Please join the NC High Peaks Trail Association on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. in the Burnsville Town Center for our annual meeting. Our keynote speaker will be Frances Figart, Creative Director for “Smokies Life” magazine.
Her talk will be entitled, “Conservation Stories (Not Just for Kids)” and will give details about the Safe Passage road ecology project in the Pigeon River Gorge.
Figart edits “Smokies Life Journal” and curates the column, “Word from the Smokies” for several regional news outlets.
She is also the author of three books for young readers: the road ecology fable, “A Search for Safe Passage;” which champions the need for wildlife crossings in Southern Appalachia; “Mabel Meets a Black Bear,” which follows twin girls who learn the hard way how to be BearWise; and “Camilla and the Caterpillars,” in which a young girl inspires her family to plant native and turn their backyard into a Homegrown National Park.
These books are available at SmokiesLife.org, but will be for sale at the meeting and can be signed by the author.
We will also hear a report from Rob McGraw, Superintendent of Mt. Mitchell State Park, which recently re-opened following a nearly year-long closure prompted by Hurricane Helene’s damage to the Blue Ridge Parkway. High Peaks is the official “Friends of Mt. Mitchell State Park” organization.
The second half of the meeting will be our annual business meeting for members (guests are welcome) to report on our activities over the last fiscal year and to elect members of the Board of Directors.
Founded in 2010, Yancey-based High Peaks is an advocate for outdoor recreation and conservation. The group leads frequent local hikes and its members contribute hundreds of hours of volunteer trail maintenance work annually.
