This Land, Your Land

If you're interested in how hiking, biking and bridle trails in North Carolina National Forests are managed, consider participating in a series of workshops to develop a non-motorized trail strategy next year.

Forest Service officials say they hope a "wide range of trail-user groups, individuals who represent local communities and ecotourism, or individuals not represented by larger user groups" will collaborate to develop "recommendations for a comprehensive trail management plan for each national forest in North Carolina." Participants might also become volunteers to assist in implementation of the plans, a news release says.

Initial meetings to be held near each subject forest will focus on Pisgah and Nantahala forest trails in January, and Uwharrie and Croatan forest trails next summer.

January meeting dates and times in the western part of the state are posted at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nctrailstrategy along with an explanation of the program. Additional meeting times and dates are to be posted there, too.

Use of the more than 1,600 miles of non-motorized trails in North Carolina national forests has increased every year as resources used to maintain trails have been static or decreased, the news release says. Forest Service officials and users will work together to look at the trail systems and, officials hope, recommend how to make the best use of current and future resources.

Information gathered at workshops will also be used in work that begins in 2013 to revise the Nantahala/Pisgah National Forests Management Plan.

Officials with the National Park Service say they've reopened all beaches and many ramps along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore after Hurricane Irene, but note that the southern half of the island and Ocracoke Island remain closed to non-residents.

Hatteras officials have found "damaged rooftops, water intrusion either through flooding or roof leakage in numerous facilities, scattered debris and tree limbs, and missing or damaged boardwalks, signs, posts and fencing materials," a news release says.

North of the breaches in N.C. 12, Coquina Beach and all its facilities have reopened, but the Oregon Inlet Campground remains closed.

Unless signs say otherwise, beaches are open to pedestrian access throughout the park. Here is a list of ramps open to off-road vehicles.

Cape Lookout National Seashore, including the lighthouse, is essentially open for day use. Some parts of Portsmouth Village and sensitive natural areas remain closed. Shackleford Banks has reopened for day and overnight use. There's still no water in the park except for bottled water sold at the visitor center.

The Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site near Manteo reopened Tuesday.

Recreation sites in Croatan National Forest remain closed, with no new information since Tuesday.

Five of the National Wildlife Refuges on the coast - Alligator River, Cedar Island, Mackay Island, Mattamuskeet and Swanquarter - have reopened, and Pocosin Lakes was to open today. Pea Island remains closed. Various roads, trails and boat docks at each re-opened site remain closed because of hurricane damage.

No update from Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which is administered in Virgina, was available.

Goose Creek State Park and Dismal Swamp State Park are the only coastal state parks that remain closed. At Goose Creek, the Dinah's Landing boat ramp on the western bank of the creek has reopened, the Division of Parks and Recreation says.

Still no word about the state's 10 Coastal Reserves, though five were closed prior to the storm.

We've tried to round up Hurricane Irene damage reports to coastal parks and recreation areas, but reporting is sparse so far.

The biggest problem is the several breaches to N.C. 12, the main highway on Hatteras Island, the largest of which is shown in the DOT photo below. This leaves the island south of Rodanthe, including Cape Hatteras National Seashore, cut off from cars.

At Cape Lookout National Seashore, "The Cape Lookout lighthouse is standing," a National Park Service news release says. "All docks appear impacted with varying amounts of damage and should be considered dangerous. Structures have roof and siding damage. Infrastructures, including the back roads, have also sustained damage."

The Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk remained closed Tuesday morning. Just down the road, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site has the same report.

Several Croatan National Forest day use sites and campgrounds are near New Bern, one of the areas hit hardest by the hurricane, but the Forest Service has not reported damages yet.

At Carolina Beach State Park, the staff was clearing debris and working to reopen trails and camping areas by Tuesday afternoon, the Wilmington Star-News said Monday. Nearby, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area reopened Sunday.

In addition to Carolina Beach, the state Division of Parks and Recreation said Tuesday morning that eight other state parks remained closed to all visitors: Cliffs of the Neuse, Dismal Swamp, Goose Creek, Hammocks Beach, Jockey's Ridge, Merchants Millpond, Pettigrew and Medoc Mountain. In reopened parks, the state said, some trails and facilities may remain closed until assessment and cleanup is complete.

Nineteen state parks were closed in eastern and central North Carolina late last week prior to the storm.

Like other organizations, the state's Coastal Reserves reported the closing of five sites in anticipation of the storm, but have no followup so far.

The '60s are long gone, man. The guys growing ganga out in the woods are gangsters not hippies, the National Forest Service warns in a news release.

