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Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust
P.O. Box 2557
Boone N.C. 28607
(828) 263-8776
info@brrlt.org
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Volume
1, Issue 5
Nov 1, 2002
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Executive
Director's Report
Community Interest In Conservation
Easements Continues To Grow |
The
mission of Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is to preserve
rural communities and culture in northwestern North Carolina
through the protection of the land resource upon which
they depend.
Board of Directors
Kelly Coffey, President
Martha Stephenson, Vice-President
Sue Glenn, Treasurer
Paul Gaskill, Secretary
Bill Herring
Jule Hubbard
Frances Huber
Leo Mast
Stan McGraw
Fred Pfohl
Stan Steury
James Coman, Executive Director
Advisory Committee
Mike Almond
Helen Ruth Almond
John Bond
Steve Carlson
Brian Crutchfield
Jeff Gray
Stacy Merten
Ann Robertson
Chester Robertson
Theodore Stern
Richard Stevens
Rob Willis
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Executive Director James Coman and
other members of the BRRLT board
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is having a remarkably
successful year in fulfilling our mission of “preserving
rural communities and culture in northwestern North Carolina
through the protection of the land resource upon which they depend”.
We should have by the end of this year closed seven conservation
easement donations and one purchase and transfer to N.C. Division
of Parks and Recreation. These projects, when complete, will
give permanent protection to approximately 2363 acres in Ashe,
Alleghany, Wilkes, Watauga, and Avery counties. This remarkable
effort will raise our total acreage protected to approximately
3843 acres since 1999.
The landowners who are making these easement donations
vary widely in outlook, income, and education, but are all united
in their love of the land and their desire that their beloved
properties remain in their families and not be intensively developed.
All of these easement donation projects have taken eighteen months
to two years to bring to fruition, as the families, their attorneys
and accountants, and Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust staff work to
craft the conservation easement documents for each individual
property and family situation. It has been a genuine pleasure
to work with these people and get to know them.
It appears that this pace of land protection by
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust will continue into the next year,
as we have in hand pledges of easement donations from five landowners
in Watauga County and one in Wilkes if “transactional costs” (survey,
legal, staff time, monitoring costs) can be obtained. A proposal
for this funding is before the Clean Water Management Trust Fund
board, and should be approved in November.
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This
group of properties totals approximately 405 acres. We also have
in hand a pledged conservation easement donation on a 285-acre
farm in Alleghany County, to be completed in 2003. We have in
hand pledged “bargain sales” of three conservation
easements in Wilkes County, i.e.; a spectacular 600-acre property
in the Brushy Mountains, a 260-acre working forest on Osborne
Branch, and an historic cattle farm of 75 acres on Big Warrior
Creek, if funding can be obtained. We also have in hand written
pledges of easement donations by two landowners in the French
Broad River basin, one of 230 acres in Yancey County and one
of 125 acres in Avery County, if transactional costs can be obtained.
Further, we have been nearly overwhelmed recently
by the number of new inquiries from concerned landowners about
their options for protecting their family farms and forests in
our seven-county area. By my records, since June, Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust has had 23 landowner inquiries not included
in the above group. These people own a cumulative total of about
6800 acres, according to the initial telephone calls and letters.
Most seem to be knowledgeable and serious. If even one third
of these recent inquiries develop into easement acquisition “Projects”,
then 2003 and 2004 will be even more successful and productive
than 2002.
I continue
to be amazed at the amount of interest on the part of a widely
divergent group of landowners in conservation easements. It
is obvious that none of us involved in the formation of Blue
Ridge Rural Land Trust in late 1997 foresaw the response that
we are seeing now. I attribute this surge of serious inquires
to several reasons, the most important being about ten years
of continuous discussion of conservation easements as a land
protection tool by the conservation community. This “preaching
in the wilderness” through the mid-nineties did not fall
on deaf ears, but set the stage for a very productive decade
to follow.
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The recent rapid escalation of land values and
extremely rapid development of many communities in the mountain
counties have convinced many formerly skeptical landowners that
they need to do something to insure the survival of their farms,
and many find that conservation easement donation works for them.
Further, I consider that the growing reputation of Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust, its Board of Directors and Staff, as a competent,
well-lead, professional organization has led to this large backlog
of work, mostly referred to us by Board members, attorneys, accountants,
and other easement donors.
