A new education and outreach program has begun at Pisgah National Forest called River Rangers. Currently the forest is seeing more visitors than ever. The River Rangers program aims to inform visitors for reducing habitat disturbances for endangered species in the forest. O particular concern is the hellbender salamander.
Pisgah View State Park is the sixth state park in Western North Carolina. Republican senator Chuck Edwards introduced the bill authorizing its addition. The Cogburn family donated the land which they had originally owned since 1790.. In 1941, Ruby and Chester Cogburn opened the very popular Pisgah View Ranch on the tract. The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy helped facilitate negotiations between the Cogburn family and the state.
A landscape and forest plan promises to provide a more sustainable forest for the Twelve Mile area. The plan involves culling old growth forests and planting young growth forests, to yield a more diverse forest and derive timber sales income.
Four initiatives yielded for William David the 2019 Young Eco-Hero Award: recycling hard to recycle items; Eastern box turtle conservation; invasive species prevention; and French Broad watershed water quality project. Information pointing to his potential and promising a future in conservation: a mentor from the NC Arboretum; career plans involving engineering.
This museum honors veterans by activities such as living histories. Particularly dedicated to including historically overlooked veteran populations, it intends to expand its services in initiatives like recording veterans’ stories for the Library of Congress permanent archives.
First Step Farm is a community of substance dependent adults; the inhabitants, who are divided by gender, work together to grow annual and perennial flowers. In addition to work in the greenhouses, the residents attend therapy sessions and treatments.
A triennial festival, LEAF, promotes connecting cultures and creating community through arts and music. It operates in ten countries around the world to encourage youth to be confident within their own cultures.
To support new farmers, the Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy’s Farmer Incubator Program offers access to low cost land the Community Farm. The farm includes staff support, infrastructure, and equipment.
A 320 acre land plot of Youngs Mountain was purchased by Conserving Carolina, a local land trust that will protect the natural communities on the mountain.
The June Jamboree, put on by the SAHC, is a day of free guided hikes throughout the Roan Highlands region. They offer several different hikes depending on ability levels.
The use of glass for art began to make its mark in the 1960s in Ohio and quickly spread to the Penland School of Crafts outside Asheville. Since then, the area has become a beacon for glass artists from across the country.
Hannah Siler and her father both shared a love of the outdoors and biking, but when her father passed suddenly, Hannah decided to do a cross-country bike ride to raise money for a scholarship in her father’s name that she is starting for students to attend a wilderness course.