Starting today, Greer Photography is now a GREEN POWER customer! We have purchased enough energy blocks of “Green Power” through the TVA to run our office. This is purchased through TVA’s website and I encourage all to do this. Here is the web address for make the “Green Power Switch” http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/index.htm
I’m posting this from an email that I received from my friends at SAHC. Please vote for Rocky Fork!
Dear friends and Rocky Fork supporters:
We have worked for many years to preserve Rocky Fork, the incredible 10,000-acre natural wonder in Unicoi and Greene Counties. We are close, and have a purchase option on the land, but the deal is not closed and funds are still needed. Please go to the site listed below and cast your vote for the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s Rocky Fork preservation campaign to receive a $3,000 grant from Patagonia.
Know that when you click on the Rocky Fork selection, not only will you be voting to help preserve the largest remaining unprotected tract in the Appalachian Mountains, but also, as we have just learned, the #1 LAND ACQUISITION PRIORITY IN THE NATION for the United States Forest service!
After you have voted, would you please forward this message to friends, family and associates whom you believe share our great concern for this national treasure that exists right here in our own NE TN back yard.
Gratefully,
David Ramsey, Coordinator
Save the Rocky Fork Watershed! Campaign
Vote for a chance for SAHC to win a $3,000 grant for Rocky Fork
In an effort to raise awareness of the great projects that land trusts are doing across the state in support of Land Trust Day, the Great Outdoor Provision Company has launched a Land Trust Day competition. They are highlighting seven projects from seven different land trusts that are in need of protection. Patagonia has agreed to the underwriting of a $3,000 grant to go towards the winning land trust project. The winning project will be announced on Land Trust Day, June 7th.——
“To say this is a pleasant surprise would be an understatement.” That’s the word from Executive Director Carl Silverstein upon hearing the news that SAHC’s Rocky Fork project is now ranked as the #1 national priority for acquisition by the US Forest Service. “We were pretty excited last year when Rocky Fork ranked as the top USFS priority in the region,” Silverstein continues, “but to work on the top project in the nation, as a conservationist, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”Nor does it get any more challenging. The 10,000 acre Rocky Fork tract has been eyed by conservationists and developers alike for years because of its size, its connection to 22,000 acres of protected land and its sheer scenic beauty. “This tract is going to become the favorite place of the next generation of Appalachian Trail users and outdoor enthusiasts,” says Jay Leutze, an SAHC board member who has traveled to Washington DC four times in the last year to lobby for federal funds for the acquisition. “For fly-fishing, hiking, mountain-bike riding, bird-watching and more, this vast land is going to add a critical link to decades of successful land protection. Purchasing it to give it to the public is just the right thing to do for locals, and for the people of the United States.”——–
Situated 34 miles from Asheville, NC, and 34 miles from Johnson City, TN, astride the new I-26 highway, the $40 million dollar tract stands on what might have been the next frontier of large-scale high-end development. Instead, SAHC’s partner, The Conservation Fund, has secured the site with an option to buy the entire tract. “Getting site security on the entire parcel, having the land under contract, is key,” Silverstein adds. “But closing the deal will still take a monumental effort involving private, state and federal dollars.” It is not too much of a stretch to say that the top conservation project in the country will require the top fund-raising effort, too. “SAHC grows every year,” says Leutze. “Our members want to know that we are capable of protecting the landscapes we all cherish. As a result we’ve gotten very strategic about pursuing our priorities, increased our capacity through partnerships and member-drives, and worked at building relationships from Asheville to Nashville, and all the way to Capitol Hill.” Silverstein adds this: “We won’t celebrate until the deal is closed, but we’re confident that the work we’ve done on Rocky Fork is going to pay off.”
VOTE HERE!
http://greatoutdoorprovision.com/culture/wesupport/patagonia-land-grant/
While searching for images to be printed in the June issue of WNC Magazine I came across a photograph that I had taken in 2005. I had all but forgotten about this image! Not sure why, for I really love this one. After getting the images together for two, two-page full-bleed Vista images and two more photos for a special feature about the North Carolina Mountains, I decided that I had better get my images caught up in my cataloging software. Man, I’m so far behind! Anyway, I thought that I’d post this image, being that it’s so perfect for the upcoming season in the highcountry.
