Top 10 N.C. Natural Wonders announced

Land for Tomorrow has counted all the votes, and the first-ever top 10 North Carolina Natural Wonders have been announced.

They are:
-Blue Ridge Parkway
-Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout
-Grandfather Mountain
-Great Smoky Mountains
-Lake Mattamuskeet
-Lumber River
-Merchants Millpond State Park
-Mountains to Sea Trail
-New River
-Ocracoke Island

About 1,300 nominations yielded 200 unique potential “Natural Wonders,” which were narrowed to a field of 25 semifinalists by a panel of prominent North Carolinians, said Land for Tomorrow. From those 25, “North Carolina’s Ten Natural Wonders” were determined by popular vote. Over 3,000 individual votes were submitted.

Quick hits: Mountains-to-Sea trail gets aid and college students are (happy to work with) pigs

Mountains-to-Sea Trail gains land in three counties

"North Carolina's Mountains-to-Sea Trail grew a bit in the past two months," says the AP.

"In December and January, the trail acquired land in Guilford, Orange and Johnston counties. Trail executive director Kate Dixon says the acquisitions are especially helpful because groups have been working hard to acquire land in the heavily populated Triangle and Triad areas.

"The acquisitions are 250 acres in Guilford County; 65 acres in Orange; and 330 acres in Johnston.

"The trail is a state park that eventually will stretch about 1,000 miles from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey's Ridge on the Outer Banks. About half the trail is completed. ..."

At this college, students toil in pig sty

"At most colleges, a new semester starts with students buying books, getting ready for new classes and attending a party or two," says the AP.

"But at Warren Wilson College, a small liberal arts college in North Carolina's mountains, some students also welcomed a litter of eight piglets.

"Warren Wilson requires each of its 900 students to work on campus; for some, it's on the college's farm.

"Between 300 and 600 piglets are born each year to 25 sows at Warren Wilson's farm. About 25 students work on the farm, where about 10,000 pounds of naturally raised meat worth about $150,000 is produced each year. Meat is sold by students and some is used in the college dining hall. ..."

(Photo from Warren Wilson's website)