The Forest Festival usually dominates Elkins conversations during the first weekend of October; however, everything is different in 2020. The Coronavirus forces us to avoid person-to-person chatting. If we want to talk, we need to go online, and that forces us to contemplate the reasons for things we are saying. This week I joined a zoom meeting to help develop a plan for the interpretation of visitor experiences in the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area [AFNHA].

In spring 2019, the Monongahela National Forest conducted a prescribed burn in the Big Mountain area in Pendleton County, West Virginia near the town of Cherry Grove. A prescribed burn is defined as fire applied at a set location, under specific weather conditions, to accomplish predetermined, well-defined objectives. Read more about this burn and why it is necessary in this post!

Sharps Knob is the former site of a surface mining project; now it is the site of a red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem restoration project.

Exploring OUR Land: Public Lands in Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area opens June 4th, 2020, at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center in Elkins, WV. This exhibit, created by AmeriCorps member Sarah Rosenkrans, highlights why public lands matter, what they are used for, and how we can protect and conserve them!

What do pollinators do for ecosystems? How can we help them?

COVID-19 may have disrupted daily life nationally, and globablly, but it hasn't stopped our AmeriCorps members from getting things done.

Learn about the craft of weaving! Weave your own coaster at home!

May 12th 2020 marks the one-year anniversary of Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area being designated as such.