Spring in the highcountry, Craggy Gardens, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 45mm (rise and very slight off-axis tilt), Polarizer, f/16 @ .6 sec, ISO 200
I’m leading a hike into the Rocky Fork tract for the Sierra Club on Saturday the 24th, members and non-members are welcome! Here’s the info for the outing.
Meeting place: Erwin McDonalds – I will park in the overflow parking in the back! I drive a Silver 2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO Pickup with a camper top and platform on the back. We will meet there at 9:00am and depart by 9:15am.
Please bring water and snacks for the trip. Also, bring extra shoes for deep water crossings (Teva’s, Chaco’s, Keen’s,…). Oh, and bring your cameras!
If you have any questions please call at 423-335-8245
Jerry Greer
As the title implies, “Solitude” is the first thing that comes to my mind with this tree, which I know very well. It stands alone in an open meadow along the Appalachian Trail. I’ve been shooting in this area for over 10-years and I just keep coming back. It’s like an old friend that keeps revealing a new side every season.
Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (rise only), no filters, f/14 @ 1/125sec, ISO 250
Processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 extended
Please watch the movie trailer!
Burning The Future: Coal in America – Trailer from coalmovie on Vimeo.
This is another photograph that I took in the Unaka Mountain Wilderness Area. I am so drawn to the forest floor in the spring. The may-apple and trillium leaves are just beautiful. The fog created the mysterious feeling I wanted to convey. The combination of the large tree and smaller, younger, trees topped off the scene for me.
Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (fall with tilt), no filters, f/14 @ 1/100 sec, ISO 250
Processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 Extended
Feel free to comment on any of my posts, I encourage it! Thank you for visiting!
What a great morning! I really love to spend my days shooting in the mountains when it is fogged in. I love how the forest changes its demeanor when shrouded in fog.
EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (fall w/ tilt), f/11, 1/30sec
Photo processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 Extended
Buffalo Mountain fire! It does look as though the fire was started along the trail. They are saying that it was set by a human, no word whether intentional or accident. The main trail is an ATV trail and I have my suspicions on how this was started if it did, indeed, start on or near the ATV trail. More than likely, a cigarette or exhaust from an ATV or motorcycle. I’ve always been torn between my feelings for ATV areas in our mountains. I grew up riding and racing motorcycles, on and off-road. But, I HAVE NEVER SEEN the type of destruction that the ATV’s are causing in our mountains! The problem is the very apparent disconnect between the operators and the environment they are riding in. They DO NOT lift a finger when it comes to maintaining the trail systems. This is the #1 thing that they could do to repair their image with the general public. Also, by showing a bit of responsibility they could, very well, be rewarded more places to ride. I just don’t understand the mentality of these riders. They need to wake up! Maybe a required class needs to be taken before they could ride in these areas. Someone needs to teach them how to ride and respect the privilege of riding these trails. They need to understand that riding on these trails is a privilege not a right!
Please note: I’m not blaming anyone or any group for the fire. I’ll leave that up to the officials that are investigating the fire. I’m making a comment about the destruction of the forest around the ATV trail. When I moved here, just over 12-years ago, only mountain bikes and motorcycles rode the multi-use trail on Buffalo and the trail was a single-track trail with very few problems. Now it is a highway! Huge mud-filled holes with multiple, illegal, trails running all over the place. Riders should police themselves! If they see someone riding illegally then they should handle it accordingly. If not, they should loose the rights to ride the trail, period!
WOW! What a wonderful hike! My friend Dave Ramsey and I made the hike up into the gorge where Rocky Fork drops over 250′ in less than a 1/2-mile. It’s very impressive as Rocky Fork drops over, through, and around the massive, house-sized, boulders as it works its way to the convergence with Flint Creek. The hike up is a bit challenging due to no really defined trail access. There’s an old faint road with a fisherman’s trail but it crosses Rocky Fork many times. I found it more fun to wear my Chaco’s and work my way along the edge, wading into the crystal clear water, just enjoying the trip. I can say, we were probably the first to be in there for a while, maybe in years! This is the great part with Rocky Fork; it has the feel of Great Smoky Mountains National Park but no people! Most of the time that I’ve been in Rocky Fork, I can feel comfortable in saying that I was the only human being in the entire 10,000-acre tract! It’s a great feeling!
EOS 5D, TS-E 45mm w/ polarizer, f/14 @1/4sec
Jerry Greer Photography
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