Outdoor Gear Builders names executive director
Outdoor Gear Builders has hired Brad Taylor as its first-ever full-time executive director, marking a milestone for an organization that…
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Forest Service plans prescribed burns
The U.S. Forest Service is planning prescribed burns for seven areas of the Pisgah National Forest this spring.
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Conservation trusts protect additional lands
Area land trusts are celebrating several recent accomplishments in the quest to conserve and protect ecologically significant land.
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Decade in the making: Forest Service releases long-awaited Pisgah-Nantahala forest plan
A decade after convening the first meetings to discuss the impending process, the U.S. Forest Service has released a semi-final version…
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All hands on deck: New program trains hiking club members to assist SAR missions
When Chad Seger was reported missing on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, the Haywood County Rescue Squad’s Wilderness Search and Rescue…
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Chimney Rock Groundhog says early spring coming to WNC
According to untrained non-meteorologist Pumpkin the Groundhog, spring is on the way for Western North Carolina.
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HWA director moves on
After 18 years at the helm of Haywood Waterways Association, Eric Romaniszyn is leaving his position as the organization’s executive…
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Oust plastic bags from Haywood
Volunteers are wanted for a community-wide effort to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bags, with a sew-a-thon planned for Friday,…
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Haywood student wins climate art contest
A Haywood Early College student was one of three winners in a statewide art contest focusing on climate change.
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Wildlife Service to release red wolves in eastern N.C.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing nine red wolves for release into the world’s only wild population of…
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Forest Service releases revised management plan
A decade after it first reached out to stakeholders for the project, the U.S. Forest Service has released its revised…
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Balance of bear country: Wildlife Commission takes input on future of WNC bear sanctuaries
Nearly 40 people weighed in on a controversial proposal to allow bear hunting in three mountain sanctuary areas during a…
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Haywood boarder takes fourth at X Games
Waynesville native Zeb Powell, 22, narrowly missed a medal at the X Games in Aspen Jan. 21, coming in fourth…
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Wild ducks test positive for avian flu
After a wild duck shot in Hyde County Dec. 30 tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, agencies…
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Macon rep joins ag and natural resource committee
Rep. Karl Gillespie, who represents Macon, Graham, Cherokee and Clay counties in the N.C. House of Representatives, has joined the…
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Forest Service releases revised management plan
A decade after it first reached out to stakeholders for the project, the U.S. Forest Service has released its revised…
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Smokies visitation blasts past 14 million
For five of the past seven years, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has posted an all-time high number of…
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Helicopter rescue saves stranded Smokies hiker
A multifaceted rescue effort extricated a stranded hiker from the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Tuesday,…
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Along for the ride: Cataloochee thrives amid warm weather, pandemic adaptations
Sun is shifting in and out of the clouds covering Cataloochee Ski Area on Friday, Jan. 14, as I catch…
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Cades Cove vehicle-free day now permanent
After making big changes through pilot projects at Cades Cove Loop Road and Laurel Falls Trail, the Great Smoky Mountains…
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Mainspring receives accreditation renewal
Mainspring Conservation Trust has earned renewal of its national land trust accreditation through the Land Trust Alliance, remaining part of…
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Haywood SAR team completes snowy rescue mission
A hiker stranded along the Art Loeb Trail during the weekend snowstorm is now home safe thanks to a successful…
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NPS announces fee-free days
The National Park Service will waive admission on five days in 2022, aiming to encourage discovery and visitation of the…
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Land and Water Fund gets new director
After serving as interim director for seven months, Will Summer has been named the next director of the N.C. Division…
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Telling the biters apart: WCU lab helps researcher with mosquito project
Don’t swat at that mosquito. Swedish entomologist Anders Lindström is sitting in a Western Carolina University lab, patiently waiting for…
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Conservation purchase protects Lake James watershed
The Lake James watershed near Morganton is now a little more protected following a 35-acre conservation purchase Dec. 23 along…
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Chimney Rock gets new resident
Chimney Rock State Park has a new animal ambassador — Oscar the opossum, who was born with no eyes.
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Youth racing starts soon at Cataloochee
Alley Cat Youth Racing will return to Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley this winter, with the first races scheduled…
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Tobacco Commission grants fund WNC ag efforts
The N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission awarded 23 grants worth more than $4 million for agricultural and economic initiatives across…
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Five ways public lands won big in 2021
For Western North Carolina’s outdoor enthusiasts, a toast to 2021 means a toast to the impressive slate of conservation successes…
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Walker Sisters Cabin closed due to safety concerns
The Walker Sisters Cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed over the coming months due to…
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Smokies project will require filling in small wetland
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park plans to build an annex to its existing headquarters building, and a comment period…
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Streambank project will cause GSMNP lane closure
A streambank stabilization project in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will cause a three-month lane closure along the Townsend…
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Expanded bear hunting proposed for WNC
UPDATE: Since this piece was originally published, the Wildlife Commission announced cancellation of the planned in-person hearings. The Wildlife Resources…
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Fire ant quarantine area expands
The state quarantine area for the imported fire ant has expanded once more to include all of Granville and portions…
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Franklin A.T. Council gets new member
A new hiker hostel has joined the Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Council as an A.T. Supporter.
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Music video advocates for wildlife crossings
A new music video featuring Asheville-based band The Fates aims to raise awareness for an ongoing effort to make wildlife…
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An A.T. alternative: Long-distance trail under construction for the western Appalachians
As the Appalachian wilderness trail Benton MacKaye dreamed up in 1921 becomes busier and busier, a geographically scattered group of…
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N.C. now under burn ban
Open burning is banned in North Carolina until further notice as a wildfire rages at Pilot Mountain State Park near…
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Flat Top Manor renovation complete
A $2.4 million rehabilitation is complete at the iconic Flat Top Manor, located at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park on…
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Drought persists in N.C.
Despite widespread rains last week, the drought situation in North Carolina hasn’t changed much, according to a map published Dec.…
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N.C. mussel added to threatened species list
A freshwater mussel known as the Atlantic pigtoe has been added as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act…
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Sherpa rice returns to NOC
River’s End Restaurant at Nantahala Outdoor Center is once more serving its legendary Sherpa rice dish after locals and visitors…
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Pigeon River Fund awards grants
Nine grants totaling $326,348 will help environmental groups support area waterways in a variety of ways following the announcement of…
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New MST director named
Brent Laurenz, deputy director for the voting rights nonprofit Common Cause in North Carolina, will be the next leader of…
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‘More than a road’: New superintendent discusses her vision for the Blue Ridge Parkway
Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, Tracy Swartout made some of her favorite childhood memories traveling the 469-mile ridge road…
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Pisgah Center will not reopen after flood damage
The Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard won’t reopen following extensive damage from Tropical Storm Fred, the N.C. Wildlife…
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Burn ban partially lifted as drought conditions persist
The statewide burn ban enacted Nov. 29 was lifted for 67 counties as of noon Wednesday, Dec. 8, due to…
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Red wolf arrives in Asheville
A 1982 Piper Saratoga airplane flew into the Asheville Regional Airport Nov. 20 to deliver an endangered red wolf and…
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Habitat management project proposed for Nantahala forest
A diverse set of management activities proposed for the Nantahala Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest would include timber…
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