This Land, Your Land

This is not usually a commentary blog; we're trying just to update folks on what's going on in parks, forests and other public recreation land in North Carolina.

But one thing we advocate on the main Carolina Outdoors Guide site and elsewhere is do not screw around at the top of waterfalls. It's way too easy to lose your footing and wind up dead. It happens every summer.

On June 7, a 28-year-old Asheville woman wading in the pool above Rainbow Falls in the Pisgah Forest was swept over the 125-foot falls and killed. Two friends hiking with her saw her slip, and pulled her body from the river below the falls, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"The Rainbow Falls death is the second at a Western North Carolina waterfall in less than two weeks," the newspaper said.

"A Wake County man died at Elk River Falls in Avery County on May 29. The following day, a man and woman were injured in an accident at Upper Whitewater Falls near Cashiers in Jackson County."

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.

The Flintlock Valley Shooting Range in the Uwharrie National Forest will close for as long as a year as the Forest Service evaluates its safety after "recent incidents near the range have impacted forest visitors who were recreating in the area," the U.S. Forest Service said today.

A news release called the move "a temporary emergency closure ... while the agency evaluates the range’s future management."

The Flintlock Valley Shooting Range, off of Forest Road 576 in the Badin Lake Area, has two shelters with shooting benches. The rifle range is 100 yards and the pistol range is 50 yards.

The shooting range has been open since 1996, averaging 1,000 visitors per month, according to the Forest Service.

Users who have bought annual passes to the range can contact the Uwharrie National Forest at 910-576-6391 to learn how to obtain a refund.

The U.S. Forest Service has banned alcohol at 11 Nantahala National Forest day use areas in the Tusquitee, Cheoah and Nantahala ranger districts. The Forest Service said the decision was in response to recent vandalism rangers think was perpetrated by intoxicated forest visitors, the Asheville Citizen Times reported this week.

The prohibition includes Cheoah Point, the only free public swimming area on Lake Santeetlah, which attracts large numbers of summer visitors.

Other sites are: Balsam Lake Recreation Area, Big Choga Dispersed Camping Sites, Bristol Fields Campground, Dry Falls Recreational Area, Fire's Creek Hunter's Camp, Fire's Creek Picnic Area, Jackrabbit Recreation Area, Pine Ridge Dispersed Camping Sites, Wayah Bald Tower and Picnic Area and Whiteside Mountain Recreation Area.

The U.S. Forest Service routinely positions video cameras in National Forests to monitor "illicit activities," according to a report last month by the Island Packet of Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The Island Packet got the story after a man camping with his daughter and a friend in Francis Marion National Forest stumbled over a wire that led to a video camera and antenna.

Heather Frebe, public affairs officer with the Forest Service in Atlanta, told the newspaper that the camera was part of a law enforcement investigation. "She said that surveillance cameras have been used for 'numerous years' to provide for public safety and to protect the natural resources of the forest. Without elaborating, she said images of people who are not targets of an investigation are 'not kept.'"

Marijuana cartels use remote land in national forests as well as in national parks for large growing operations, according to published reports.

"The enforcement of federal drug laws on the national forests is fundamentally related to visitor safety, employee safety and natural resource protection," the Forest Service says on its Web site. "Currently, most marijuana illicitly grown on federal public lands in the West and Southwest is tied directly to Mexican drug cartels and criminal gangs. These criminal gangs are armed and dangerous and have confronted and intimidated hikers and hunters at gunpoint. The Forest Service works aggressively with state, county and other federal agencies to eliminate this criminal activity from national forests."

As for the legality of cameras, the Island Packet says, "In general, the courts have held that people typically have no reasonable level of privacy in public places, such as banks, streets, open fields in plain view and on public lands, such as national parks and national forests. In various cases, judges ruled that a video camera is effectively an extension of a law enforcement officer's eyes and ears. In other words, if an officer can eyeball a campground in person, it's OK to station a video camera in his or her place."

There are more than 1.2 million acres of land in national forests in North Carolina.

The U.S. Forest Servce took over ownership this week of Catawba Falls, a scenic waterfall near Old Fort in the Pisgah Forest that for years has been surrounded by privately owned land.

The 88 acres included in the purchase of two tracts contain the 100-foot lower and 70-foot upper falls on the Catawba River in McDowell County.

The Forest Service paid $713,000 to the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, a regional land trust. The money was appropriated in legislation approved last December.

The falls have been part of the Pisgah since 1989 but didn't have a trail that was open to the public, Foothills land protection director Tom Kenney told The Charlotte Observer.

