Topics Related to North Carolina State Parks
The North Carolina Land and Water Fund Board of Trustees met Sept. 19 and 20 to consider grant applications and make awards for projects that will protect North Carolina’s land and water from the mountains to the coast. With the newly enacted state budget, over $45 million will be available immediately to fund these projects.“Our natural areas, rivers and streams are critical to the health and well-being of North Carolinians and our economy,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “These grants will help protect our state’s land and wetlands for generations to come.”
A state park in the migratory path of the monarch butterfly will host a festival to raise awareness about the declining population of this colorful creature.Gorges State Park in Transylvania County will host the second annual Mountain Monarch Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the park’s visitor center. The festival will celebrate the monarch butterfly during its migration south through North Carolina to the high-elevation fir forests of Mexico’s Neovolcanic Mountains, where they overwinter until early spring.
The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation is seeking public input on the Pisgah View State Park Master Plan. The Master Plan will be a 20-year plan that covers the entire state park, which contains over 1,600 acres spanning Buncombe and Haywood counties and is sited within the Spring Mountain range and Southern Appalachian escarpment, an ecologically significant region. Pisgah View is the 35th state park added to the North Carolina State Parks System, and the tenth state park in the mountain region of North Carolina.
The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation recently awarded $3,025,636 in grants for 13 land acquisition projects through the Complete the Trails Program Fund. These grants will leverage more than $13 million in matching funds to help local nonprofit partners acquire land for state trails projects in nine North Carolina counties.
The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced that Keith Nealson, who has been with state parks for 25 years, has been named a superintendent at Kerr Lake State Recreation Area. Nealson joins Bill Stanley, the lead superintendent, who moved into that role last year after longtime superintendent Bryce Fleming retired.
Brian Strong, a 23-year veteran of the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, has been named director of the division by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.“Our state parks are an unparalleled resource that preserve North Carolina’s natural beauty for future generations while making our communities even better places to visit and call home,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “Brian Strong is a proven leader who has shown his commitment to making North Carolina’s state parks even stronger and I’m confident he will serve our state well.”
August 11, 2023, 9:30am - 4pm
Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) funding meeting
Tracy Minton, the longtime superintendent at Elk Knob State Park, has been named superintendent of New River State Park in neighboring Alleghany and Ashe counties, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation.Minton succeeds Joe Shimel, who was promoted to east district superintendent last year. Ranger Scott Robinson served as acting superintendent during the interim.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) announced that its N.C. Trails Committee had awarded 17 grants totaling $1.6 million to local governments and nonprofit organizations for trail projects across the state.
Amanda Lasley, a veteran park ranger, has been named superintendent of South Mountains State Park in Burke County, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. Lasley takes the helm after longtime superintendent Jonathan Griffith retired earlier this year.A park superintendent leads operations and administration at a park with wide-ranging responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, natural resources management, environmental education and visitor services.