Eastern Band Cherokees Work Together to Care for their Rivers

After two weeks of closure, Gatlinburg Trail and Twin Creeks Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are fully reopened.

The park announced their closure on Wednesday, Oct. 26, due to a large concentration of bears eating acorns along parts of the trails. The groups of bears are gone now, but hikers should remain watchful while hiking.

For information on what to do if you encounter a bear while hiking, visit nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/blackbears.htm.

Hike through Thanksgiving

Give thanks outdoors with a Thanksgiving Day hike at Panthertown, 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 23.

The group will meet at the Cullowhee Recreation Center and head up to the trailhead for a hike of 4-6 miles, rated as beginner to moderate in difficulty. Hiking time should be between two-and-a-half and four hours.

Cost is $5, with children under 18 accompanied by a parent. Open to ages 10 and up. Register at jcprd.recdesk.com/community/program. Contact Trevor Brown with questions at 828.293.3053, ext. 9, or email trevorbrown@jacksonnc.org.

Land navigation course offered

Learn how to stay found with a land navigation course offered 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, in Haywood County.

Course instructor Steve Kuni, who is a trainer for the Haywood County Search and Rescue Volunteers and a former U.S. Army Officer, will cover the fundamentals of traditional map and compass land navigation, and apply those fundamentals to navigation with modern cell phones. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec. For more information, contact recreationandparks@haywoodcountync.gov or 828.452.6789.

Cataloochee opens

Cataloochee Ski Area opened for the season Monday, Nov. 14, after starting snowmaking with the onset of cold weather the previous day.

For opening day, one aerial lift operated 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with skiing and riding on five trails: Upper Omigosh, Rock Island Run, Lower Omigosh, Rabbit Hill and Beginner’s Luck. Through Dec. 9, the ski area will be open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, including Thanksgiving. Special hours Nov. 23, 25 and 26 are 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Last year, Cataloochee opened for the season on Nov. 20. For updates on the 2022 season, visit cataloochee.com or follow the ski area on social media.

Tribe, Forest Service sign co-stewardship agreement

A new agreement between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the U.S. Forest Service will allow the two entities to collaborate on management of the tribe’s 54,000 acres of forestland.

The agreement, the first of its kind in the Forest Service’s Southern Region, opens funding and support opportunities for the Forest Service to perform management activities on trust and tribally owned restricted lands bordering or adjacent to the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

“Our partnership with the U.S. Forest Service is a testament to what can be achieved for tribes when representatives of the government come to table with genuine, meaningful thoughts and dialogue,” said Joey Owle, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “We have been able to advance our tribal interests, such as strategic forest management, along with pursuing mutually beneficial goals and objectives, that at the foundation of it all, co-stewardship of lands that we all come home.”

Principal Chief Richard Sneed and Regional Forester Ken Arney signed the proposal, authorized under the Tribal Forest Protection Act, during a ceremony Sunday, Nov. 6, preceding the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree tour celebration at Oconaluftee Island Park. The tribe’s Timber and Natural Resources Committee gave its support to the proposal during an Aug. 17 meeting, and on Thursday, Sept. 1, Tribal Council unanimously approved it.

“Our people have always maintained a strong connection to the earth. Cherokee culture is imbued with gratitude for our land and its countless resources,” Sneed said.

EBCI already has a strong relationship with the Forest Service, helping to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into forest management.

“I deeply value the relationship that has developed between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and our Forest Service team,” Arney said. “It is engagement and commitment like this that allows us to manage the landscapes for mutual benefit.”

Managing fire and white oak are important elements of Cherokee relationships with forests in the Southern Appalachians. Settlement, logging and fire exclusion have altered forests and impacted culturally important forest products and practices. Integrating artisan and traditional ecological knowledge with silvicultural and fire research will inform forest management. Planned work includes prescribed fire, treating non-native and invasive species, and managing species and places valued by tribal members. Projects will provide multiple benefits to the Forest Service, EBCI and the local community, including restoring forest resiliency and productivity.

“Tribal connections in Western North Carolina extend to time immemorial. As costewards of the national forests, we’ll continue working together to manage forests for shared values while simultaneously reducing fire risk, making forests resilient to climate change and protecting places of tribal significance,” said National Forests in North Carolina Forest Supervisor James Melonas.

In the map released Nov. 10, only 19 of North Carolina’s 100 counties were free of any drought designation.

