Exploring Wilson Creek

JoeMiller — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 15:01:10 +0000

In November, we began writing a monthly series of blog posts for our partners at Great Outdoor Provision Co. on the current U.S. Forest Service’s revision of its management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. Today, we write about the curious case of the Lost Cove and Harper Creek Wilderness Study Areas.

If you’ve been to this 13,000-acre chunk of the Wilson Creek area at the foot of Grandfather Mountain, you’ve perhaps noticed the signs indicating it’s a Wilderness Study Area. If you’ve been going there for a while, you’ve likely noticed the signs have been up for a while — since 1984, when Congress approved the U.S. Forest Service’s WSA recommendation.

Why, 32 years later, are Lost Cove and Harper Creek still being studied? Find the answer to that question and insight into the prospects for new wilderness areas in the mountains, in today’s post, “Lost Cove and Harper Creek: a 32-year Wilderness Struggle,” on the Great Outdoor blog.

If you haven’t been to the area, here’s a 90 Second Escape from last summer that captures the rugged beauty of the area.

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90 Second Escape: Harper Creek/North Harper Creek WSA

JoeMiller — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:01:36 +0000

Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: Harper Creek/North Harper Creek WSA

Content from Harper Creek / North Harper Creek

Even folks who have only heard of the Harper Creek and Lost Cove areas of the Wilson Creek drainage generally think the areas are official wilderness areas. They aren’t: they’re actually Wilderness Study Areas, which means they are under consideration for official Wilderness designation.

But they may not even be under consideration, if development interests have their say in the current review of the Pisgah National Forest/Nantahala National Forest Land Management Plan. The good news: public comment is being accepted through Jan. 5, a week from today.

You can read more about the Land Management Plan and the controversy surrounding the possible elimination of WSA status for the 13,000-acre Harper Creek/Lost Cove area here. In the meantime, let us inspire you to act with scenes from a GetHiking! journey this summer down North Harper Creek and Harper Creek, in the area in question.

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The post 90 Second Escape: Harper Creek/North Harper Creek WSA appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Wilderness Study Area Archives - GetGoing NC!

Exploring Wilson Creek

90 Second Escape: Harper Creek/North Harper Creek WSA