Catching Up 7.24.2023

Panthertown National Forest is Chinquapin's neighbor, accessible at the end of Breedlove Road. Bear left, continue down the dirt road, & park at the trailhead. Take a map, or take a picture of the map on the kiosk at the trailhead. Be prepared with snacks, water, & the rest of the 10 essentials (https://americanhiking.org/resources/10essentials/) for your hike.

--The Friends of Panthertown is sponsoring a fundraiser July 27 at The Village Green. See our Calendar page on this site for details.

--The Advisory Committee met with Mark Adkins July 1. The report is on Owner Resources, under Surveys & Reports.

--Homeowners Annual Meeting--Look for an email and/or letter notification from IPM, the property management group, of this meeting date, usually in September at Chinquapin, with a Zoom option.

--Bears in the dumpsters and roaming around homes and the Outpost have been a recent discussion topic on the CHOA WhatsApp group. They have a superb sense of smell over long distances. Bearwise.org has correct information about reducing bear attraction. NC Wildlife is the agency to contact if a bear becomes a problem. Both of these groups are professional resources for your questions or concerns. As bears become habituated to people, easy access to food or trash (birdfeeders, open dumpsters, grills, trashcans, etc.), they run the risk of changing their behavior from being wary of people to being comfortable with them, perhaps to the point of making physical contact of any sort. When that event happens, the bear has to be euthanized because it will not unlearn that comfort level and behavior.

Keep the trash dumpsters closed & secured with the carabiners. If any are broken, report it to Ashley or Jane in the Trading Post.

Tell your builders to keep food trash out of their construction dumpsters. Bears are dragging trash out and learning that dumpsters = easy food.

Bear-educate folks renting your properties.

Clean up the outdoor Outpost areas; don't leave anything out; put trash in the dumpsters, not trash cans at the Outpost. Photo by John Thomas July 2023

--New trail--Dave Barnett & a crew are creating a new trail on the conservancy land. In July he & Ryan & Connor Ford, Tate Kubler, & Dean Goldgar worked on surveying the new Little Cow Mountain trail. It's 3/4 complete & the next step is to finish the survey of the last 1/2 mile & submit it for approval before cutting the trail. Dave says this is going to be a technical, but premier trail with fabulous views and interest. Thank you for your work, everyone! It's great to add trail miles back to the trail system.

--Calendar & Services pages--Check for events & dates on the Calendar page; the Services page has some HVAC and other services listed.

--Directory--If you aren't listed in it and want to be, or if any of your info has changed, contact Val Talley or Martha Dobson. vhtalley@gmail.com meadobson@gmail.com

Panthertown & deer (2023) photos by Martha Dobson