When the wildfires burning across Western North Carolina are extinguished, Western Carolina University faculty will likely be eying their footprints for outdoor classrooms.

After disease wiped out Haywood Community College’s famed dahlia garden this year, the Carolinas Dahlia Society stepped up with a donation to restore the garden to its former glory.

The elk viewing experience in the Cataloochee Valley area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will get a boost thanks to a $3,500 grant that Friends of the Smokies received from the Haywood County Tourism and Development Authority.

Ingles warmly welcomes one of our newest LOCAL vendors, Smiling Hara Tempeh. 

Arboretum collecting firefighting donations 

Due to heightened fire danger throughout the region, the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville will not have fire pits as part of its Winter Lights event — instead, the arboretum is asking ticketholders to swap out s’mores purchases for donations of supplies.

A collection bin to hold donations for firefighters and first responders battling North Carolina wildfires will be available inside the Baker Exhibit Center lobby. Requested items include bottled water, Gatorade, lip balm, saline eye drops, pre-packaged food and protein bars. 

Supplies can be dropped off during regular arboretum hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or during the Winter Lights event that is now held nightly 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1. 

Purchase tickets at www.ncarboretum.org/exhibits-events/winter-lights. 

Game lands closed due to wildfires

Game lands managed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are facing temporary closure as a result of the wildfires spreading across Western North Carolina. 

The Toxaway Game Land and South Mountains Game Land have been closed, and portions of game lands in the Nantahala National Forest are closed as well. 

Depending on how quickly the fires spread and how long they last, officials may close additional roads or access to other game lands, if needed. Officials are keeping a close eye on the Chestnut Knob fire, which continues to spread, bringing it closer to South Mountains Game Land.

Updated closure information is available at www.ncwildlife.org/Hunting/Where-to-Hunt/Public-Places.

National Forest areas closed due to wildfire

Spreading wildfires have forced additional closures of trails, areas and roads in the Nantahala National Forest.

These newer closures cover the Chunky Gal area on the Tusquittee Ranger District, the Southern Nantahala Wilderness area on the Nantahala Ranger District and the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness Area on the Cheoah Ranger District. 

Many other closures are also in effect, including the Appalachian Trail from the Georgia line to the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City. 

For a full list of closures, visit http://bit.ly/2g3nCAp.

Swain and Jackson counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to losses from the ongoing drought.

Drought conditions are taking their toll on livestock operations in the area, according to Jackson County Cooperative Extension, causing a shortage of hay and increased risk of bovine pulmonary edema and emphysema, or ABPE.

A new website highlighting land protection projects along the North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is up and running, touting 76 properties totaling 63,948 acres that had been protected as of Dec. 31, 2015.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians was honored for its use of positive-impact forestry on the Qualla Boundary when the EBCI Office of Natural Resources won the 2016 EcoForester Award in a ceremony celebrating local forest products industry and sustainable forestry. 

To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing The Smoky Mountain News. We enjoy reading it every week. I would like to raise a few points regarding your opinion column in the Nov. 16 edition (www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/18818). 

First, remember the Electoral College issue only affects the presidential election. The branch of government the founding fathers intended to be the most crucial was the Congress, and of course we have large state/small state balance in the two-house structure. The executive branch was designed primarily to simply execute the laws passed by Congress. 

If the president’s power was limited to the level spelled out in the Constitution, the presidential elections would be far less criticaI. I believe it is fair to say all of the founding fathers were very worried about the presidency becoming too powerful. 

I refer you to the book recently reviewed by one of your book reviewers: Nine Presidents Who Screwed Up America: and Four Who Tried to Save Her. All Americans should support measures to reduce presidential power.

Second, my thoughts regarding the recent election results were similar to those in your piece until I listened to Rush Limbaugh’s programs over the past few days (sorry to refer to him. I’m sure you are not a proponent of his views but I believe these are valid points). He correctly pointed out that if the presidential race was based on popular vote both candidates would have campaigned much differently. Trump did not campaign in very blue states and Clinton did not campaign in red states. 

