This Land, Your Land

Show your support for North Carolina’s environment by camping out this weekend, October 7 to 9, with Campout! Carolina.

Campout! Carolina is an annual program from EarthShare North Carolina, a group of 66 non-profit organizations that work together to educate the general public about the value of protecting North Carolina’s natural resources.

Last year, more than 8,400 people from across the state joined Campout! Carolina, according to its website. This year's is the fifth annual statewide campout.

Any night outdoors this weekend can declare itself part of Campout! Carolina, and the program has affiliated events, including the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance, a family-friendly festival with four stages of music, plus dance, art, education, games and other fun from Thursday through Sunday. Here's a closer look at Shakori Hills, which is on a farm in Silk Hope in Chatham County.

If you register on the Campout! Carolina website, you could win a four-day pass to Shakori Hills, or a tent from REI.

REI stores will have gear rentals available for free on a first-come, first-served basis for the weekend of Campout! Carolina.

Need an idea of where to camp? There are literally hundreds of camping opportunities on public lands across North Carolina - campgrounds that you are already paying for in our national parks, national forests, state parks, and elsewhere, including at military bases and posts in the state.

An "excellent" fall color show should begin to roll down the mountainsides of western North Carolina in the next couple of weeks and continue through October.

Kathy Matthews, associate professor of biology specializing in plant systematics at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, said in her annual prediction that “2011 should prove to be an excellent year for fall color.”

Depending upon the timing of the first frost, fall colors should peak during the second week of October in the higher elevations, and during the third week of October in the mid-elevations, Matthews told WCU's The Reporter.

Howie Neufeld, Ph.D., professor of Plant Physiology at Appalachian State University in Boone, predicted this week on his The Fall Color Guy blog that the color would peak in the Boone/Grandfather Mountain area the weekend of October 7-9 and "maybe the next weekend farther south around Asheville."

Neufeld said colors in the Highlands/Cashiers area of the Nantahala National Forest peak about the same time as in Boone or just slightly afterward. In the Great Smoky Mountains, he said, "colors will peak in early October at the higher elevations, and then work their way downslope, with a delay of about five days for every 1,000-foot drop in elevation."

In his weekly report for this week, Neufeld said he drove to Linville Falls and Grandfather Mountain State Park over the weekend and found a significant increase in color on the hills compared to last week, though they are still about 80 percent green.

"On Grandfather Mountain, color is very pronounced on the heath balds and rock outcrops," Neufeld writes. "Above 4,500 feet, color is quite advanced, and on the eastern and lower flanks of Grandfather (the side facing the Blue Ridge Parkway) there are one or two ridges with excellent color already. You can get a great view of this from the Beacon Heights parking lot, and also on the rock outcrops at Beacon Heights (take the short trail to the top for spectacular views)."

Beacon Heights, at MP 305.3 on the Parkway, is a trailhead for Section 13 the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the Tanawha Trail, which goes under the Linn Cove Viaduct.

Goose Creek State Park has reopened on its regular fall schedule of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the state Division of Parks and Recreation said on the park's website this morning. Campgrounds and some trails remain closed due to unsafe conditions caused by Hurricane Irene.

Farther south, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail reports that extensive storm damage in the Croatan National Forest will likely mean the Neusiok Trail remains closed until next spring.

We've previously reported the National Forest alert that says only three recreation sites in the Croatan have reopened since the late-August hurricane, and about numerous downed trees in the campground at Goose Creek.

The FMST says in an email sent yesterday that "boardwalk, bridges and hundreds of trees were uprooted" along the 20-mile Neusiok, which is Section 36 of the MST.

"The damage is extensive enough that FMST volunteers are estimating that the trail may not reopen until next spring," the group says on its website.

The storm also caused breaches in five places in Section 38 of the MST, the Outer Banks from Ocracoke to Jockey's Ridge State Park. Temporary bridges over the breaches are expected to be in place by early October.

If you don't have plans for Saturday, there are at least 20 opportunities in North Carolina to participate in cleanup and rehabilitation work as part of National Public Lands Day. There are also guided hikes on the Appalachian Trail and free admission to National Parks as part of the annual celebration.

National Public Lands Day, September 24 this year, is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands in the United States. Last year, 170,000 volunteers worked at over 2,080 sites in every state, the District of Columbia and in many U.S. territories.

Projects planned in North Carolina (link above) range from spreading wood chips along nearly a half mile of the Lake Trail at the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site in Flat Rock to removing aquatic debris and collecting water quality data at the Rachel Carson Coastal Reserve near Beaufort, and from trail work in the Nantahala National Forest's Panthertown Valley Backcountry Area near Cashiers and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to removing litter and debris at hurricane-damaged Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge near Rondanthe on the Outer Banks.

