Visitors to Western North Carolina’s mountains can look forward to a good display of color this autumn, although some areas will enjoy brighter hues than others, predicts Kathy Mathews, Western Carolina University’s fearless fall foliage forecaster.

The intensity of the color show will vary depending on where leaf-peepers are looking because of fluctuations in the amount of rainfall received across the region this spring and summer, said Mathews. An associate professor of biology at WCU who specializes in plant systematics, she bases her annual prediction in part on weather conditions, including rainfall, during the spring and summer growing season.

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The North Carolina Bartram Trail Society will celebrate its 35th anniversary with an illustrated presentation on "The Natural History of the Southern Appalachians" and a trip to the Cowee Mound.

Dr. Dan Pittillo, Professor Emeritus in botany at Western Carolina University, will kick off the festivities on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Macon County library in Franklin. He will discuss how the plants and animals of the mountains developed from the earliest ages of our continent to the present.

Walter Wingfield, president of the society, said in announcing the meeting, “We are pleased that Dr. Pittillo will address the organization and its guests on this, the 35th anniversary of our establishment. Dan has been involved in the planning, building, and maintenance of the trail since its beginning in 1977; he is the only remaining member of the original Board and the only one surviving who participated in the creation of the Trail.”

Beth Shook caught this bear on camera stealing food out of a van this summer near Little Bear Pen Mountain in Highlands.

More than 170,000 volunteers are expected at more than 2,100 sites across the country on Saturday, Sept. 29 to take part in the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the United States, National Public Lands Day (NPLD).

Volunteers in every state will visit parks, public and community gardens, beaches, wildlife preserves or forests and chip in to help these treasured places that belong to all Americans. They will improve and restore the lands and facilities the public uses for recreation, education, exercise and connecting with nature.