What would the outcome be if they did? We know that in states where they did both campaign Trump was more successful. And if the popular vote was the basis of the election, it would certainly result in more blue state Republicans and red state Democrats going to the polls. So the popular vote might have favored Trump if that was the format. 

I support the Electoral College format for the presidential elections and am certainly glad we live in a republic, not a democracy. Thanks for the opportunity to respond to your editorial.

John Johnson

Lake Junaluska

Two local authors and the Bethel Rural Community Organization’s Historic Preservation Committee were among award winners at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Society of Historians (NCSH) in Wilkesboro.

During his tenure on the Haywood County Commission, retiring Chairman Mark Swanger has certainly shaped what the future of the county will look like for decades to come.

Sunshine Sammies ice cream sandwiches are available in our FROZEN FOOD section.

Jackson County students in third through ninth grade will get a chance to share their messages on the importance of soil and water with this year’s annual contest through the Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District. 

For the sixth year running, Western North Carolina has been recognized as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in North America by The Princeton Review. 

A new map is available detailing more than 2 million acres of public forests, parks and scenic byways throughout Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians is just over a year old, but it’s already being recognized as a standout.

One of the largest conservation easements to ever be donated by an individual in North Carolina history has been finalized in Rutherford and McDowell counties.

I needed nearly a full day after the election before I could formulate a response to the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. 

Just before 10 p.m. on election night, as Florida and North Carolina broke for Trump and it began to dawn on everyone that all the pollsters and pundits had had it all wrong, I must have read two dozen posts on Facebook ranging in tone from delirious celebration to abject misery to complete disbelief, but I contributed nothing because I just could not believe what was unfolding.

To the Editor:

On a personal level, I am quite unhappy with last Tuesday’s election results. As a “community leader,” what concerns me more is that Haywood County no longer has any representative in Raleigh. In the last legislative map drawing, Haywood County was a sacrificial lamb. I have no recriminations for those people that held that political brush.  

However, as the canvas is now painted, I see nothing good for the county for generations to come. This isn’t about Democrats and Republicans. It is a serious political issue when the largest electorate in a governmental district has no voice. And that’s what Haywood is — the largest county by population in both the 118th and the 119th state House districts and in the 50th Senate District.  

I challenge the citizens of Haywood County, the political parties, businesses and other affected entities to rectify this civic injustice. We don’t have the liberty to point fingers, but we have the obligation to rightfully take our seat at the table.

In politics, “pigs get fed and hogs get slaughtered.” I for one, don’t relish my county on the political menu as an hors d’oeurve.   

Mayor Gavin A. Brown

Waynesville 

A man the Clyde Police Department and Haywood County Sheriff’s Office mentioned as “wanted” in connection to an armed robbery that happened at the Single Stop on Carolina Boulevard in Clyde on Oct. 15 has been arrested.

Life Challenge of Western North Carolina has been awarded a $9,000 grant from the Evergreen Foundation to help make essential improvements and renovations to its residential shelter and therapeutic treatment facility for women who are suffering from substance abuse problems and other life challenges.

With dry conditions reigning and wildfires raging, it’s currently both dangerous and illegal to start a fire nearly anywhere in Western North Carolina.

What is ERYTHRITOL? I noticed this ingredient on some stevia sweetener I bought at Ingles. 

To the Editor:

I live by Standing Indian Campground on West Old Murphy Road. Last Wednesday I watched the helicopters going to the Boteler Peak fire from my home. That afternoon, however, a U.S. Forest Service truck drove past my house, going the wrong direction from Boteler Peak. A first responder and West Macon Fire Truck came next, followed soon after by the smell of smoke, confirming that there was indeed another wildfire: The Buck Knob Fire. What ensued was an impressive procession of Forest Service vehicles, wildland fire trucks, local fire trucks, first responders, a dozer, and then of course the helicopters. I was awestruck.

Right now, professional women and men from across the country are here supporting local crews. Together with the staff of our Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests, local first responders and county fire departments, they are working to manage numerous wildfires on our national forest. With limited resources, these crews are tasked with balancing public safety (and their own) with the health of the forest (because fire under the right conditions can have long-term benefits for some types of forest).

