The Fall foliage is arriving all around us here at the Dry Ridge Inn .   Here are just a few pictures from around the Inn.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is just around the corner.  There you can climb up to 6,600 feet.  The fall foliage continues through October, and many times into early November. 

It’s official. In September Weaverville became the 33rd community in the country and only the second in North Carolina (the first is Montreat) to become a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat.  To be awarded the community certification, the Weaverville Wildlife Habitat team worked with 65 homes, 10 businesses/common areas, and 1 school to have each certified as wildlife habitats.  Each certification garnerned points for Weaverville as a community, and in the end the town earned 422 points towards certification, exceeding the necessary requirements by172 points.

The following letter was sent to the Habitat Team from Roxanne Nersesian Paul, Senior Coordinator of the National Wildlife Federation Habitat Programs, who gave me permission to publish it. Sounds like we made quite an impression.  Congratulations to the team members and community members who worked to help Weaverville achieve this.

I am please to announce that Weaverville, North Carolina has just become the nation’s 33rd certified Community Wildlife Habitat.

Weaverville is a town of about 2850 people located 10 miles north of Asheville and 2300 feet above sea level in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Their team of volunteers was an extremely strong one, with two leaders both having their PhD’s and one of them a Habitat Steward as well.  Weaverville also received support from their local chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, one of our affiliates most actively engaged in education.

Having gone through their project notebook, I wish I could convey to you what an extraordinary project this was for such a small town.  In addition to getting their local elementary school certified, they certified 9 other community sites, including the Fire Station, a local funeral home (!), 3 inns, and a demonstration garden called Main Street Nature Park.  Sixty-five individual homes were also certified.

The team worked with the town government to modify the local weed ordinance to allow only native plants and well-behaved exotics.  The weed ordinance also prohibits the planting of invasives from the North Carolina noxious weed list.  A CVS will soon be opening in town and the team made specific recommendations about native plantings to replace the existing vegetation and the CVS management agreed!

In addition, one of the team leaders created a CD with a 161 page pdf with photos and descriptions of specific plants native to western North Carolina.  The CD was made available to town residents for a nominal fee, which helped support the project’s efforts.

Please join me in congratulating the Weaverville Community Wildlife Habitat team and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.