FRONT PORCH FEATURE - Shared Stewardship in North Cove: Protecting the Place We Call Home

By Barbara Ann Temple, Ph.D.

It’s August, just a few weeks before school begins again. 

Summer breezes whisper across the North Cove Valley. Cars and campers head north on Highway 221 for one last Blue Ridge getaway, while miles of mountain trails continue calling to those who love this place.

Some neighbors have lived in North Cove for decades.

One has been quietly watching over the valley even longer.

If you’ve driven along Highway 221, you’ve seen him standing outside the Ashford Fire Department–shovel in hand, keeping watch over the valley so many of us call home. Most of us simply call him Smokey. 

This August, Smokey Bear celebrates his 82nd birthday. While most of America knows him for his famous reminder, “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires,” here in North Cove he represents something even bigger: a shared responsibility to care for this remarkable place we all love.

To many people, Smokey is a national symbol.

Smokey first appeared in 1944 during World War II as part of a national campaign to reduce human-caused wildfires. Eight decades later, Smokey’s message hasn’t changed–and neither has its importance. 

To North Cove, he’s our quiet neighbor.

When I asked Caleb, one of the Ashford Fire Department’s volunteer firefighters, how long Smokey has stood watch over North Cove, he smiled. “Longer than I’ve been here,” he said. I’ve volunteered for more than ten years, and I can’t remember a time when he wasn't.”  

When asked the most important piece of wildfire prevention advice he could offer every North Cove resident, Caleb responded without hesitation: “Create at least a 30-foot defensible space around your home.” 

A defensible space gives firefighters room to work if a wildfire threatens your home. Clearing brush, pine needles, and other combustible materials creates a buffer that can make all the difference when every minute counts.

Every time we pass Smokey along Highway 221, he’s quietly reminding us that protecting these mountains isn’t someone else’s job. 

It belongs to each of us. 

“Create a 30-foot defensible space around your house.”

–Caleb, Ashford Volunteer Fire Department

This August, as we celebrate Smokey’s 82nd birthday, perhaps the best gift we can give him isn't a celebration at all. It's taking a few minutes to clear pine needles from the deck, trim brush around the house, think twice before burning, and remember that protecting these mountains begins with each of us.

Because stories like these—shared from porch to porch—are what keep our local voices strong, our mountain stories alive, and our community spirit thriving.