This Land, Your Land

Put a ranger in your pocket with the new free North Carolina State Parks app for iPods, iPhones and Android smartphones.

The downloadable Pocket Ranger Mobile Tour Guide was created by ParksByNature Network, a developer of mobile, interactive networks, for the state Division of Parks and Recreation and Friends of State Parks, a news release says.

It provides details about park locations, trails, facilities, reservations, events and special news alerts. A "pro" version for iPod and iPhone offers GPS-aided navigation of state parks, storage of detailed topographic maps and enhanced interactive features for $3.99 (an Android version is in the works).

Each version also has social networking tools.

Park and campground maps plus details on natural features, activities, fees and regulations are also part of the app, and are available regardless of cell phone capability once the app is downloaded.

The Pocket Ranger Mobile Tour Guide can be downloaded from the iTunes Store and Android’s Market – by searching "NC State Parks" or "NC Pocket Ranger" – or directly at http://stateparkapps.com/nc/apps.php.

ParksByNature has a tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/user/PocketRangerApp.

The state will present conceptual plans for Carvers Creek State Park, which is being developed in northern Cumberland County, in a public meeting in Fayetteville Monday night.

The public meeting at Pine Forest High School at 6:30 p.m. August 30 is part of the process to create a master plan, a park's blueprint for long-term development of facilities and recreation opportunities and a guide for protection of natural resources, a news release says.

Carvers Creek State Park was authorized in 2005 but has not been developed in part because of state budget woes. The state has continued to acquire land, though, and the park now encompasses 2,812 acres, including the former James Stillman Rockefeller estate near Spring Lake as well as undeveloped tracts that lie between Fort Bragg and U.S. 401 north of Fayetteville.

The Nature Conservancy, which donated parts of the property and coordinated the sale of other parts to the state, describes the Carvers Creeks property as "a mosaic of Sandhills communities, including pine/scrub oak sandhill, and wetland areas such as seeps, stream pocosins and a small swamp. The natural area is home to several active red-cockaded woodpecker colonies and several populations of Sandhills pyxie-moss."

Park design alternatives discussed at Monday's meeting will be available on the state parks website beginning August 31.