Once, our longleaf pines produced the materials that helped ships travel around the globe — but the profits came at a price. Now, the forests that rang out with the sounds of industry stand quiet, and the last witnesses to that era are a rare find indeed.
As the embattled tree attempts a comeback, Blowing Rock’s legendary Green Park Inn does its part by showcasing the wood and nurturing saplings.
John Simcox Holmes set out to understand the connection between clear-cut logging and flooding on his farm. Along the way, he gave trees a voice and helped save the state’s forests.
Forestry didn’t exist in America until two men — each with his own vision for how to protect our woodlands — arrived in western North Carolina and nurtured the profession into being.