While only a fraction of National Forest System lands are affected by illegal marijuana cultivation, the Forest Service says the safety risks are real. As soon as you become aware that you have come upon a cultivation site, back out immediately. Never engage the growers, as these are extremely dangerous people, the release says.

In addition to the danger to people who find marijuana patches in the woods, the pot plots themselves cause extensive and long-term damage to the forests and to supplies of public drinking water for hundreds of miles. Growers damage the land when they clear it for planting and then spoil it with herbicides and other chemicals, and they often dam creeks and siphon water for irrigation.

National Forests in North Carolina conserve more than 1.2 million acres for recreation and forestry research in four forests (below): the Nantahala and Pisgah in the mountains, the Uwharrie in the state's Piedmont, and the Croatan at the coast. Another 43,000 acres in the state are set aside in Bladen Lakes and DuPont State Forests, in seven Educational State Forests and in eight research forests operated by N.C. State University.

In the year ending October 30, the Forest Service found more than 38,200 marijuana plants in national forests here, including a large seizure in the Pisgah National Forest near Hot Springs, Forest Service spokesman Stevin Westcott told The News & Observer. They found 3,010 plants the year before.

The release provides these clues that you may have come across a marijuana cultivation site:

* Sometimes marijuana smells like a skunk on hot days.
* Hoses or drip lines located in unusual or unexpected places.
* A well-used trail where there shouldn’t be one.
* People standing along roads without vehicles present, or in areas where loitering appears unusual.
* Camps containing cooking and sleeping areas with food, fertilizer, weapons, garbage, rat poison and/or dead animals.
* Small propane bottles, used to avoid the detection of wood smoke.
* Individuals armed with rifles out of hunting season.

So, stay safe in the woods. If you stumble upon a pot patch, leave the way you came in, the Forest Service says, making as little noise as possible. Report as much information as you can to local law enforcement or any uniformed member of the Forest Service.

The National Forest Service has issued final orders limiting the use of metal detectors and limiting geocaching in North Carolina's four national forests: Croatan, Nantahala, Pisgah and Uwharrie. The Forest Service announced the decision in March.

The order limiting metal detectors allows their use with a permit in designated areas, which include the Ray Mica Mine in Madison, Cheoah Point beach and Jackrabbit Mountain beach in the Nantahala, Neuse River Recreation Area (Flanners Beach) in the Croatan, Lake Powhatan beach in the Pisgah and Kings Mountain Point beach in the Uwharrie.

Geocaching - "storing equipment, personal property or supplies not being used in conjunction with a current visit" - is prohibited in wilderness areas, Forest Service Research Experimental Forests and Wild and Senic River corridors.

The rules are in effect until April 2015.

The National Forest Service recently announced its plan to increase or establish fees at several day-use sites in each of the four National Forests in North Carolina.

"Public input is welcomed, and will be evaluated by a regional advisory board this fall before any changes are approved by the Regional Forester," news releases from the Forest Service say. "Fee changes are being considered due to the increasing costs of operating and maintaining recreation facilities, and to enable the Forest Service to add amenities requested by forest visitors at various recreation sites."

In addition to individual day-use areas, the Forest Service is proposing a change in the cost of seasonal passes for OHV trail complexes in all national forests within North Carolina.

News releases for the individual forests (below) detail the amount of the fee increases. Approved changes would go into effect for the 2011 recreation season.

The site in the Croatan National Forest being considered for a fee increase is Black Swamp OHV Trail Complex.

Sites in the Nantahala National Forest being considered for fee increases include Wayehutta OHV Trail Complex, Dirty John Shooting Range, Panthertop Shooting Range and Jackrabbit Recreation Area (swimming beach). New fees are being proposed at Moss Knob Shooting Range and Wine Spring Horse Camp.

Sites in the Pisgah National Forest being considered for fee increases are Brown Mountain OHV Trail Complex, Sliding Rock Recreation Area and Roan Mountain Recreation Area. A new restroom is being installed at Wolf Ford Recreation Area, with a new fee being proposed there.

Sites in the Uwharrie National Forest being considered for fee increases include Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex and Canebrake Horse Camp. Some trails at Badin Lake OHV Trail Complex are being improved with Recovery Act funds, but will still have significant and recurring maintenance needs.

Comments should be mailed by July 30 to USDA Forest Service, National Forests in North Carolina, ATTN: Recreation Fee Proposals, 160A Zillicoa Street, Asheville NC 28801, or e-mailed to comments-southern-north-carolina@fs.fed.us with “Recreation Fees” in the subject line.