Opportunities to help also exist at local sites, like Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary and Fairview Park in Hillsborough.

Up the coast from Pea Island, entrance fees are waived for the day at the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk the only National Park in the state to charge for entry.

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.

In case we have to tell you, coastal parks are closed in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, including Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores, the five National Wildlife Refuges, all day use sites and campgrounds in the Croatan National Forest, and campgrounds at the eight state parks in the coastal region.

State parks remained open for day use as of Wednesday (when the news release was, umm, released) but were to close on short notice as conditions warranted.

Here's where to get National Weather Service watches, warnings or advisories for North Carolina.

We got a good demonstration this evening that you can find wildlife in your own backyard when we came home from work to find an Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) nesting in the backyard.

The Biology department at Davidson College says a mature female box turtle will lay three to six eggs each spring in a shallow nest. The eggs are left unguarded and hatch in the late summer or early fall.

We don't know how long this turtle was at it in our yard in Clayton, but it had a hole pretty much dug when we got home. Over the course of about two hours, it finished the hole, laid three eggs and covered the hole.

You can see the first two eggs in the nest here:

Watch our video of the turtle laying its third egg, which we couldn't get to load here, on YouTube.

And after the eggs have been laid, the turtle covers and fills:

With a series of guided hikes that start next Sunday, the Nature Conservancy in North Carolina opens three of its preserves to the public for guided hikes this summer and fall.

The first of the hikes are available May 29 at Bat Cave Preserve in Rutherford County's Hickory Nut Gorge and at Bluff Mountain Preserve in Ashe County.

Bat Cave Preserve, which includes Bat Cave and Little Bat Cave, below, is the site of the longest augen gneiss fissure cave in the world and forests that harbor a number of threatened or endangered plants, such as broadleaf coreopsis and Carey’s saxifrage.

Click on the photo or the link above for a look at the hike we took to Bat Cave Preserve with the Nature Conservancy.

In recent years, the caves have been closed to avoid spreading white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed a half million bats in the northeast and as far south as Virginia, but there's plenty more to see.

Hikes at Bat Cave Preserve are set for May 29, June 26, July 31, August 28, September 25 and October 23. The hike is two miles, with parts that are fairly steep and strenuous. The hike takes approximately two to two and a half hours. Make a reservation or ask questions at batcavehikes@gmail.com or 828-290-9217.

Bluff Mountain Preserve is one of the most ecologically significant natural areas in the Southeast, according to the Conservancy. It includes a broad, high plateau containing a one-of-a-kind wetland, a southern Appalachian fen, an old-growth Carolina hemlock forest and a rare flat-rock plant community.

Bluff Mountain Preserve hikes are set for May 29, June 24, July 3, September 3 and October 14. The cost is $10 per person. Get more information at bluffmountainpreserve@gmail.com or (336) 497-1972.

Big Yellow Mountain hikes take you through hardwood forests to the mountain's open, grassy 5,540-foot peak in the Roan Highlands.

Big Yellow hikes are set for June 4, July 23 and September 10. For more information or to make reservations, drop a line to bigyellowmountain@gmail.com.

Care to help kids with autism? Need to make a year-end tax-deductible donation? Please consider a contribution to the Jake Nelson Raleigh TEACCH Fund, which we've established in memory of our son.

The Jake Fund will provide a stipend to practicum students and interns learning to work with individuals with autism at the Raleigh TEACCH center, which is located in Garner. TEACCH stands for Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication-related handicapped CHildren.

Chris Nealy, a graduate student in UNC’s School of Social Work from Lumberton, N.C., is the first to receive a stipend from the fund.

“One of the goals of the TEACCH center is to train professionals from different fields — psychology, social work and more — to work with individuals with autism in order to increase the number of professionals available to meet the rising need for services for individuals with autism,” Mary Van Bourgondien, professor and clinical director at the Raleigh TEACCH center, told the Garner Citizen. “This fund enables us to attract students to the field and to partially support the efforts of these trainees.”

Jake, who had Asperger's syndrome, volunteered with the Raleigh TEACCH center to speak before middle school and high school teachers about how they could help their students who have autism spectrum disorders. He was particularly concerned that they protect autistic kids from bullying.

“After high school graduation, he came back to the high school group to share his college experience and help those younger than him prepare for life after high school,” Van Bourgondien said. “He became confident and realized he had valuable information he could share to enhance the lives of others.”

Contributions to the Jake Nelson Raleigh TEACCH Fund can be sent to the Medical Foundation of North Carolina Inc., 880 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514-2600. Specify that the donation is for the Jake Nelson Raleigh TEACCH Fund.