 Unfortunately, unlike the dedicated funding that exists for many other natural disasters, wildfire response activities are funded through the Forest Service and Department of the Interior budgets. This means that the Forest Service must often transfer money from other funds in its budget to respond to wildfires. It is imperative that the Forest Service has a stable budget that provides the resources needed for its other work, such as managing roads and water quality to conserve fish and wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and more.

Despite working under uncomfortable and unpredictable conditions, the personnel that I encountered last week handled my questions with grace. And while I was at the district office, a local man called to offer the pond on his property for helicopters to use for water.

This man understands the spirit of public lands management. That is, when it comes to our shared public lands, we must take care of them together. We must give the professionals and agencies the tools and information that they need to do their job, and avoid adding to their workload. Be diligent about any sources of ignition on your property. Don’t throw cigarette butts out of your car window. Respect signs indicating that a road is closed for fire management, and if you see personnel and volunteers, thank them. 

Finally, speak up in support of the men and women who work for the Forest Service. Write to your representatives in Congress and ask them to seek dedicated funding for wildfire response, so that the Forest Service may take care of our national forests for the benefit of us all.

Michelle Ruigrok

Franklin

To the Editor:

As someone who is regarded as white, why am I a member of the Jackson County NAACP? This is what I know: the policies that hurt black children in schools also hurt white children. The conditions that create hungry black children also create hungry white children. The policies that keep black families from getting health care keep many white families from getting health care. Laws that hurt black workers also hurt white workers. Therefore, what is good for black people is good for everyone. When we unite over our common needs, solutions can be found.

From a Christian point of view, Jesus was quite clear. He stated (Mark:31) that the second of two commandments is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If you think your neighbors are only those who look like you or agree with you, Jesus also said (Matthew 5:44) “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Later (Matthew 25:40), Jesus said “as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you do to me.”

Jesus is again quoted (John 13:34) as saying “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Clearly, Jesus is for brotherly love, not hatred.  In addition, hatred doesn’t just hurt the recipient, it hurts the souls of those who hate even more.

As for Jesus himself, was he not born a Middle Eastern Jew, with dark skin? The whole notion of black versus white is superficial, if not artificial, as we are all human beings whose ancestors originated in Africa. If you don’t believe me, have your DNA tested and find out for yourself.

To hate others for their humanity is to hate oneself. That is no way to live. Ultimately, this is about justice, and not for ‘just us.’  As the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Until all are free, none are free.” Now that is the way to live.

When we all come together, we can create something positive for everyone.

Dan Kowal

Franklin

Two Haywood Community College students have been recognized for their leadership, scholarship and dedication to the wildlife management profession with the 2016 Dave Dudek Wildlife Award.

With a new, more stringent ozone standard now in effect, North Carolina’s numbers are looking good.

The North Carolina Forest Service has issued a burn ban for 25 Western North Carolina Counties, effective immediately and until further notice.

Campfires in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are a no-go following the park’s decision to issue a fire ban due to extremely dry conditions — in fact, many backcountry sites are currently without water. 

Chuck Francis will again return to chair a Haywood County School Board that has set high marks for achievement, climbing into the top 10 percent of all districts in the state.

Haywood Community College Career & College Promise student Ezekiel MacMillan was recently awarded the third place National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Student Entrepreneur Award. 

Haywood County Deputies responded to the Haywood Regional Medical Fitness Center around 6:15 a.m. Nov. 2 in reference to nine cars being broken into.

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), serving as a Designated County Partner of the North Carolina Arts Council, is pleased to announce the 2016-17 subgrantees for the Grassroots Arts Program. These awards are for organizations producing high quality arts programming. The subgrantees for this grant period are:

 Jackson County has joined five other Western North Carolina counties in receiving designation as a primary natural disaster area due to agricultural losses from drought.

A weekend of outdoor competition raised $220,000 in support of military members and their families at Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort and Burlingame Country Club Lake Toxaway last month.

More than a ton of trash vanished from Richland and Allens creeks following a volunteer cleanup effort this fall.

The Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest has a new district ranger following the arrival of Dave Casey, who most recently served as district ranger of the Bankhead Ranger District in Alabama.

