A land consortium has already placed under protection about half of the 50,000 acres in Northwest and Western North Carolina that it made a goal of preserving. Donors of money and land should make sure that the consortium reaches its goal and saves many of our precious mountains from development.
A consortium of 13 land trusts and conservation groups started the Blue Ridge Forever campaign in 2006, Monte Mitchell reported recently in the Journal, and wants to complete its work by 2010. "Our vision is so large that by ourselves we can't achieve it," said George Santucci, the executive director of the National Committee for the New River.
The group is trying to protect land in or around 28 areas, including Northwest North Carolina's Brushy Mountains, the New River headwaters, Stone Mountain, Pond Mountain, Valle Crucis and Grandfather Mountain. The areas also include lands farther west, such as the Highlands of Roan, the North Toe River headwaters and Hickory Nut Gorge.
Much of this land should become open to the public for low-impact recreational uses, such as hiking.
This preservation is crucial as developers make room for more and more people in our mountains. We need some development. But we also must preserve the mountain beauty that's drawing new residents and visitors in the first place. The consortium, thank God, realizes that.
"With land at a premium in Western North Carolina, the acreage we protect or lose this decade will define our landscape for generations," said Carl Silverstein, the executive director of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, which is part of the consortium.
The consortium is working with landowners, private donors and governments to preserve the mountains, as well as the farmlands, watersheds and wildlife habitat that go with them. The consortium will certainly need the cooperation of those entities, especially landowners.
Much of the natural preservation in this state couldn't have happened without cooperative and sometimes generous landowners. Often, they retain ownership of their property, but donate or sell conservation agreements. Other landowners sell easements or parcels at fair or reduced rates, which is also appreciated. For example, a deal is in the works to save a large tract of land on Pond Mountain in Ashe County, thanks to the owners' agreeing to sell at a fair rate -- much less than they could have gotten from developers.
The consortium has saved a lot of land already. But there's much more to be saved. For example, less than 1 percent of the approximately 18,000 acres in Wilkes County's Brushy Mountains is in permanent protection. The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is trying to protect more than 2,000 acres of that range by 2010.
It's hoped that the consortium can help preserve a lot more of the Brushy Mountains, as well as much more mountain territory in Northwest and Western North Carolina. This project deserves support.
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