With wedding season right around the corner, local wedding vendors are ramping up options for local couples.
In brief: Noise studied, teachers trained and wildflowers honored
Local divisions of the N.C. Department of Transportation won recognition in the state’s annual Wildflower Awards, while the city of Asheville studies noise and the Buncombe Partnership for Children deploys a $400,000 grant to train up to 60 new early childhood educators in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties.
Kathryn Long teaches nature connection at Growing Wild Forest School
Before Long cofounded Growing Wild in 2016, she taught in a conventional preschool. “I thought the kids were miserable, and it showed in their performance and behavior,” she recalls. “I started taking them outside for longer and longer periods of time, doing lessons with natural materials, and everyone did better.”
Zoë Mihalas gets young people outside
Mihalas received the Distinguished Service Award for Youth Education from Trout Unlimited last year for her work in creating a new generation of conservation-minded youth. She challenges young people to share photos of fishing or having outdoors fun with friends on Instagram to bridge the gap between nature and social media.
Shane Benedict leads Green River trash pickup
Started in 2011, the Green River Spring Cleaning has grown every year, with ever more participants paddling in to cover the Lower Green and the Upper Green. “Our goal is to work the entire Green River, from Lake Summit to Lake Adger, about 30 miles,” Benedict says. “That’s a lot, but I believe we can do it.”
N.C. Arboretum receives $1 million grant for statewide outreach
The N.C. GlaxoSmithKline Foundation donated $1 million to The North Carolina Arboretum with the intent to expand Project ecoEXPLORE from 23 WNC counties to all 100 counties across the state. The grant will also fund the arboretum’s Project EXPLORE teacher education program and Project OWL, a teacher certification program.
Area practitioners offer different takes on cause, treatment of leading foot complaint
Conventional and alternative practitioners differ on the causes, treatment and even the best name for common heel pain. But whether they believe the problem should be known as plantar fasciitis — indicating an inflammation of the tissues — or plantar fasciosis — a name that points to insufficient blood supply and resulting tissue deterioration, local practitioners agree that it’s the No. 1 reason people seek professional foot care.
Green in brief: Duke wins downtown substation OK; local conservationists honored
Located at 252 Patton Ave. and 28 Knoxville Place, the new facility will feature a gas-insulated design that gives it a smaller footprint than a conventional, air-insulated substation. Duke representatives estimate that substation construction will be completed by the end of 2020.
Polk County hosts nationally significant species diversity
“The vagaries of climate and geology and time and the dispersal mechanisms of plants and animals too — all of those things, just over vast eons of time, have given Polk County this sweet spot,” says botanist David Campbell. His inventory of the county lists 32 significant natural heritage areas, as well as 127 rare or watch-list plant species found at those sites.
Interest group emails compete to influence NC national forests’ future
Many emails represent the views of local organizations and user groups – such as the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council, the Friends of Big Ivy, and mountain bikers – who have played active and forceful roles during the forest plan revision.
2018 in review: Conserving WNC’s natural treasures
Western North Carolina’s wild places and creatures lie at the heart of the region’s appeal, inspiring local artists and attracting visitors from across the globe. Events in 2018 promised to shape the future of those natural resources for years to come.
American Alpine Club hosts veterans event at Chimney Rock
At a recent event in Chimney Rock hosted by the Hill to Crag climbing initiative, veterans of the armed forces explored how climbing can serve as a way to recapture the excitement and camaraderie of deployment without the anxiety of working in a combat zone.
Promise of snow prompts weekend cancellations. Here’s a list
The impending snowpacolypse — and the promise that hardcore weather prognosticator Jim Cantore will be the in Asheville area this weekend — has locals in a tizzy about the weather.
News in brief: I-26 connector meeting, Hump Mountain, veterans train service dogs
According to the project website for the planned Interstate 26 Connector project in Asheville, the N.C. Department of Transportation has been meeting with community groups about the roadway since 1989. On Tuesday, Dec. 4, NCDOT will again convene local stakeholders. Also: a major public land acquisition in the Cherokee National Forest, and a new community service option for veterans involved with the criminal justice system.
Grant provides room to grow for WNC’s outdoor industry
A $940,000 award, to be administered primarily by Asheville-based nonprofit Mountain BizWorks, will fund the newly created Growing Outdoors Partnership, which aims to boost sustainable job growth in the local outdoor gear and recreation industries.
UPDATED: Vegas developer asks for changes to county law for ridgetop resort
A Vegas-based developer wants to build a resort in the mountains outside Asheville. To do so, he would need commissioners to amend Buncombe County’s zoning ordinance. Staff in the county planning department have recommended that commissioners reject the changes.
National forest plan revision nears final draft release
While the long-running planning process has made considerable progress toward a consensus vision for the forest, sticking points do still remain. Conservationists continue to disagree with some hunting advocates and logging industry groups about protected area designations and the exact extent of active management on the land.
Locals work to protect monarch butterflies
Every fall, between late September and early October, monarch butterflies migrate from the Northeastern U.S. to Mexico, with many passing over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Although fewer monarchs are making the trip these days due to habitat loss and other factors, local monarch enthusiasts are working to study and protect their populations.
DuPont State Recreational Forest holds deep history
The DuPont Forest Festival, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22, has been a long time in the making. The chemical conglomerate DuPont’s initial 1956 purchase of land for a silicon manufacturing plant in Cedar Mountain proved the beginning of a journey that would preserve one of Western North Carolina’s most treasured natural places for the future.
Woods & Wilds encourages forest protection through storytelling
Seven regional storytellers and Papadosio side project EarthCry perform at the Dogwood Alliance event, Sept. 8 at The Grey Eagle.
MountainTrue report assesses health of region’s waterways
State of the French Broad River Watershed 2018 summarizes a bevy of data from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, the Black Mountain-based Environmental Quality Institute and MountainTrue’s own monitoring into a single holistic measurement for waterway cleanliness.