January 20th, 2022 | Asheville native and Western Carolina University grad Stephanie Dillingham is spending her time post graduation in Highlands serving the Highlands Cashiers Land Trust maintaining trails and organizing educational efforts through AmeriCorps.

December 20th, 2021 | A Black community situated at the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment in McDowell County is taking a leading role in developing an ambitious trail project in Pisgah National Forest.

Work is slated to begin later this year on the Old Fort Trails Project, which will create roughly 42 miles of new sustainably constructed trails to improve community connectivity, reduce barriers to access, and support environmental and social sustainability.

June 1st, 2021 | The six-person AmeriCorps crew, volunteers and federation staff planted the salt marsh grass, completing a restoration project put in place to reduce shoreline erosion, protect the area’s maritime forest from storms, provide fish habitat and help improve coastal water quality, according to the federation. The AmeriCorps crew also collected marine debris and did maintenance work at Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carolina Beach State Park, Morris Landing in Holly Ridge and other spots on the central and southern North Carolina coast.

May 11th, 2021 | The coastal federation has been promoting living shorelines in recent years as an environmentally friendly alternative to bulkheads. For the Pine Knoll Shores project, the federation hired Restoration Systems LLC of Raleigh to build an oyster sill for the effort. Dr. Weaver said as of Friday, they’ve built 15 feet of the 50-foot sill. “We have this new material, Biomason, we’re trying out with the sill,” Dr. Weaver said. She went on to explain Biomason is a product made of biological concrete mixed with oyster shells, giving it a “low-carbon footprint.”

April 1st, 2021| Conservation Corps North Carolina, which dispatches teams to improve parks across the state, sent six people to the forest this week to improve the trails. They’ll be back in Spencer next week, too, to keep working. The goal, assistant crew leader Lillian Cahill said, is to make hiking trails more sustainable so maintenance isn’t as necessary in the future.

April 1st, 2021 | Conservation Corps North Carolina, which dispatches teams to improve parks across the state, sent six people to the forest this week to improve the trails. They’ll be back in Spencer next week, too, to keep working. The goal, assistant crew leader Lillian Cahill said, is to make hiking trails more sustainable so maintenance isn’t as necessary in the future. The workers in Spencer have been building trails by hand, including new switchbacks at the trail off Rowan Avenue to replace the entrance that went straight back into the forest.

March 29, 2022 | The N.C. Coastal Federation, a nonprofit headquartered in Ocean and dedicated to preserving and restoring the coastal environment in North Carolina, has partnered with the Conservation Corps North Carolina, a Conservation Legacy program dedicated to motivating young adults to engage in conservation projects.

March 25th, 2021 | Work is slated to begin later this year on the Old Fort Trails Project, which will create roughly 42 miles of new sustainably constructed trails to improve community connectivity, reduce barriers to access, and support environmental and social sustainability. The project is spearheaded by People on the Move Old Fort, a Black-led collaborative that advocates for the community’s Black residents. The efforts are designed to remove some of the hurdles, including historical legacies, to Black participation in trail building and recreation.

September 29, 2020 | CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Duke Energy Foundation today announced $522,400 in grants to fund environmental projects creating access to nature and protecting species, habitats and water quality in North Carolina.

One of the ways Duke Energy builds powerful communities is through protecting and restoring wildlife and natural resources that communities and future generations depend on. 22 organizations receive funds to protect and restore wildlife and natural resources: one of them is Conservation Corps North Carolina!

September 3, 2020 | A Conservation Corps North Carolina (CCNC) crew of young adults worked with volunteers from the North Carolina High Peaks Trail Association to complete high priority trail work on the Black Mountain Crest Trail in the Nantahala National Forest.