The landowners with whom we work are of two groups
united by a love of the land. About half of our current clients’ families
have owned their properties for generations, and are driven by
the desire to see it remain in the family, avoiding confiscatory
inheritance taxes, and undeveloped. The rest of our clients are
relatively new owners of their properties who can take advantage
of the income tax shelter aspects of easement donation. It has
been very rewarding to work with both. We are obviously having
a very good year, and looking forward to an even more productive
year in 2003.
••••••••••
| Protection
Scorecard |
Protected By Conservation Easement
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2446 acres |
Protected By Acquisition And Transfer
To State Parks
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340 acres |
| Protected By Transfer To Conservation Buyer |
280 acres |
Pending Easements, With All Needed
Funding In Place, Projected To Close In 2002
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702 acres |
Pledged Easement Projects Awaiting
Funding
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2150 acres |
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| BRRLT
Protects 1145 Acres in Wilkes County |
After two years of work, and with
transactional funding provided by the Clean Water Management
Trust Fund, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust has recorded a conservation
easement on a large wooded tract in Wilkes County. The very
generous donor of this conservation easement wishes to remain
anonymous.
This recently recorded easement
is on a large wooded tract of approximately 1145 acres located
in Union Township of Wilkes County, North Carolina. It lies
5 miles southwest of Laurel Springs and is west of NC 18 and
east of NC 16. It has no frontage on Vannoy Road, off NC 18
and has very limited frontage on Sheets Gap Road. A private
dirt road bisects the Property and it is a right-of-way used
by other landowners. It is accessed off of Vannoy Road through
an adjoining landowner’s property and is kept gated.
The Property lies on the southeastern
side of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and slopes generally to the
southeast. It is composed of steep hillsides and deep coves
and is mostly accessible only by foot or all-terrain-vehicle.
From Sheets Gap Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway one can
overlook much of the 1145-acre property. Its tributary creeks
and seeps flow from the northeast and southwest into the main
creek, Osborne Branch, which flows southeast along the main
access road. These headwater creeks are part of the Reddies
River subbasin of the Yadkin River watershed.
The Property is currently in a natural
condition and is nearly 99% forestland. It is used primarily
for the hunting of big game including deer, bear, and wild
turkey. Four small areas of up to one acre each along the access
roads are cleared and in use as game food plots. The remainder
of the property is in mature forests typical of the Blue Ridge
Escarpment. Forests are generally uniform in age and species
composition, generally being fifty to sixty years old. Hilltops
and south facing slopes and coves contain mainly Yellow Poplar,
White Oak, Chestnut Oak, Fraser Magnolia, Red Maple and Pignut
Hickory, with a fairly open understory of Christmas Ferns,
Violets, and other low growing plants. The upper slopes and
ridges are quite dry, having a mixture of oak species and Virginia
Pine. North facing slopes often contain a thick understory
of Rosebay Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel. The plant community
is classified as an Acidic Cove Forest, and is a biologically
diverse natural system common along the Blue Ridge Escarpment.
Besides mammals, this plant community supports bird species
such as the Cerulean Warbler, which are dependent upon large
tracts of undeveloped forest.
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Draining the coves are various seeps, springs,
and creeks. The water is clear and water quality is excellent.
There is no development upstream from the creeks bisecting the
Property. Macro-invertibrate species found include the Dragonhunter
Dragonfly adult and nymph, Water Strider, Water Penny, Cranefly
adult, Mayfly nymph, Stonefly nymph, Caddisfly nymph, Crayfish,
and Freshwater Snail. Additionally at least two species of salamanders
were present, the most common of which was a Black-bellied Salamander.
Fish observed include Brook Trout, various Darter species, and
numerous Minnows.
Along the creeks were numerous riparian
plant species and understory plants dependent upon rich, well-drained
soils. These included, Eastern Hemlock, Sycamore, Yellow Poplar,
Red Maple, White Pine, Red Oak, Black Locust, Sassafras, American
Beech, Black Tupelo (Gum), Pignut Hickory, Black Birch, Witch
Hazel, Sourwood, Ironwood, Tag Alder, Rhododendron, Flowering
Dogwood, and Spicebush. Ground-level plants included Christmas
Ferns, Maidenhair Fern, Lady Fern, New York Fern, Ebony Spleenwort,
Three-ranked Cane, Anemone and numerous Mint, Aster, and Violet
species.
The primary conservation values of
the Property are its clean water and size, the undeveloped view
it provides to Blue Ridge Parkway travelers from Sheets Gap Overlook
and its contribution to the protection of the Blue Ridge Escarpment.
