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Land
Trust Success Stories: Southeastern Region
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Purchases 432-acre Property in the Highlands of Roan
Asheville, NC - We are pleased to announce that SAHC has purchased a significant 432-acre property on Powdermill Creek in the Highlands of Roan. SAHC will own this property for the long term, and manage it as a nature preserve. This major acquisition is the result of partnerships among many individuals and agencies, without whose dedication and generosity this victory would not have been achievable.
The NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund approved a $1,070,000 grant to SAHC for part of the purchase price. Fred and Alice Stanback contributed more than $1.5 million to make this acquisition possible. Please join us in thanking these generous donors to this project! The Open Space Institute and the Will Henry Stevens Loan Fund made critically important bridge loans to enable SAHC to purchase this property on an expedited timeline. These lenders' heroic support saved this irreplaceable tract from being sold to developers. There is still a $170,000 gap between the the price we paid for this land and the amount of money we have raised so far towards the purchase. We will work hard in the coming months to raise these funds, close the gap, and retire our loans.
Powdermill Creek Tract
Photo courtesy of Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy |
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This land purchase is so significant for several reasons:
- SCENIC AND BIOLOGICAL RICHNESS. The property lies on a long prominent ridge that extends south from 6,200-foot Grassy Ridge and the Pisgah National Forest. The tract contains a wide range of elevations from 3,000 feet up to 5,200 feet on Little Yellow Mountain at the top of the property. Please see the attached view from the top. There are impressive rock outcrops at the higher elevations. A longtime priority tract for SAHC to acquire, this tract was identified as important for protection in the North Toe River Headwaters Conservation Study funded by the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund in 1999. On SAHC’s list of approximately 50 high-priority privately owned tracts on Roan for land protection efforts, this tract is the fourth largest. A third of the property is within the Roan Mountain Massif natural area, designated by the State Natural Heritage Programs in North Carolina and Tennessee as nationally significant. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has endorsed this acquisition as significantly advancing the goals of the North Carolina State Wildlife Action Plan. The tract contains 1.4 miles of Powdermill Creek, a headwater source of the North Toe and Nolichucky Rivers. The property also contains many tributary streams and seeps and wetlands. All of these streams feed the nearby hatchery supported trout waters of the North Toe River.
- INTEGRAL TO THE ECOLOGICAL NETWORK OF THE HIGHLANDS OF ROAN. Purchasing this tract is a major addition to SAHC's decades-long effort to conserve the globally significant Highlands of Roan. This 24,000-acre ecological network contains 16,000 contiguous acres that are already protected, including the Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests along the Appalachian Trail; 700 acres owned by the State of Tennessee at Hampton Creek Cove, which SAHC manages pursuant to a contract with the State; Roan Mountain State Park, and 900 more acres owned or managed by SAHC. The remaining unprotected tracts, approximately 9,000 acres, are on SAHC’s priority list for landowner outreach and negotiations, land acquisition and conservation easements. Active negotiations are underway on a number of these properties.
- THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT. This property would very likely have been lost to development if SAHC had not been able to buy it. The tract has excellent long range views and is within quick and easy access to the Pisgah National Forest, the Appalachian Trail, and excellent trout fishing, all of which made it attractive for residential development. Developers made offers to the landowners, attempting to buy the property. We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to purchase this tract for conservation.
Thank you to all of our generous supporters who made this project possible! (posted 10/16/2007)
West Virginians Receive National Committee for the New River Awards
West Jefferson, NC – The Plateau Action Network and Fayette County Commissioner Matt Wender have been awarded the National Committee for the New River’s (NCNR) most prestigious award, the Wallace and Peggy Carroll Vigilance Award. Presented at the NCNR annual meeting this month, the award recognized their outstanding efforts safeguarding and advocating for the quality, health and natural values of the New River.
Plateau Action Network (PAN) was recognized for their tireless work advocating for water quality in and around the New River in West Virginia. Working with local, county and state government, PAN promotes planning and development practices that protect the water quality and scenic views of the New River for future generations. They educate their communities through activities and projects including stream clean-ups, film and school presentations, and an educational newsletter.
Matt Wender, Fayette County Commissioner, was honored as an important and courageous legislative voice for the New in West Virginia’s New River Gorge area. Wender was recognized for his dedication and understanding of both the scenic and the economic values of the resource in the region. From monitoring wastewater, mining, and flooding problems to balancing sustainable development impacts, Wender has been a leading advocate for the New River in West Virginia.
The Wallace and Peggy Carroll Vigilance Awards were given for the first time this year by NCNR. They recognize outstanding advocacy efforts on behalf of the New River throughout the three-state watershed. The award is named for the late Wallace and Peggy Carroll, legendary New River champions, who more than thirty years ago spearheaded efforts to protect the New from proposed dam projects slated to inundate entire communities along the River. Their efforts elevated the issue to the national stage and resulted in the permanent protection of the threatened portion of the New via the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program.
