-class whitewater stars are paddling hard this winter to secure a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team
By Michael Beadle It’s 26 degrees on a November morning, and Jamie Tidmore has just finished another whitewater kayaking run…
Read More
Eureka! Dilemma dissolved
I can’t understand how imminent ornithologists, in particular, and biologists, scientists and researchers in general have overlooked the obvious truth…
Read More
Blazing a trail: Work starts on first Bartram Trail addition since the 1990s
It’s been nearly 20 years since Burt Kornegay first started looking into land along Hickory Knoll Road in Macon County,…
Read More
Brevard company recognized in international competition
Brevard-based SylvanSport has been named a finalist in the internationally renowned Edison Awards for its product GO, a lightweight pull-behind…
Read More
Celebrate the diversity of the Smokies
The public is invited to mingle with researchers from around the world March 19-21 during the annual conference of Discover…
Read More
Jump on the solar train with Solarize WNC
A campaign to introduce homeowners and businesses to the option of solar energy is underway in Jackson, Haywood, Macon and…
Read More
Renowned nature photographer to talk in Sylva
Les Saucier, a professional nature photographer, will speak at the Sylva Photo Club at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at…
Read More
AT lay-over, Fontana Dam knighted as official trail town
Hiker Haze Weekend will welcome the season’s first Appalachian Trail thru-hikers at Fontana Village Resort March 25-26, along with a…
Read More
Bring on the bikes: Mountains to coast bike ride to kick off from Waynesville
The plans are set: Waynesville’s getting invaded this fall, and the army will be 1,000 strong. Semi trucks will haul…
Read More
Volunteers sought to adopt tree plot
Smokies rangers are looking for tree-lovers who want to try their hand at science to adopt a tree monitoring plot…
Read More
Buy Haywood guide seeks new listings
An agritourism guide for Haywood County is looking for new listings to help visitors and locals alike explore everything from…
Read More
Weigh in on Cold Mountain Game Land management plans
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is working on a plan to guide management at the Cold Mountain Game Land in…
Read More
WNC farmers expand business through grants
Farmers in Western North Carolina will branch out with new crops and alternative growing methods, thanks to 31 grants totaling…
Read More
Life on LeConte: Winter on the top demonstrates the harshness and beauty of nature
Sipping hot tea while swaddled beside a propane heater, warmth beaming as wind whips snowflakes around the mountaintop outside. A…
Read More
Database to showcase purveyors wood and forestry products
A “buy local” directory for wood-related products from Western North Carolina is looking for more businesses, artisans and organizations to…
Read More
Celebrate winter Smoky style
Maggie Valley’s inaugural WinterFest Smoky Style will celebrate the best of the cold-weather season 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday,…
Read More
Game on (the table) at fundraising dinner
An annual Wild Game Dinner hosted by the Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College will serve up a meal of…
Read More
New Satulah trail in the works
Learn about the Highland Plateau Greenway’s vision to build a public trail to the top of Satulah Mountain at a…
Read More
State bill seeks to strike down fracking rules
Bills to get rid of the oil and gas extraction rules developed by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission have…
Read More
Hike explores Smokemont
The season’s first hike in Friends of the Smokies’ “Classic Hikes of the Smokies” series will explore Smokemont Loop Trail…
Read More
WCU launches outdoor speaker series
A speaker series featuring outdoor adventurers at Western Carolina University will kick off at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, with…
Read More
A Golden secret
There is one winter visitor to our North Carolina Mountains that is probably happy the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed…
Read More
WNC conservationists honored
Several Western North Carolina conservationists earned a spot in Wild South’s annual list of nominees for the Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards,…
Read More
Smokies visitation sets records
January was a record-setting month for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 351,670 visitors, achieving a lifetime visitation of…
Read More
Waynesville continues Tree City USA tradition
Waynesville was named a 2014 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, keeping running a streak that began in…
Read More
Changing attitudes: Carlson reshaped ideas about conservation
History will no doubt remember Paul Carlson as one of the great visionaries of our time in Western North Carolina.…
Read More
Behind the wheel with Paul Carlson: a two-hour tour of the Little Tennessee
As Paul Carlson tooled out of downtown Franklin, houses faded into rolling hayfields, and the Little Tennessee River soon took…
Read More
Countin’ in the cold
I had originally intended to spend today (Monday, Feb. 16) doing a couple of short surveys for the annual Great…
Read More
N.C. Wildlife Federation wins $30K grant
A $30,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation will help the N.C. Wildlife Federation further its mission of conserving…
Read More
Mountain thunder: Maggie musher takes up snowless dog sledding
Stepping into Kirk Wall’s custom-carpentered, immaculately decorated mountaintop home, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d knocked on the wrong…
Read More
HCC nabs accreditation from Society of American Foresters
Haywood Community College just became the only two-year community college in North Carolina to offer a forest management technology program…
Read More
Polar Plunge lands cash for waterway education
Lake Junaluska was only 39 degrees on Jan. 31, but 120 people still braved the cold to participate in Haywood…
Read More
Smokies invites you to meet new superintendent
Two open houses this month will offer the chance to meet and greet the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent,…
Read More
One foot in front of the other: Haywood runner seeks to push her limits, share the joy of running
Pushing through 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 of biking and 26.2 of running, it was all Jennifer Jacobson could do…
Read More
The bizarro world of plan revision
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners decided that today (Feb. 2) was the day they would boldly venture into the…
Read More
Up close with the Smokies
The Experience Your Smokies program is looking for applicants who want to get an insider’s look at park operations while…
Read More
Two areas added to potential wilderness inventory
Two potential candidates for wilderness designation in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests were accidentally left off a master list…
Read More
Wildlife Commission says no more red wolves
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has publicly denounced the red wolf reintroduction in coastal counties, calling for the red wolves…
Read More
Little Sandy Mush Bald slopes purchased for nature preserve
The northern slopes of Little Sandy Mush Bald, an iconic view for those who live in the coves and farms…
Read More
Arboretum to memorialize landscaping great
The father of American landscape architecture will soon be memorialized at the North Carolina Arboretum.
Read More
Learn from Leopold
Aldo Leopold and his writings are cornerstones of modern environmental ethic, and a program teaching how to use his work…
Read More
Winter on the ridge: Wintry conditions cause Parkway closures despite warm temps at low elevations
Though a mixture of rain and ice pelted the windshield as I headed toward the Balsam Gap access of the…
Read More
New museum to celebrate Fontana Dam’s 70th
A community museum and learning center at Fontana Village along Fontana Lake will commemorate the 70th anniversary of power production…
Read More
More land conserved around Waterrock Knob
A 10-acre tract along the Blue Ridge Parkway and a new section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Jackson County will…
Read More
Grant allows kids hiking trails to expand
Trail adventures for kids will expand in North Carolina over the coming years, thanks to a $921,000 grant from the…
Read More
National park wraps up three years of stream mapping
A three-year stream-mapping project in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now complete, revealing new information about the park’s…
Read More
The open water: Improved access, mapping set to spur water recreation in WNC
It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for water-lovers in Western North Carolina. After more than a decade of…
Read More
Sylva man reflects on televised Alaskan survival experience, the adventure lifestyle
Scott McCleskey didn’t really know what he was saying yes to when he boarded the plane to Alaska, pack of…
Read More
The uncommon common goldeneye
The best way I know of to get a rare bird to fly the coop is to write about it.…
Read More
Hike the Dirty Dozen
Looking for a new way to explore the wilderness? Check out the Dirty Dozen Wilderness Hike Challenge.
Read More