HIDDEN TREASURES #2 – North Carolina

Welcome to part two in our exploration of the most amazing places in the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains — this time exploring some of our most fabulous Public Lands. Cataloochee Valley Surrounded by 6,000-foot peaks in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee Valley is one of the loveliest early settlements…

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Rebranding Bank of America’s Responsibility

————————————————————————————————————————————– Join us in Charlotte on May 9 to remind Bank of America, the largest financier of the U.S. coal industry, of their responsibility to citizens and the environment. Visit our action page for more info and to sign up. ————————————————————————————————————————————– “BREAKING: Daring Action at Bank of America Stadium,” read the first email in my…

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Study Weighs Risks, Benefits of Fracking in North Carolina

By Brian Sewell A series of public hearings in March concluded that, with proper regulation, hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas drilling method can be done safely in North Carolina. The hearings, held in Sanford, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, received public comment on a draft report of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources’…

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Fox Squirrels Making a Comeback in N.C.

If you’ve ever seen what you thought was a gray squirrel on steroids, what you actually saw was most likely a fox squirrel. This bushy-tailed, colossal squirrel is common throughout most of Appalachia, but was not seen in the North Carolina mountains in several decades — until relatively recently.

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A Golden Wing and a Prayer: Restoring Warbler Habitat

By Brian Sewell Appalachia’s favorite bird, the golden-winged warbler, has been selected as one of seven focus species by a new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that aims to reverse population decline through habitat restoration. The “Working Lands for Wildlife” program will collaborate with private landowners…

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Is There A Kumbaya Moment Coming for the National Forests?

By Randy Johnson As wildflowers and buds break out this spring in the Southern Appalachians, hope that a greener fate for federal forest lands will bloom as well. On Feb. 9, 2012, the U.S. Forest Service and a handful of public and private collaborators — not all of them very collaborative in the past —…

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Red, White and Water Campaign Turns Up the Heat on Toxic Coal Ash

On Feb. 15, Appalachian Voices’ Red White and Water team, North Carolina Riverkeepers and other organizations launched a campaign called N.C. Can’t Wait, a petition and education drive to protect communities from toxic coal ash pollution. The campaign was created after monitoring near coal ash ponds at North Carolina’s 14 coal-fired power plants confirmed that…

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