Topics Related to Common Ground

A Great Hike Spoiled? Actually, no!

A couple of weeks ago I was hiking my favorite trail in Umstead State Park – the Company Mill Trail. It’s shaped like a balloon on a string, 6 miles total.

North Carolina's Green Future

More than 200,000 acres of land have been preserved or restored. Over 28 million metric tons of greenhouse gases were removed from the air and $421 million in funding.

Sounds like a huge deal, right? It is, and those are just the topline numbers.

From Classroom to World-Changers: Celebrating Teachers This Week

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and I kicked it off by visiting Rockingham Early College High School, located in Wentworth, NC, where I spent time with Ms. Valencia Abbott, a history and civics teacher at the school.

It’s Gardening Time: Use Native Plants!

A few years ago, there was a news headline that read, “Kudzu Spreading Like, Well, Kudzu.”

Celebrating Year of the Trail

Problem-Solving Power of Science: Unveiling the Facts

To borrow from pop culture, science is “everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Governor Cooper’s Budget Invests in History, Arts & Natural Areas

Governor Roy Cooper introduced his 2023-25 budget proposal on March 15.

Discover the Natural Wonders of North Carolina: The Year of the Trail

In North Carolina, 2023 is officially the Year of the Trail. They passed a law that says so. Really.

DNCR 50th as Springboard to Brighter Future

Our department’s 50th anniversary year is coming to a close.  We have been celebrating throughout the year, across the state.  While it’s nice to celebrate an impressive past, I view this year as a springboard to an even more dynamic future. 

American Indian History, Culture, and Resilience

On the night of January 18, 1954, the Ku Klux Klan planned to hold a rally in the Robeson County town of Maxton.  The local Lumbee tribal community had a different idea.  Hundreds of Lumbee men and women gathered in opposition to the planned rally.