TOWN
Profile
Mountain Man Fifteen minutes of fame long behind him, Adam Warwick lights a fire under habitat restoration in the Blue Ridge / by Debbie Crane // photography by Paul Mehaffey
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et’s get the bear rescue out of the way first. If you Google Adam Warwick (go ahead, you know you want to), the first thing that pops up is a headline from CBS News: “Man Saves Black Bear from Drowning.” And, there are pictures of Warwick rescuing a big black bear. Eight years after the fact, Warwick can’t get away from his role as ursine savior. It happened when he was working as a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A bear that had been darted with tranquilizer ran into the Gulf of Mexico, where it faced death without Adam’s intervention. The bear story gets lots of attention, with reporters from the BBC and London’s Financial Times calling Warwick to do interviews. But, Warwick doesn’t mind; it gave him the opportunity to talk with a wider audience about his current work as stewardship manager in the Conservancy’s Southern Blue Ridge office, just a short drive from the Upstate in western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. Warwick joined the Conservancy staff in 2012. Despite his much-publicized hands-on approach to wildlife, he saw the job in the Appalachian Mountains as a way to move from wildlife biology to the field of habitat restoration. “There are lots of talented people out there interested in working with wildlife,” he explains. “Not as many people want to work to conserve habitat for those animals. Habitat restoration is one of the greatest conservation challenges.”
ONE OF THE BEST NEARBY RECREATION AREAS IN THE PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST IS IN NORTH MILLS RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA, ABOUT AN HOUR FROM DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE. A PART OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS, THIS RECREATION AREA SITS AT 2,200 FEET AND IS SURROUNDED BY MILE-HIGH PEAKS, CASCADING WATERFALLS, AND SLOPES DENSELY FORESTED WITH HARDWOODS. THE GROUP CAMPING AREA IS ADJACENT TO THE BEAUTIFUL, SHALLOW WATERS OF THE MILLS RIVER. VISITORS CAN ENJOY THE NEARBY ARBORETUM, THE SCENIC BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS HIKING, FISHING, AND MOUNTAIN-BIKING OPPORTUNITIES.
(Latitude, Longitude): 35°24’26”N, 82°38’45”W
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5/24/16 7:08 PM