Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation

       I did my soil survey in Avery County, North Carolina which is where Grandfather Mountain is located. After exploring this tool, I thought that it was great to be able to have access to so much data on things that can influence changes in the soil such as wind erodibility, water storage and flooding, frost action, vegetation, traffic, and much more. Initially, I didn’t consider how so many factors can impact the health and productivity of the soil. I think that this is useful for a variety of conservation means in any area and is crucial to have a more well-rounded understanding of the foundation that we have in a given place, especially when things like urbanization and land planning are spreading so vastly.

     At one of the higher elevations in the area, Grandfather Mountain is normally 10-15 degrees cooler than the surrounding foothills. Grandfather is also known for its high wind speeds, with the highest recorded wind speed being 124mph in February 2019. The average annual rainfall is around 62.79 inches and the average snowfall in winter is 52.65 inches. Temperatures have ranged from the lowest recorded at -32 degrees F in January of 1985 to the highest recorded at 83.2 degrees F in July of 2012.       The usual resource that is used across the mountain for daily weather is the National Weather Service. We display this information on various screens across the mountain so that staff and guests can be aware of any incoming weather such as high winds, thunderstorms, or snowfall which could all potentially temporarily close sections of the park. The National Weather Service includes the wind speeds and visibility, which we look at the most. If winds sus...

 

On a small, local scale, biodiversity is essential for improving the stability, versatility, and resilience of an ecosystem. The more abundant life that an ecosystem inhabits the more likely it is to be able to withstand environmental stressors such as climate change (Lindwall, 2022). Biodiversity also relies on codependency between species and if species start to die out then the balance of the ecosystem is off (Lindwall, 2022). On a larger, global scale, biodiversity contributes many benefits to humans around the world. Human health depends on the products given to us by the ecosystem such as food, water, medicines, and fuel (WHO, 2015). Many medicinal discoveries such as penicillin and aspirin have been developed from various plants around the world (Lindwall, 2022). Food security is also highly dependent on biodiversity as having plants that are resilient to things like climate change and disease is important to providing sustainable food production (Lindwall, 2022). Healthy soil...

My definition of biodiversity is as follows: The variety and abundance of the biological makeup of the environment of a specific area as far as plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi species. I took inspiration and adapted my definition from Merriam-Webster and National Geographic's definitions of biodiversity.

I have chosen  Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation located in Linville, North Carolina for my study area. Currently, I work as a ticket attendant at Grandfather and am very knowledgeable and passionate about the conservation and preservation of the local area. Grandfather Mountain is divided into two sections. One side of the mountain is the Grandfather Mountain State Park which is solely hiking and camping accessed via NC HWY-105 or the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the other side is the privately owned, non-profit Stewardship Foundation, where the famous Mile-High Swinging Bridge is located. Our park also has hiking trails, wild animal exhibits, a nature museum, gift shops, and a restaurant. Our park holds many educational programs and special events throughout the year. Students come from all over the state to learn about the mountain's biodiversity, ecology, natural history, flora, fauna, and geology through our naturalist program. The wildlife habitats consist of elk, otter...