Water quality is excellent on the Property, helping to assure
clean water in the Yadkin River in the years to come. The size
of the Property is impressive, providing an excellent opportunity
for hunting and wildlife observation, and will help prevent habitat
fragmentation in the area. Finally, when considered with nearby
publicly-owned land such as Stone Mountain State Park, Thurmond
Chatham State Game Lands, Rendevous Mountain Educational State
Forest, Doughton Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, this
tract is a 1145 acre addition to a larger conservation effort.
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The secondary conservation value
of the Property lies in the amount food and cover that such
a tract offers to a wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles
and amphibians that utilize such forests and streams along
the escarpment. The property has a very good population of
many species, with white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoon,
Virginia opossum, woodchuck, gray squirrel, eastern cottontail
rabbit, and gray fox present. As the Property constitutes a
healthy ecosystem, it must be assumed that the usual compliment
of mice, shrews, bats, moles and voles are present, and that
bobcats probably also live on the property.
The Property, with its extensive
forests and clean streams, will likely harbor at various times
of the year many of the bird species occurring along the Blue
Ridge Parkway. Birds seen during this late fall survey include
Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, American
Crow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Common
Raven, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Phoebe, Pileated Woodpecker
and White-breasted Nuthatch. As mentioned earlier, numerous
migratory species nest in large un-fragmented lands such as
this Property. Summer nesters probably include Sharp-shinned
Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Veery,
Black-throated Blue Warbler, Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Wood
Pewee, Wood Thrush, Cerulean Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler,
Louisiana Waterthrush, Acadian Flycatcher, Red-shouldered Hawk,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Northern Parula Warbler, Swainson’s
Warbler, Kentucky Warbler and Hooded Warbler.
Further, this Property is an integral,
and important, component of the undeveloped forestlands on
the northern Blue Ridge Escarpment in North Carolina that have
been identified by the National Audubon Society as an “Important
Bird Area” (IBA). This tract is a critical addition to
the body of protected lands lying to its north and east along
the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor. This area, comprising of in
excess of 50,000 acres protected by private non-profits, and
state and federal ownerships, will become increasingly important
as breeding and foraging habitat for a number of hemispherically
imperiled neotropical migrants as adjacent lands are developed
over the next fifty years.
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust wishes
to again thank the landowner and the Clean Water Management
Trust Fund for making this effort possible.
••••••••••
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Alleghany
County's Brush Creek Farm Protected
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A view of the pasture on Brush Creek
Farm
The beautiful, wide valley that
composes Brush Creek Farm will remain rustic and rural for
years to come, thanks to landowner Frances Huber. Working with
Frances, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust has designed a conservation
easement that will protect the agriculture, water quality and
scenic value of Brush Creek Farm for years to come. The 190-acre
farm is located on both sides of Big Oak Road in the Ennice
Community of rural Alleghany County, about 10 miles east of
the county seat of Sparta.
When asked “What made you
want to do a conservation easement?”, Frances replied, “Protection
of the land from development. To me this is one of the prettiest
areas of farmland and I hate to see it split up and developed.
It (the easement) sort of sets it apart as saved. It also makes
sense tax-wise.”
The property lies in the Alleghany
Plateau on the north side of the Blue Ridge Escarpment at an
elevation of around 3100 feet above sea level. Most of the
farm is in pasture and hayfields, with a forest buffer along
Brush Creek, nearly mature hardwood forest near the main residence,
and white pine forests on the steepest hillsides. It lies in
an area of relatively large land holdings.
The property is currently being
managed as “The Little Farm”, an educational farm
and children’s garden, which comprises about 15 acres
of the total. In regards to the Little Farm, Frances stated: “I
started it to give me something to do as a widow. I’m
staying busy doing something I always love. It is a place to
educate the next generation on how we fit together. Visitors
can learn where food comes from and learn a sense of wonder.
I feel like kids have lost a sense of wonder.”
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The balance of the property is used
for the grazing of beef cattle and commercial hay production.
Brush Creek, a clean, cool trout stream, forms the western boundary
of the property. Little Pine Creek runs through the property
to its confluence with Brush Creek. Little Pine Creek, which
had been channelized in the 1970’s, has had its original
contours restored in 1998 with assistance from the Natural Resource
Conservation Service.
The protection of Brush Creek Farm
helps assure the preservation of the rural culture of Alleghany
County and of a spectacular farm. Also, the agricultural landscape
of this part of rural Alleghany County will remain intact and
the native trout habitat of Brush Creek will be protected. From
the higher portions of Brush Creek Farm are spectacular views
of the surrounding farming community of eastern Alleghany County.
From these upper knolls beautiful 270-degree views of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, Bullhead Mountain, and the Blue Ridge Parkway
can be obtained.
