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Today’s Email Announcements

New Position Available With the Appalachian Energy Center and the Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics 

Appalachian Energy Center and the Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics (RIEEE) are hiring a Business Services Support Associate. The position is a temporary, 30-hour a week position which could lead to a permanent appointment. The full description is posted at Appalachian State’s site here. Join our team! 

VITA (Volunteer for Tax Assistance) Site Coordinator for Upcoming Tax Season Needed

Watauga County Public Library is looking for a part‐time Site Coordinator for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The position will run from January, 2019 through mid‐April 2019 and the selected candidate will work Friday evenings and Saturday mornings averaging 8‐10 hours per week. A stipend will be paid once the program is over.

VITA is a program in which certified volunteers prepare and file federal and state income tax returns for Watauga County taxpayers. This position will administer the program along with an experienced volunteer and support from Appalachian State University’s College of Business. The Program Site Coordinator will prepare tax returns and learn about site coordination activities such as quality reviewing tax returns prepared by other counselors, overall supervision of the site, liaison with the IRS, and others.

Training will be provided in obtaining necessary certifications and in preparing tax returns. Computer skills and excellence in communication with the public are highly desired. Experience in tax preparation or tax law is a plus. Review of resumes will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Please submit a resume to Monica Caruso, Watauga County Public Library, 140 Queen Street, Boone, NC 28607 or at mcaruso(at)arlibrary(dot)org , 828‐264‐8784, ext. 4.

Audubon North Carolina Releases List of 700 Bird-Friendly Native Plants 

Audubon North Carolina is proud to provide this list of 700 (okay, 692) recommended bird-friendly native plants to serve as a guide for native plant enthusiasts across North Carolina. 

Nursery owners, city planners, landscapers, landscape design professionals, and gardeners looking to learn more about which plants help birds and pollinators will find the answers here! The 700 list offers a single source for the wildlife benefits of each species, plus everything you need to know to choose a spot where the plant will thrive. 

Many thanks to Lisa Lofland Gould and Susan Andrews, both Winston-Salem residents and volunteers for Forsyth Audubon and the Audubon North Carolina Bird-Friendly Communities Team, for their dedication to creating and expanding the list from 400 to 692 plants. 

EXPANDED From 400 to 700

The list now includes every North Carolina species that appears in Dr. Larry Mellichamp’s “Native Plants of the Southeast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species for the Garden,” as well as all North Carolina Botanical Garden “Wildflower of the Year” plants! 

Species in bird-friendly genera that are becoming more widely available and popular, such as sedges (Carex), Coreopsis, goldenrod (Solidago), and Viburnum, have been added, plus even more pollinator-friendly plants. Those making their debut include three new milkweed species, four ironweed species, and Rattlesnake Master.

UPDATED with More Groupings

Habitats, from upland forests and woodland borders to roadsides, old fields, bogs, and maritime forests, are now included to help you group species following the communities in which they occur in nature.

Habitat descriptions are from Weakley 2015: Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States.  

Wetland status, where assigned by Lichvar et al. 2014: whether species almost always occur in wetlands (Obligate, abbreviated OBL); usually occur in wetlands (Facultative Wetland, FACU); occur in both wetlands and non-wetlands (Facultative, FAC); usually occur in non-wetlands (Facultative Upland, FACU); or almost never occur in wetlands (Upland, UPL). This list does not assign a rating to all species, so only those that have a rating are noted in that column.

What the List IS

  • Plants native to North Carolina (according to Weakley 2015: Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States)
  • Plants that can be cultivated in North Carolina
  • Plants that benefit birds or other wildlife, especially pollinators, directly
  • Plants that vary in availability from widely available at retail nurseries to available only as pass-alongs from gardeners 

What the List is NOT

This is not a comprehensive list of all native plants in North Carolina. The absence of a plant on the list does not mean it isn’t native to our state, nor does it mean the plant does not benefit birds or other wildlife (though we’ve made every effort to include plants with a documented benefit to wildlife, especially birds and other pollinators).

You can get more information and a link to download the 700 list here.

Boone Town Council Holding Special Meeting on October 24

Pursuant to authority granted under North Carolina General Statute 160A-71(b)(1), the Boone Town Council hereby gives notice to those concerned that a Special Meeting of the Boone Town Council will take place on October 24, 2018 at 6 p.m. at the Council Chambers located at 1500 Blowing Rock Road in Boone.

The purpose of the meeting will be to allow Council members to attend a meeting of the Town of Boone Water Advisory Committee.

Finding Farmland: Affordable Approaches to Land Access Workshop Happening November 1

Please join in this sliding-scale workshop on Finding Farmland: Affordable Approaches to Land Access with The National Young Farmers Coalition, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Organic Growers School and NC State Extension FarmLink.

Accessing land is one of the most complex financial decisions that you will make as a farmer. This workshop designed to prepare early career farmers to approach land access with confidence.

When: Thursday, November 1, 2018, from 10AM-6PM

Where: Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center, 455 Research Drive, Mills River, NC 28759

Cost: The training is offered at a sliding scale registration rate, from $0-$20. Lunch and refreshments are provided throughout the day.

You will learn about:

  • Searching for farmland in Western North Carolina and the greater region
  • Finding help to evaluate farm properties
  • The financing process for different methods of accessing land
  • Working with a land trust
  • Financial planning using NYFC’s Finding Farmland Calculator
  • Case studies of other farmers’ paths to land access

Follow THIS LINK to register

Or please RSVP to the facebook event here.