Outdoors
Rehab efforts begin on popular Smokies trail
The National Park Service (NPS) will begin a major rehabilitation on Laurel Falls Trail, one of the most popular trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The trail will close for 18 months starting Jan. 6, 2025, as crews make improvements to the trail and parking areas.
Burning permit requirement reinstated in WNC
The N.C. Forest Service has reinstated the requirement for open burning permits in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties.
Drought conditions lessen in WNC
After several weeks of increasingly dry conditions, Western North Carolina has finally seen some much-needed rain, taking the whole region out of drought conditions and into a “moderately dry state.”
HCC hosts spring hunter safety courses
Haywood Community College’s Department of Arts, Sciences and Natural Resources and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will offer two opportunities for hunter safety courses in Spring 2025.
The Joyful Botanist: Happy Holly Days
Editor’s note: This is a re-print of a column that originally ran in 2022.
There are many different plants that Appalachian mountainfolk have used for centuries in their decorations and celebrations on or around the winter solstice.
Haywood Waterways creates jobs to clean up Helene litter
After Tropical Storm Fred moved through Western North Carolina in 2021, litter cleanup throughout the East Fork and downstream along the Pigeon River was an unfunded effort, leaving local responsibility on the backs of property owners, volunteers and programs like Adopt-a-Stream.
Design studies on tap for Foothills Parkway
The National Park Service will conduct additional design work and technical studies for Foothills Parkway Section 8D. This decision was based on feedback from subject matter experts and public comments received during a 30-day public comment which ended on Aug. 21.
Sylva to host Cycle NC Moutain Ride
North Carolina Amateur Sports announced that the Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride is headed to Jackson County Aug. 1-3, 2025. Registration for the 2025 Mountain Ride is now open at ncsports.org.
Public comment sought on proposal to list hellbender as endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list the eastern hellbender as an endangered species throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act. Eastern hellbenders are found in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
