Learn about energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, and sustainable living at the 2009 Green Living & Energy Expo - it's FREE. Enjoy the exhibits, demonstrations, seminars, and silent auction and learn how you can save energy, save money, save our natural resources, and save the environment!

Go Hiking!- Earlier this fall we compiled a list of the Top 10 Hikes in the Roanoke Region.  You can download these, and a few others, by clicking here>>>

• Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV but less than 4 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

Read some more interesting statistics>>>

Brief closure at Cascades
One of the more popular day-hike destinations in the region will be temporarily shuttered soon.

The U.S. Forest Service plans to close the Cascades Recreation Area in Giles County on Nov. 2 for a reconstruction project on the parking area, which is prone to flooding. The planned reopening is Dec. 17.

A contractor will install a larger culvert at the lower end of the parking lot, then resurface the parking lot in a project paid for with funds from the economic stimulus package. Timing is actually about as good as it could be for a temporary closure of the Cascades area, falling between two busy seasons. The area is extremely popular during the fall foliage season, which is peaking now, and is also a popular hiking spot during frigid winter spells when sub-freezing temperatures turn the falls into a gorgeous natural ice sculpture.

Stimulus money will also be used to fund upgrade and repair work on the two trails to the falls.
That work is scheduled to begin after Jan. 1.

Patterson Creek update
To repeat information published recently in our news briefs section, the Forest Service has reopened the road along Patterson Creek in Craig County. The area, site of several well-established annual deer camps, had been closed while the Forest Service repaired damage from illegal off-road vehicle use.