NC Foothills Conservancy looks to unearth town from the 1500s.
What lies beneath the ground in Oak Hill Community Park and Forest in Burke County, North Carolina? Volunteers and archaeological crews with the Exploring Joara Foundation are digging to find out. The Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, which acquired the 652-acre tract through multiple transactions over the years, will use the information to incorporate Native American culture and history into the park’s educational programming. The foundation has been researching the nearby “Berry site” in present-day Morganton, which archaeologists have confirmed was a major town of Mississippian Native Americans. In the mid-1500s, the Spanish built Fort San Juan there, the earliest known European settlement in the interior U.S. exploringjoara.org
Two new films document how the Blue Ridge’s natural heritage played a vital role in human history – and is still shaping our lives today. In “The Story of the New River,” Blue Ridge PBS and the New River Conservancy partnered to explore how this long and winding ancient river, which has sustained life for thousands of years, is so important to protect for the future. blueridgepbs.org/ local-productions/documentaries/new-river/ “The Great Forest” follows conservationists through the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in western North Carolina, two of the most biodiverse and visited national forests in the country. The film, sponsored in part by the nonprofit MountainTrue and still in production, explores what’s at stake as the U.S. Forest Service develops a plan for how these public treasures will be used for decades to come. thegreatforestfilm.com
The story above first appeared in our May / June 2022 issue.
