Riding a bike in Western North Carolina is an immersive experience of flying on miles of single-track trails, cruising over creeks and under the tree canopy. Yet full access to nature is challenging for mountain bikers living with disabilities.
Tag: Pisgah National Forest
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4 unique trips for the hiker who’s tried everything
Consider one of these trips led by local guides for your next adventure in WNC (and eastern Tennessee).
Around Town: Book chronicles Carolina Mountain Club’s 100-year history
The Carolina Mountain Club marks its 100th anniversary with a new book. Plus, an author uses Black Mountain as a inspiration for her YA novel, a Buddhist monk will discuss his book and Citizen Vinyl presses an album celebrating Southern music.
Plan charts future of Pisgah, Nantahala forests
The latest Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Land Management Plan was implemented last month and outlines land use for the next 20 years.
Letter: More logging isn’t the answer for our national forests
“The U.S. Forest Service should reconsider its mission and focus less on ‘productivity’ for tree-harvesting and more on sustaining the health and diversity of our national forest lands, streams and rivers.”
Increased logging will benefit our national forests
“Amid constant change, our forests desperately need intentional manipulations and disturbances. Sure, left alone, Mother Nature will reset these lands for us: But it will be done through ice storms, wildfires and catastrophic, random events.”
From CPP: Mountain trails face stress from cyclists and climate change
Maintaining trails in Western North Carolina’s mountain forests poses tough choices between recreation and sustainability.
Forest plan may boost special status for Craggy Mountains
The pending approval of a U.S. Forest Service plan for the roughly 1 million acres that the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests cover in Western North Carolina is likely to influence whether a large swath of the Craggy Mountains should be open for timber harvesting or managed for recreation.
From CPP: Forest Service unveils long-awaited plan for WNC
The U.S. Forest Service offered four alternative management plans for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in 2020. It has decided to go with a fifth alternative.
Pisgah wildlife education hub to close after flood damage
When Tropical Depression Fred tore through Western North Carolina in August, among the casualties was the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s executive board has moved to close and demolish the facility, replacing it with an expansion to the adjacent Bobby N. Setzer Fish Hatchery.
From CPP: Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest Plan nears completion
Groups in Western North Carolina are continuing their projects while the U.S. Forest Service finalizes its choices for the comprehensive 20-year plan.
Letter: Spend occupancy taxes on healing tourism’s impacts
“The tourism fund could be used to provide paying jobs for locals to be out in the parks and forests making sure visitors practice “leave no trace”; park only where they are supposed to; do trail work; and prevent mapless tourists from getting lost in the woods.”
Regional land trusts celebrate major donations
On April 22, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy shared news of a 7,500-acre donation in the Roan Highlands. That same day, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina announced a 332-acre donation along Wilson Creek.
From CPP: Forest supervisor balances population, budget and environmental concerns
Forest supervisor James Melonas sets priorities for tenure as leader of state’s four national forests.
Green in brief: SAHC conserves nearly 3,000 acres; OGS gets social
The Asheville-based nonprofit Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s work included both valuable wildlife habitats, such as the Wiles Creek and Little Rock Creek preserves, and prime farmland at risk of development. Sandy Hollar Farms in Buncombe County and Bowditch Bottoms in Yancey County were among the agricultural projects completed in 2020.
Color show: Short fall walks lead to long views
Xpress contributor Mark Barrett shares his pick of lesser-known Western North Carolina hikes with opportunities to take in the region’s autumn splendor.
Help protect water quality in WNC’s national forests
“Right now, the U.S. Forest Service is drafting the next forest management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests … and, unfortunately, the current draft is inadequate in a few very important ways when it comes to protecting water quality.”
National closures curb outdoor recreation in WNC
“My whole world seems to be closing,” says Danny Bernstein, an Asheville-based outdoors writer who regularly leads hikes for the Carolina Mountain Club and Friends of the Smokies. “Staying 6 feet apart is easy on the trail. But how can we have outdoor activity if almost every piece of public land is closed?”
Buncombe board split on direction for next phase of COVID-19 response
The commission’s Democratic members passed direction for expanded community testing and contact tracing over the objections of its Republican contingent. Joe Belcher, Anthony Penland and Robert Pressley stressed their commitment to ensuring the county’s safety but expressed concern over the process by which the resolution was introduced and some of its terms.
Asheville Archives: The great deer hunt of 1936
In the late fall and early winter of 1936, Pisgah National Forest invited hunters to bag stags. Though there were plenty of stipulations involved, thousands of nimrods applied to partake in the monthlong hunt.
Rock climbing as therapy
Western North Carolina is a rock climbing mini-mecca, featuring faces such as Looking Glass, John Rock and Rumbling Bald. And for some, this fast-growing sport is a way of life. Together with traditional therapy, it’s played a key role in helping some climb out of depression.
