Proposed Globe Scenic Area
Story by Kathleen McFadden
Researchers at Colorado State University released an economic study this week stating that the creation of the proposed Grandfather National Scenic Area (GNSA) would attract an estimated 1.5 million visitors a year, result in the creation of 724 new jobs and generate an additional $38.4 million in annual revenue for Avery, Caldwell and Watauga counties.
The proposed scenic area would encompass 25,500 acres of the 510,119-acre Pisgah National Forest along the Blue Ridge Parkway from Grandfather Mountain to Blowing Rock and would apply scenic protections only to public lands currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Alternative energy is the big buzz term these days, but how practical is it to create energy from the sun, wind and water? If you want to get up to speed on the current practices, products, prices and feasibility of creating your own energy, the Western North Carolina Renewable Energy Initiative at Appalachian has a course—or two or three or four—just for you coming up this spring and summer.