The Foothills Conservancy has been working for nearly 20 years to acquire the property, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times. It bought 65 acres of the 88-acre tract in 2005. An anonymous lender helped the conservancy buy an additional 23 acres in 2007.

The Citizen-Times said the Forest Service plans to build a parking lot at the trailhead, a better trail and a bridge for hikers making the 1.5-mile trek to the falls. A plaque will commemorate original landowner Col. Dan Adams.

To get to Catawba Falls, take Interstate 40's Exit 73 in Old Fort, go southwest on State Road 1274 (Catawba River Road) and follow it about 3 miles to its end. The trail is open, but parking is very limited.

North Carolina's National Forests have adopted proposals announced in February that limit geocaching and use of metal detectors on forest lands as a means to protect special areas and historical artifacts from damage.

Friday's news release announcing the decision says there's a list of areas affected by the new ban on the National Forests in North Carolina Web site - http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/ - but we could only find a geocaching brochure that has no such list.

Geocaches, hidden containers that game participants try to find by using GPS coordinates or other navigational techniques, are prohibited in wildernesses, experimental forests (such as the Bent Creek Experimental Forest near Asheville) or Wild and Scenic River corridors, the release says. "Virtual caches," which refer to existing features such as waterfalls and scenic vistas, are still allowed.

The second rule limits possession or use of metal detectors to approved areas, primarily swimming beaches like those at Lake Powhatan in the Pisgah National Forest, Jackrabbit Mountain in the Nantahala, Flanners Beach in the Croatan, and Kings Mountain Point in the Uwharrie. Forest visitors can still get permission to use metal detectors to find lost personal property in other areas.

The U.S. Forest Service has decided not to raise the camping fees private concessionaires charge holders of National Park Service passes for the elderly and handicapped. Those who hold Golden Age and Golden Access Passports and Senior and Access Passes will instead continue to get 50 percent discounts, a news release says.

The Forest Service had proposed cutting the discount to 10 percent.

"The Forest Service conducted a 60-day public notice and comment period on the proposed changes," the news release says. "More than 4,000 comments were received."

Seniors age 62 and older pay a one-time $10 fee for the Senior Pass. Lifetime Access Passes for people with disabilities are free.

Concessioners are not required to accept passes at day use sites.

National Forest campgrounds in North Carolina operated by private companies include Standing Indian and Van Hook Glade in the Nantahala National Forest, and Black Mountain, Briar Bottom Group Camp, Carolina Hemlocks, Davidson River, Lake Powhatan and North Mills River in Pisgah National Forest.

North Carolina's national forests are proposing new limits on geocaching and metal detectors on forest lands as a means to protect special areas and historical artifacts from damage.

Geocaches, hidden containers that game participants try to find by using GPS coordinates or other navigational techniques, would be prohibited in wildernesses, experimental forests (such as the Bent Creek Experimental Forest near Asheville) or Wild and Scenic River corridors.

The second rule would limit possession or use of metal detectors to approved areas, primarily swimming beaches like those at Lake Powhatan in the Pisgah National Forest, Jackrabbit Mountain in the Nantahala, Flanners Beach in the Croatan, and Kings Mountain Point in the Uwharrie. Forest visitors could still get permission to use metal detectors to find lost personal property in other areas.

“Many archaeological sites on the forest have been significantly damaged from treasure hunting, by those who loot sites to sell artifacts, and by others just unaware that it’s illegal to disturb and remove artifacts from federal land without a research permit. Existing laws protect historical sites like early farms and logging camps as well as Native American artifacts,” Mary Noel, the forest lands and planning staff officer, said in a news release.

Comments on the proposed rule changes can be mailed before March 15 to the National Forests in North Carolina, 160A Zillicoa Street, Asheville, 28801, or sent to comments-southern-north-carolina@fs.fed.us.

The National Forest Service has announced a shortened season at Roan Mountain Recreation Area this summer to allow for renovation work.

The recreation area, which is near Bakersville in the Pisgah National Forest, will be open only from June 6 through July 7, a news release says. It is normally open from May through September.

Renovations are to include replacing the dilapidated 1960s restroom near the Cloudland parking lot with an eight-unit accessible restroom, resurfacing the trails to the observation deck in the Rhododendron Garden and replacing the observation deck, and resurfacing the main paved road leading to the Cloudland parking lot.

Renovations are to be paid for with $700,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill).

The Appalachian Trail, which runs through the area, will not be affected by the closure. However, the access trail from the AT to the Cloudland parking lot will be closed.