West Virginia environmentalist Maria Gunnoe advocates against mountaintop removal mining, which she has seen destroy numerous rural communities in her beloved M...
During his presidency, his governorship of Georgia, and his career before, after and between these notable terms of office, Jimmy Carter continually supported c...
At its core, running doesn't require a lot of equipment. All you really need is a solid pair of shoes. But elite runner and family physician Dr. Mark Cucuzzella...
Environmentalist and author Janisse Ray has broadened the story of the south's conservation movement with her "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood," an account of he...
Trail ultramarathoner Annette Bednosky first made national headlines in the running world in 2005, when she won the Western States 100-Mile Trail Run, the most ...
As general manager of the Nantahala Outdoor Center's paddlesports and outdoor school, Chris Hipgrave understands the business side of whitewater. As a longtime ...
Dr. Cato Holler is one of the most prolific spelunkers in the Southeast. As a National Speleological Society board member, Dr. Holler often spoke at NSS confere...
A long-distance runner since high school, Riddle began ultrarunning in 1999 upon moving to western North Carolina, and within two years she won the U.S. Nationa...
Initial credit for the establishment of a national park in the Smokies goes to Ann Davis, a housewife-turned-state legislator who conceived the idea following a...
Some of the best bouldering problems in the Southeast can be found deep in the forests, hidden behind acres of thick rhododendron. Fortunately, routes to many o...
The southern Appalachians feature 40 peaks reaching higher than 6,000 feet in elevation, and in 2003, Ted "Cave Dog" Keizer became the first person on record to...
When the first European explorers arrived in North America, they found a land filled with unfamiliar flora and fauna. William Bartram, an 18th-century naturalis...
Geneticist and conservationist Dr. Liane Russell and her family escaped Nazi-occupied Austria during WWII, which ultimately freed her to pursue a significa...
Naturalist Eustace Conway came to national attention as the subject of bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert's book "the Last American Man." However, he had been...
Asheville runner Adam Hill runs for the pure joy of the sport, which is partly why he has largely given up competitive races, although he regularly placed high ...
Mary Anne Hitt works as the director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which strives to mobilize coal-affected communities to advocate for the replacem...
The daughter of an Appalachian coal miner, Judy Bonds saw firsthand throughout her lifetime how the coal industry destroys mountain communities and kills hardwo...
Widely recognized as one of the southeast's preeminent environmental advocates for more than 40 years, Southern Environmental Law Center founder and executive d...
When the editor of Canoe magazine published "Waterfalls: Forbidden Fruit or Calculated Risk," Wick Walker's article on waterfall running, in the February 1979 i...
Arlington's Michael Wardian takes his running to extremes, in terms of speed, conditions, distance and frequency. Running anything from one-mile races up to 150...
Although most people would consider a thru-hike of the nearly 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail the feat of a lifetime, Dr. Warren Doyle has done it an unpreced...
Many of us have summer camp memories of swimming in ponds, playing kickball or creating arts and crafts, but boys' Camp Mondamin founder "Chief" Frank Bell Sr. ...
If you’ve seen the letters ADR on any outdoor climbing routes throughout the southeast, you’ve found Another Doug Reed route, one of the untold numbers of contr...
Tree climbing is primarily seen as a childhood activity, but Peter "Treeman" Jenkins didn't want to give it up just because he reached adulthood. As a rock and ...
Triathlete and longtime outdoor industry leader Jay Curwen lives outdoor recreation in his job and his personal life alike, seamlessly shifting from his role as...