This Land, Your Land

A U.S. Forest Service program will provide $605,000 to reduce wildfire costs and severity, and to fight hemlock wooly adelgid in two popular recreation areas of the Pisgah National Forest, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release today.

The grant is among $40 million to be allocated for 20 forest and watershed restoration projects under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program.

The 10-year project is meant to restore natural fire-adapted vegetation in the forest, lower wildfire severity and fire suppression costs, and help threatened and endangered species in and around Linville Gorge and the Wilson Creek Wild and Scenic River corridor.

The proposal for the grant calls for prescribed burns, thinning mature trees and planting shortleaf pine in 36,795 acres of pine and oak forests. Other work includes "removing white pine, red maple, yellow poplar and other mesophytic species from oak-hickory and yellow pine Ecological Zones" to "improve species composition and structure on 1,850 acres of upland forests." Another 2,740 acres will be treated for non-native invasive plants.

The Grandfather Restoration Project (it's named for the ranger district) will also include treatment of 540 acres of eastern and Carolina hemlock for hemlock woolly adelgid within the first two years of the project and then indefinitely thereafter.

Additional plans call for bank stabilization, species reintroduction, and removal of artificial fish barriers and non-native invasive plants on a total of 16 miles of streams in the project area.

The proposal says the work involved, including harvesting and selling wood products, will create 12.6 full-time-equivalent jobs.

The U.S. Forest Service announced its decision Tuesday to not allow boating on a disputed stretch of the Upper Chattooga River, a national wild and scenic river.

"Current management, or not boating, will be maintained year-round between Lick Log Creek and (Georgia) Hwy. 28, an area that includes the popular Delayed Harvest, a highly valued trout fishery," the three forest supervisors in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia have decided. (The northern reaches of the river are in the Nantahala National Forest in Jackson and Macon counties, North Carolina.)

To maintain the ban on boating in the northern section of the river has been the Forest Service's stated preference throughout the decision-making process, so the final ruling comes as no surprise.

"The agency’s decisions have been seven years in the making," the Forest Service news release says, "during which time many individuals and organizations haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on how to manage the upper segment of the Chattooga WSR."

The restricted area is approximately 20 miles of the river's total of 57 miles. For five of the 20 miles, the river passes through the 8,274-acre Ellicott Rock Wilderness, which is protected under the Wilderness Act.

The Forest Service will continue to allow boating in the winter and early spring between Green Creek in North Carolina and Lick Log Creek in South Carolina.

"Other actions include maintaining the current prohibition on commercial boating and boating in the tributaries on the upper segment; preventing large woody debris removal without agency approval; and redesigning, relocating or closing some trails and campsites and maintaining sustainable ones," the release says. "In addition, the agency will continue to monitor visitor use and its impacts."

The 496-page decision and it supporting and background documents are available here.

Visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park fell by 4.8 percent from the previous year to just top 9 million in 2011, the Knoxville News Sentinel said today.

A years long decrease in camping at "frontcountry," or developed, campgrounds also continued.

Overall park visitation for 2011 was 9,008,831, down from 2010's tally of 9,463,538 visitors. A surge in visits during a mild December - 37.7 percent more than the last month of 2010 - kept the count from falling below 9 million, the newspaper's report says.

Park officials told the newspaper that visits to the Great Smokies may have risen in 2010 as vacationers avoided the Gulf after the BP oil spill, and then fallen last year after the spill had been cleaned up.

In reflection of a national trend, use of frontcountry campgrounds in the park has fallen 33 percent since 1995, plunging to 277,000 camper nights last year from 416,000 camper nights 16 years ago.

But the park's 90,444 backcountry camper nights in 2011 represented an increase from the 79,480 backcountry camper nights recorded in 2010.

The 800-square-mile park, which sits between Cherokee at its main North Carolina entrance and Gatlinburg at its main Tennessee entrance, is still the top national park for economic impact, the newspaper said.

Visits to Great Smoky Mountains National Park peaked at just over 10 million in 1999 and 2000, the News Sentinel said.

The News & Observer reported today that new rules about driving on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore to be released Monday will set permit fees at $90 to $150 for an annual pass and between $30 and $50 for a seven-day permit.

A 2008 consent decree requires the National Park Service to limit driving on the beach at Hatteras to times that do not conflict with nesting and spawning seasons for endangered species. The agreement, which settles a lawsuit brought by various environmental groups, also closes pedestrian access to specific areas of the seashore for bird breeding season from mid-March to mid- to late-August and for turtle nesting until early November.

Weekly closure notices are available each Thursday in season at www.nps.gov/caha/parknews/newsreleases.htm.

Most drivers taking vehicles out onto the beach at Hatteras are fishermen, a park spokesman told The N&O.

In addition to buying a permit for each vehicle you want to take out to the beach beginning February 15, "permit holders will be required to watch an instructional video," The N&O says.

The Park Service will update maps and provide other information about obtaining permits at www.nps.gov/caha in the coming weeks, according to the newspaper.

The N&O's Crosstown Traffic blog has a .pdf of the 82-page NPS final rule designating off-road vehicle routes and authorizing limited ORV use within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

A prescribed burn at Hanging Rock State Park in the next couple of months will protect the endangered Schweinitz's sunflower, the Division of Parks and Recreation said this morning.

