Western.

• Position: REGIONAL REPORT - Brief article

Easley wants U.S. to leave trees alone

North Carolina asked the federal government to protect 174,000 acres of national forest--152,000 acres of it in western counties--from loggers and road builders. Gov. Mike Easley told the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests are important not only to the environment but to tourism. Easley acted on a 2001 federal rule that protects forests from logging and road construction, except for fire control. In 2005, the Bush administration said it would allow those uses unless states block them. Federal authorities have until September to rule.

EAST FLAT ROCK -- Elkamet, a German maker of plastic parts such as hydraulic-fluid tanks for tractors and bulldozers, will spend $4.8 million to build a plant and create 50 jobs here during the next three years. Company executives say pay will exceed the county average of $558 a week.

BOONE -- Western North Carolina's economy has not recovered from the 2001 recession, according to Appalachian State University economist Todd Cherry. The region lost...