N.C. Drought Advisory Council map

Drought strengthens, but recent rains could reverse trend

The latest drought map released Nov. 10 shows strengthening drought in the mountain region, but significant rain from Tropical Depression Nicole that fell after the Nov. 8 data cutoff may result in an improved situation when the new map comes out Nov. 17.

The Nov. 10 map lists Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties as experiencing severe drought, with an additional 19 counties — including Haywood, Buncombe, Transylvania and Henderson — in moderate drought. Fifty-six counties are labeled abnormally dry. The Town of Franklin asked its residents to reduce water use by 5% until the supply from Cartoogechaye Creek improves.

However, rainfall from Nicole was significant, with the National Weather Service reporting 1.69 inches in Waynesville and 0.81 inches in Bryson City Nov. 10-11. Cullowhee got 1.58 inches Nov. 11-13, but no precipitation is recorded for Franklin. Brian K. Noland & Catherine Proben

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The U.S. Department of the Interior has disbursed $21.53 billion in fiscal year 2022 energy production revenues, the secondlargest disbursement since 1983.

The money, generated from energy production on federal and tribal lands, as well as federal offshore areas, provides money to states and tribes to pursue a variety of conservation goals, including irrigation and hydropower projects, historic preservation initiatives, efforts to protect public lands and waters, and investments in much-needed maintenance for critical facilities and infrastructure on our public lands.

This year, tribes and individual Indian mineral owners received $1.59 billion, the Reclamation Fund $3.32 billion, the Land and Water Conservation Fund $1.02 billion, the Historic Preservation Fund $150 million, federal agencies $460 million and the U.S. Treasury $10.64 billion. In addition, 33 states received a total of $4.36 billion from oil, gas, renewable energy and mineral production on federal lands within their borders and from offshore oil and gas tracts in federal waters adjacent to four Gulf states’ shores. North Carolina received a miniscule share of this funding, $111.

Tree discounts available for military members

During the month of November, military members can receive a discount on tree seedling orders from the N.C. Forest Service.

The 25% discount is open to active, honorably discharged or retired military personnel, and it applies to the first $500 of all orders, up to $125. Proof of service — valid military ID, Department of Defense Form 214/215 or National Guard Bureau Form 22/22A — is required to obtain the discount. Standard shipping rates apply.

Order seedlings at buynctrees.com or call 1.888.NCTREES.

Turn soil tests in soon

Peak-season soil testing fees will take effect Dec. 1, lasting through March 31, 2023, so submit soil tests soon to avoid the $4 per sample fee.

Fall is the busiest time of the year for the soil testing lab, so the peak-season fee was instituted in 2013 to encourage early sampling. Outside of peak season, testing is free.

Samples with completed soil information forms must be physically delivered and received by the Agronomic Services Division before Dec. 1 to avoid the peak-season fee. Information forms for all soil samples must be present for samples to be received.

For more information, visit ncagr.gov/agronomi/uyrst.htm.

Tremont President and CEO Catey McClary and board members discuss the future of the second campus while visiting the

Townsend property. Erin Rosolina photo

Located on the North Carolina side of the park, Balsam Mountain Campground and Heintooga

Picnic Area sit at 5,300 feet. NPS photo

Tremont plans second campus

A $250,000 grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Connected Communities Pilot Program will support development of a second campus for the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.

The funds will allow Tremont to complete a detailed engineering design to retrofit an existing house into a regenerative education center, the first phase of the ambitious project. The second campus will allow for greater program capacity while demonstrating sustainability and equity efforts. It will meet International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge, a framework of rigorous regenerative building standards that incorporate clean energy goals, sustainable building practices and a positive impact on the surrounding community. It aims to be the first retrofitted Living Building Challenge building in the TVA region.

Knoxville-based McCarty Holsaple McCarty Architects has been chosen for the first phase of the project, and the firm will work closely with Hennebery Eddy, an architecture and planning firm with offices in Oregon and Montana.

To learn more about the project, visit gsmit.org/second-campus.

Water system upgrades to move forward at Balsam Mountain and Heintooga

An environmental assessment investigating potential impacts of water and wastewater system repairs at Balsam proceed with the project.

The selected alternative calls for replacing water lines, sewer lines, a well pump and a water storage tank, as well as installing two new conventional septic systems and a quarter-mile gravel access road. The improvements will support visitor services in this remote location by providing safe drinking water and proper wastewater treatment and disposal while also reducing system maintenance requirements. Located on the North Carolina side of the park at about 5,300 feet in elevation, the campground and picnic area are typically open mid-May through mid-October. To minimize inconvenience to visitors and campers, most construction will occur during the seasonal closure.