The burn in 2.5 acres containing the Schweinitz's sunflower is scheduled for this winter or early spring, as weather permits.

The Schweinitz's sunflower is endemic to the Piedmont of North and South Carolina, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is a perennial herb that grows from 1 to 2 meters tall from a cluster of tuberous roots (see below).

Regular fire cycles are necessary for the flower to survive, the state parks news release says, and the burn is to remove competing Virginia pines and other shrubby vegetation shading the sunflowers.

Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii)

The National Park Service has confirmed that work to refurbish the Bodie Island Lighthouse will resume next month with completion anticipated in October.

Work was suspended last spring after the Park Service concluded it did not have the money to repair the extent of damage discovered after work had begun the previous year.

But this week's announcement of a $1.89 million contract award confirms Outer Banks Group Deputy Superintendent Darrell Echols' statement to the Outer Banks Voice newspaper in December that funds had been secured.

The work is to include the following renovations:

  * Restore deteriorated metal.
  * Restore components on the lantern level (support beams, masonry, railing/ladder).
  * Replace galley cornice segments.
  * Paint interior and exterior masonry.
  * Replace windows and glass on lantern level.
  * Paint all newly installed metals/wood.
  * Install fire suppression system and rehabilitate electrical power.
  * Install stair strengtheners.

The existing lighthouse, which stands near Oregon Inlet on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, is actually the third Bodie Island Lighthouse, each of which has had a troubled history.

Work to enhance safety at Dry Falls will close the Nantahala National Forest site's namesake trail and parking lot this spring and summer, the USDA Forest Service said today.

Dry Falls is a 75-foot roadside cascade on U.S. 64 in the Cullasaja Gorge between Cullasaja Falls and Bridal Veil Falls near Highlands. A wide, easy trail allows visitors to walk behind Dry Falls.

The $466,000 project will reconstruct and replace the entire walking path. The work will remove tripping hazards and protect water quality through drainage control measures, a news release says.

Nantahala District Ranger Mike Wilkins said this is the first major work on the Dry Falls trail in more than 30 years.

The construction project, which is funded by Federal Highways Grant of $208,000 and matching agency funds of $258,000, is to begin in early April and conclude by September.

The parking lot at Dry Falls was resurfaced in 2008, work that also required closing the site for several weeks during the season.

North Carolina's state parks had a banner year in 2011, recording 14.25 million visits, which matches the all-time record set in 2009 and slightly exceeds the 14.19 million park visits in 2010, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation said in a news release today.

Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County had the highest attendance last year at 1.32 million visits, which was actually a bit fewer than 2010's 1.47 million.

Among 39 state parks and state recreation areas, 15 reported increases in attendance in 2011.

Parks with significant increases in visitation include Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County (34 percent), Elk Knob State Park in Watauga County (50 percent), Jones Lake State Park in Bladen County (26 percent), Kerr Lake State Recreation Area in Vance County (24 percent) and Medoc Mountain State Park in Halifax County (31 percent).

Several parks with new or improved amenities opening last year saw big jumps in attendance. A new 700-foot swim beach and picnic area at Lake James State Park opened for its first full season, and the park saw a 70 percent jump in visitation. A renovated marina opened at Carolina Beach State Park, a new equestrian trail network opened at Medoc Mountain and a number of hiking trails, including a volunteer-built summit trail, opened at Elk Knob.

Full attendance figures are available here.

Jones Lake State Park in Bladen County, below, was one of several state parks to see attendance increases in 2011. Click on the photo for more information about Jones Lake.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the National Park Service have created an interactive map of the AT based on Google maps, that shows a variety of trail features.

In addition to Google's standard map, satellite and map/satellite viewing mode, the ATC's map - which includes the rest of the globe - can be viewed as a terrain map and as a USGS topography map. (Topo information is confined to the U.S.)

With a click of the mouse, users can bring up trail shelter locations, which with another click include a photo, capacity and amenities; plus parking and scenic vistas, which also include photos.

There are about 300 miles of the 2,181-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail in North Carolina or along the North Carolina/Tennessee border.

Unlike Google maps, the ATC map does not readily create emailable links or code for embedding portions of the map.

"While useful, this map is for general reference purposes only and not intended to replace the more comprehensive and accurate A.T. printed hiking maps, available from the ATC's Ultimate Trail Store," the ATC says.

Bridle trails at Morrow Mountain State Park are to be closed for "several months" this year for rehabilitation and rerouting, the state parks system said today.

About two miles of trail in three segments among the 16-mile equestrian trail network will be re-routed because they are unstable and cannot be properly maintained, a news release says. The trail system will grow by nearly a mile in the process.

Also, two trailheads will be consolidated into a single access point for all equestrians.

Work could begin by mid-February and, once it is complete, the trails will remain closed for several weeks for the trails to compact and harden.

The release further explains that, once they're renovated, bridle trails at Morrow Mountain will begin to operate under an inclement weather policy that closes them during ran and snow and keeps them closed afterward until they can be checked for damage.

The inclement weather policy is already followed at several other state parks, the release says. Notice of opening and closings will be posted to the park's page on the state parks website, as well as to the site's "alerts" page (see here).