In February, Mountain BizWorks’ MADE X MTNS partnership, which seeks to expand WNC’s outdoor industry, released a study that noted outdoor activities such as backpacking, day hiking and vehicle camping generated an economic output of $4.9 billion per year for the region and resulted in 48,000 full-time jobs.
Tag: wild abundance
Showing 1-21 of 22 results
Green in brief: Nonprofits plan conversion of Saluda Grade into trail
The path, running along an inactive railway, would stretch about 31 miles northwest from Inman, S.C., through Tryon and Saluda before terminating in Zirconia, about 7 miles southeast of Hendersonville. Hendersonville-based Conserving Carolina; Greenville, S.C.-based Upstate Forever; and Spartanburg, S.C.-based PAL are leading the effort.
Green in brief: Blue Ridge Parkway tops national parks in 2021 visitation
The scenic roadway saw 15.9 million recreation visits in 2021, up from about 14 million in 2020; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which also includes land in Western North Carolina, was in second place with over 14.1 million visits.
What’s new in food: Pranom Pop-Up at Bottle Riot
Chef Dream Kasestatad returns to Bottle Riot. Plus: Punk Rock Hot Dogs returns to the Masonic Temple, Melting Pot Social opens and more local food news.
Green in brief: WNC gets $100K toward charging stations, RiverLink seeks storm drain adoptions
The charging station program, funded by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality from part of the state’s allocation in the Volkswagen emissions-cheating scandal, partially defrays the cost of installing Level 2 infrastructure, which can recharge electric vehicles up to seven times as quickly as a standard 120-volt outlet.
Natalie Bogwalker develops natural skills at Wild Abundance
Classes take place on a hilly, wooded eco-homestead campus featuring Bogwalker’s self-constructed cabin, gardens and fruit trees, and students can choose to camp on the property for a full immersion into a more sustainable way of life. “We are permaculture in action, a living example of the beauty and abundance of the land,” she says.
Christmas tree redux
As the holiday season winds down and decorations are packed away, disposing of Christmas trees sits at the top of the to-do list for many households. Even our region’s most famous residence, the Biltmore Estate, can’t escape the task of tree removal. In fact, with more than 100 hand-decorated Christmas trees in and around the estate, Biltmore has had to develop more than one approach to recycling and reusing its trees.
Letter: ‘Traditional’ and ‘humane’ are excuses
“Traditions of violence and discrimination have long existed in our society, but that does not mean that they are acceptable.”
Letter: What defines ethical slaughtering?
“Of all the forms of animal agriculture, those advocating ethical slaughter practices should probably be the first to truly have glass walls.”
Letter: Has outrage addiction taken over animal rights issue?
“Once again, we see the tendency of the far left to attack the almost far left for not being pure or strident enough.”
Front lines: Animal Liberation Front vs. Wild Abundance permaculture school
This fall, an international animal rights organization spearheaded a campaign to stop a small Western North Carolina permaculture school from hosting its annual home-butchering workshop.
Letter: Proud to join fellow vegans in protest
“The local vegans have nothing to gain personally from their protest. In fact, as they pay for supplies out of their own pockets, it costs them money. I’m proud to be associated with them.”
Letter: Stop threats against local sustainability school
“The vegans have raised their battle flags against Wild Abundance, Asheville’s local permaculture, natural-building and primitive-skills school. The abusive nightmare that we survived last fall with our newborn has returned with even more ‘fire and fury.'”
Asheville’s wild-food experts expound on medicine for body, soul and planet
Wild foods, foraged from Western North Carolina’s biodiverse environment, give a boost to health as superfoods high in nutrients, say leaders of local “weed walks.”
Letter writer: Flawed arguments offered for animal farming
“The only way to mitigate the horrific suffering our species now inflicts on the others is to abolish animal agriculture as such, once and for all.”
Letter writer: Let Live Coalition responds
“We hope that if people sympathize with the demise of one helpless sheep and recognize, that he or she didn’t deserve to be “harvested” and “processed,” that this will carry over to compassion for other animals.”
Letter writer: Wild Abundance looks forward to apology
” Next year, please leave us alone, and go focus your time on issues that matter like racist police brutality, factory farms, gentrification, climate change, etc.”
Let Live Coalition vs. Wild Abundance: Vegan activists rally against a local permaculture school
Despite a contentious week of social media campaigns, phone calls and emails from vegan and animal rights activists, local sustainability educators Meredith Leigh and Natalie Bogwalker went ahead with their workshop, Cycles of Life: Humane Slaughter and Butchering.
Letter writer: Join me in asking to stop sheep slaughter
“My heart breaks for the sheep who will be made vulnerable, assaulted and robbed of her life needlessly.”
Letter writer: Cycles of Life slaughtering class is about life and awareness
“I strive to see the whole system in all things, live my life in service of holistic thought and practice, and work daily to expose the interdependence and synergy of systems to others.”
Letter writer: We don’t need to slaughter a sheep to learn ‘where our food comes from’
“When you choose to kill an animal for culinary pleasure, you are saying that for you, this animal is nothing. You are everything.”