Wallace and Peggy Carroll Vigilance Award winners in Virginia were Charlotte Metz Hanes, the Cox Chapel Grange and Rick Roth. In North Carolina, the New River Action Committee of the Todd Community was honored for their advocacy work on behalf of the New River.
NCNR envisions a permanently protected New River as a treasured national resource. The mission of NCNR is to advocate for successful protection of the New River, to restore eroding river and stream banks and enhance riparian habitat, and to permanently protect land along the River. NCNR works in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina’s New River watershed. Over the last 31 years, the organization has protected over 4,000 acres of land important to the River’s water quality, scenic and natural values, and has restored over 55 miles of river and stream bank. (posted 10/11/2007)
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Announces Bargain Purchase Of A Conservation Easement On 400 Acres Of Backcountry Wilderness in North Carolina
NORTH CAROLINA - SAHC recently closed on the bargain purchase of a conservation easement on 400 acres of backcountry wilderness at the Christmount Christian Assembly, near the Town of Black Mountain in Buncombe County, NC. The property is located at the Southern tip of the Black Mountains range.
Easement at Christmount Christian Assembly
Photo courtesy of Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy |
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The
landowner is the Christmount Christian Assembly, Inc., a non-profit
organization which operates a camp and conference center.
Christmount will continue to maintain a system of backcountry hiking trails
on the property, and will allow low-impact recreation and educational use,
but not further development. This easement will safeguard 4.3 miles of pristine headwaters of the
Swannanoa River. Christmount is an important element of the ecological landscape of the Black
Mountains.
The property is recognized by the NC Natural Heritage Program as
regionally significant. An ecological survey of the Christmount natural area
has been conducted, and found several rare species. The tract is adjacent to
the Town of Black Mountain's 550-acre watershed, and is very near more than
one hundred thousand of acres of protected lands, including the Pisgah
National Forest, Montreat conservation easement and other key sites. Elevations on the property range from 2,450 feet in the far western part of the tract to approximately 3,560 feet on a high ridgeline along the
southeastern side of the property.
The protected property includes noteworthy examples of montane oak-hickory
forests, rich cove forests, and low elevation rocky summits, among other
natural community types. The NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund awarded a $1.6 million grant to
SAHC to bargain purchase this conservation easement, which appraised at more
than $3.7 million. For more information, contact Carl Silverstein, Executive Director
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy - www.appalachian.org (828) 253-0095. (posted 9/28/07)
Community Land Trust Celebrates New Home
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Ribbon cutting ceremony |
MISSISSIPPI - Hundreds gathered on January 27th to celebrate the first green modular house built in the historic African-American community of North Gulfport, a project of the North Gulfport Community Land Trust. The house showcases one of the most innovative solutions yet proposed to the housing crisis gripping the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The construction of this prototype house also marks the culmination of years of work by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights with the North Gulfport Community Land Trust and the Unity Homes Project.
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Photos courtesy
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
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The North Gulfport Community Land Trust (NGCLT) was established by Rose Johnson in 2005 to preserve community control of land in the face of speculation, municipal neglect, and absentee ownership. NGCLT will allow low-income families to purchase affordable houses on the land pursuant to 99-year ground leases. The prototype green modular house was the first built on land owned by NGCLT and will provide space for NGCLT’s administrative operations. The National Audobon Society recently submitted a grant proposal for a landscape design on the site that will provide bird habitat and will showcase native plant species. For more information, please visit www.ngclt.org and www.unityhomes.net.
See a video of the January 27th ribbon cutting ceremony
(click on the link next to the  icon)
(posted 2/2/07)
Landowners protect lands in Black Mountains
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The Cane River. More than a mile of this nationally historic river runs through the 1,300-acre tract in the Black Mountains. Photo courtesy of Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy |
Burnsville landowners contributed one of the most valuable individual conservation easement donations in North Carolina history at the end of 2006. Charles and Mary Edwards donated a 1,300-acre conservation easement worth $10 million in the Black Mountains in Yancey County. The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and Catawba Lands Conservancy partnered for the first time to protect this scenic and ecologically valuable tract of land.
“This piece of land is one of the key tracts in the Black Mountains,” Silverstein said. “It is perhaps one of our most significant projects because of the location and size of property. It’s wonderful that we have been fortunate enough to protect it.”
The property is designated a nationally significant natural area by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, as well as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. The Cane River, which runs through more than a mile of the tract, is designated a nationally significant aquatic habitat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the NC Natural Heritage Program. This project will safeguard aquatic habitat for the native brook trout, hellbender salamander and the federally endangered Appalachian elktoe mussel.
The 1,300-acres join more than 125,000 acres of contiguous protected land including Pisgah National Forest, Mt. Mitchell State Park, The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Asheville City Watershed. This vast stretch of contiguous protected forestland offers excellent habitat for a diversity of wildlife including black bear, bobcat, coyote, raccoon, ruffed grouse, wild turkey and various species of reptiles and amphibians. (posted 1/24/07)
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