Fire season is just beginning, but already five fires are lighting up the Nantahala National Forest. About 130 people are busy battling the blazes, with crews coming from as far as Alaska to help with the firefighting efforts.

Editor’s note: This is a letter former FBI agent Mark Swanger Jr. sent to current FBI Director James Comey. Swanger is the current chairman of the Haywood County Commissioners.

As a retired FBI Agent, I write to express my view of your recent actions regarding the so-called email scandal involving Hillary Clinton.

The Jackson County Arts Council has received four grants from the North Carolina Arts Council to fund various programs for the Jackson County community and schools this fiscal year.

Firefighters on the Dicks Creek Fire near Sylva have reported drone activity near the fire.

To the Editor:

It would be dreadful enough if Donald Trump were merely the most unfit, unprepared, unworthy and uncouth person ever to seek the presidency.

But it is worse than even that. He is inciting his followers to violence if he loses the election, which he claims will be stolen from him. He’s prompting them to acts of intimidation at polling places. His paranoid ranting aims to subvert the legitimacy of a Hillary Clinton presidency, in the same way he libeled Barack Obama’s citizenship. His accusation that “international bankers” are conspiring against him is nakedly anti-Semitic.

His threat to imprison Clinton is fair warning that he would be a tyrant in the mold of Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator who is trying to help him win.

Trump’s conduct has become subversive, seditious. He is a clear and present danger to the republic — more so than any foreign foe, because this enemy arises within.

“Democracy is on the ballot,” President Obama has warned. That is true.   

At a rally in Cincinnati last week, one Dan Bowman — identified as a 50-year old contractor — told the Boston Globe what to expect if Clinton is elected.

“If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it. We’re going to have a revolution and take them out of office, if that’s what it takes. There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that’s what it’s going to take .... I would do whatever I can for my country.”

It is a federal crime to threaten the life of a presidential candidate.

That is what Donald Trump is doing to our country. He has willfully laid bare and inflamed the ugliest aspects of America. It’s plain to see that he will not accept defeat with the grace that most Americans expect from those who don’t win. He means instead to launch a post-election fascist movement with himself as its führer. We know now how decent Germans felt as they watched Adolf Hitler seduce and spellbind their countrymen.   

The antidote to Trump’s poison is to whip him as soundly and convincingly as possible. Those who don’t vote or waste their votes on hopeless third-party candidates will be voting in effect for Trump, and to put their country in peril.

Hundreds of responsible Republicans have endorsed Clinton, along with prominent newspapers that had never recommended a Democrat for president. They did so because Clinton, despite her imperfections, is the only rational alternative to a hideously unqualified, immoral and dangerous narcissist who can’t take criticism without lashing out like a schoolyard bully. To put this bully within reach of the nuclear codes would be civic insanity.

The pity of it is that too many Republican officeholders are still his enablers, recommending his election even as they claim to deplore his past and present vulgarities. Do Sen. Richard Burr, Gov. Pat McCrory, Rep. Mark Meadows and Rep. Patrick McHenry really believe Trump deserves to be president?

It makes no difference whether they are in it for the spoils that would come from having a Republican, even one as counterfeit as Trump, in the White House, or are simply trembling in the face of Trump’s hard-core followers. Either way, they’re selling out their country for selfish ends. It brands them as unfit for office as Trump himself. 

Martin Dyckman

Asheville

To the Editor:

In last week’s guest column about Colin Kaepernick I wrote, “His protest is by kneeling (in prayer) while the National Anthem is being performed prior to National Football League games.” 

My friend, Shane, asked me to verify that Mr. Kaepernick prayed during his protest. Basically, this showed that I had made an assumption and could offer no evidence to support the two words — in prayer. Therefore, I thank Shane for catching that mistake on my part. 

I apologize to The Smoky Mountain News readers for that error. I also apologize to Mr. Kaepernick. I do not know what his belief is regarding prayer. So, I should not paint a picture of the gentleman praying in public without knowing for certain that he did. 

As most readers probably already know when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1-4, KJV) He told them to pray in their closet with the door closed. Much is said today about prayer in public places and before public meetings. The question may be — should people advocate for or against public prayer based on what is written in the King James Version of the Bible?

Dave Waldrop

Webster