Articles About Arts & Recreation
There’s really nothing quite like trout fishing for immersing yourself in nature and becoming part of the landscape. Cool mountain waters swirl around your feet as you gingerly pick your way along a stream bottom of smooth stones in hues of copper, slate, and ebony. Whether fly-fishing or spin casting, the moment you feel the […]
Your average roadmap of North Carolina represents the Uwharrie National Forest as a large, green blob covering most of Montgomery County as well as portions of Randolph and Davidson. In fact, that’s simply the proclamation boundary. Look at a detailed map of the national forest, and you’ll see a crazy patchwork of light and dark […]
With three of the four indicators rated “fair,” Mecklenburg County’s land resources have room for improvement, according to the county’s latest State of the Environment Report. The 2012 report rates four categories of environmental Indicators for land resources: climate change and wildlife, nature preserves, greenways and facility planning. The report did rate climate change and […]
While walking on my grandparents’ property last week, I was fortunate to stumble upon one of the most common and understated orchids in bloom – the Crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor). We typically think of orchids as something rare and eye-catching, with vibrant colors that stand out vividly from a woodland backdrop. The Crane-fly orchid, however, […]
Charlotte city officials are pushing two groups with competing visions for the future of the Carolina Theatre to work together to help save the history-rich venue that’s been vacant, on a prominent uptown corner, for more than 30 years. The two groups on Thursday pitched differing proposals for the city-owned facility to a Charlotte City […]
Where are you going for the 4th of July this year? Hiking the western North Carolina Mountains, where you could go for a hike up Mount Mitchell (the highest peak east of the Mississippi)? Camping in the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area of the Pisgah National Forest? You could plan on spending the day trout fishing […]
Several years ago, when we were planning to change the way we manage some of our land, I happened to meet Bob Askins, a biology professor at Connecticut College and author of Restoring North America’s Birds: Lessons from Landscape Ecology. As we discussed my projects, he encouraged me to do a baseline inventory before we […]
As a resident of Third Ward uptown, urban design student and enthusiastic cyclist, I frequent the streets of uptown. Most of my trips through its streets are not in my car, which means I travel at a slower pace and am better able to absorb the cityscape experience. On one of these trips through the […]
If you’ve driven by the Low Water Bridge recently, you probably have seen a good bit of bulldozer activity and wondered what exactly was happening to this beautiful natural area. The work is being undertaken with a promising objective in mind. The LandTrust of Central N.C. is partnering with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to […]
Many birds lead lifestyles of the rich and famous – they “summer” in one location and “winter” in another. After nesting in the United States, some birds depart for second homes in South America or the Caribbean. Others are content to travel no farther than the Uwharries in the N.C. Piedmont. Migration is a risky […]
It took years, multiple political strategies, a bond vote, patience, weathering a brutal and ongoing economic downturn, more patience, and – finally – a multimedia event under a tent on a hot asphalt parking lot. But last Friday, ground was broken for a new park in uptown Charlotte: Romare Bearden Park. It’s notable for many […]
In the early 1970s, a group of artists rebelled against the market-driven forces in New York. They moved out West and began to use the earth as their canvas. In time, their works became known as earth art or land art. The Lightning Field by Walter De Maria is one of the best examples. On […]