Protecting the area's land

Release from Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

Over the past year development has slowed in the mountains giving the mountain land trusts an opportunity to ensure that some of the most significant places in the region are protected forever. Despite the challenges posed by the current economic climate, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) protected 1,882 acres in 2009 in North Carolina’s Buncombe, Madison and Avery counties - the equivalent of 1,426 football fields.

In 2009 alone SAHC has helped to protected over 1,230 acres of farmland including the 509-acre Bee Branch Farm and the 76-acre Myrtle Duckett Farm, both in Buncombe County’s Sandy Mush farming community.

SAHC is one of 10 partners in Blue Ridge Forever coalition, which announced it is on track to meet its five-year goal to protect 50,000 acres by the end of 2010. As they head into the final year of the campaign, the coalition members have protected 329 properties, to total 45,046 acres.

Land trusts permanently protect land with high conservation values, such as clean drinking water, wildlife, scenic vistas and working local farms. They work with willing landowners, public agencies, and private and public funders either to negotiate conservation agreements or to buy land in order to protect it forever.