NEWSMAKERS: The Future of WNC's National Forests

submitted by Carolina Public Press

First up:

The Future of WNC's National Forests
Thursday, Nov. 13
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Handmade in America
125 S Lexington Ave #101, Asheville

Featuring a live interview and public Q&A with:
Jack Igelman, Carolina Public Press
Kristin Bail, National Forests of NC
Kevin Colburn, American Whitewater
Hugh Irwin, The Wilderness Society
Gordon Warburton, NC Wildlife Resources Commission

NEWSMAKERS is a new live interview and public Q&A series from Carolina Public Press to feature smart, nonpartisan conversation between top local, regional and statewide journalists and people making and influencing the news.

This forum will discuss the future of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests which are – for the first time in 20 years – undergoing an extensive re-planning process. This process – which will ultimately oversee more than 1 million acres in 18 mountain counties using a process that has been largely untested on the East Coast – will have innumerable impacts on Western North Carolina’s residents, economies and environment.

The forum coincides with a month-long reporting series from Carolina Public Press. In Forest Lookouts, Carolina Public Press will pull back the layers of bureaucracy to report on the plan’s players and leaders, analyze the plan’s inception and implementation, find what community leaders, elected officials and conservationists think are the biggest issues facing the forests and explore the best ways to manage the forest for future generations — all to help residents across North Carolina understand what’s going on and how to participate.

Reserve your seat at this free and public forum today. Questions? Write anewsome@carolinapublicpress.org or call 828-279-0949.