The diversity of plant communities
such as the riparian buffer to Brush Creek, mature white pines,
open meadows, and hardwood forests all attract a diversity of
mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Tree species on the
farm include white oak, red oak, black cherry, sycamore, white
pine, pignut hickory, red maple and American holly. Plant species
include many old field species such as common sumac, chicory,
goldenrod, white snakeroot, sneezeweed, iron weed and ground
cover such as pink and white clover. Brush Creek Farm’s
proximity to the Blue Ridge Escarpment and Parkway also make
it valuable as a sanctuary for wildlife and as a migration corridor
for migratory songbirds. Mammals such as the white-tailed deer,
gray squirrel, eastern cottontail rabbit, gray fox, red fox and
bobcat are present. A beaver family is currently building a dam
on Little Pine Creek near Big Oak Road. Bears probably wander
through occasionally.
Most of the 204 species of birds proven
to occur in Alleghany County occur on Brush Creek Farm throughout
each year. A few of the birds known to occur here include the
downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern
kingbird, chimney swift, barn swallow, great blue heron, belted
kingfisher, red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, common raven
and ruby-throated hummingbird. Additionally, over 13 species
of butterflies have been identified on the farm during three
visits, including the red-spotted purple, common buckeye, tiger
swallowtail and Aphrodite fritillary.
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Frances Huber commented: “It
will always remain a natural area and be farmed. In setting
it aside it is (as if it is) a sacred place. I see God in creation…in
the beauty and simplicity and yet complexity of it all. I hate
to see what man can do to it. If God gave it to us to enjoy
and to farm, who are we to mess it up or not enjoy it?”
She added: “There is a continuity
and a sense of peace in living with and in nature. I think
many people don’t appreciate the subtle changes and peace.”
Frances Huber
Frances Huber’s Brush Creek
Farm is a special part of rural Alleghany County. It is nice
to know there are people who care about natural beauty and
do all they can to assure rural Alleghany County remains beautiful
for all. The donation of an agricultural conservation easement
to Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust on this spectacular property
will insure that it remains in its current agricultural and
open space condition forever.
••••••••••
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The
Beech Creek Bog Campaign
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| It seems natural that
this heading would lead into a story with a knowing Charles
Kuralt voice, ”On the campaign trail again with Fred
Pfohl…”
I really don’t know how he does it,
but Fred has a level of energy that I have seldom seen
and never understood. Thank goodness he is using his
initiative toward saving the Beech Creek Bog. Through
Fred, through Fred’s General Mercantile, and through
Fred’s friends, we are getting the word out in
the Beech Mountain community about the rare and unique
opportunities that we all gain by preserving this 120-acre
tract on the top of Beech Mountain that is split on the
Watauga and Avery County line.
First, Fred called a town meeting at the
Community Center. The staff of BRRLT jumped on this opportunity.
We showed our first PowerPoint presentation to a very
patient audience, and gave them a glimpse of the wonders
of a bog environment. Even the Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute
participated with two live Saw Whet Owls so that children
and adults could see with their own eyes the fragile
environment they can help to preserve. The Beech Creek
Community began to be involved at this point.
Then, Fred organized a hike into the Beech
Creek Bog to launch the community beyond a limited scope
into community activist mode. Two more hikes were scheduled.
Next, Fred gathered mailing lists. He spoke
with County Commissioners and the Chamber of Commerce.
He introduced the BRRLT staff to heads of festival events
to position ourselves for booth space, and he informed
the BRRLT Board of Directors (of which he is a member)
regarding his progress.
Now, we need to get the word out to you
and your neighbors. I’m sure Fred could use a little
help. Right, Fred?!
Because now we need to raise the money
along with the awareness that is crucial to the survival
of one of the last remaining natural bog areas in North
Carolina. Because of its high altitude position it is
unique beyond all other existing bog areas. It has the
potential of housing numerous rare and endangered species
of both plant and animal. And has been confirmed to house
saw whet owls, the gray’s lily, Alder Flycatcher,
the Bog Turtle and more.
This effort needs your financial assistance immediately.
We need $100,000 as soon as possible. And your $5 contribution
does help. So does your $1,000 contribution, your $5,000
contribution, and I’m sure we can muster up the means
to name a Beech Creek Bog trail after you if you would
please contribute $100,000 to this effort so that we can
all begin enjoying this preserved area as much as our little
neighbor the Saw Whet Owl, not to mention Fred Pfohl.
Fred Pfohl
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BRRLT Forms
Advisory Committee
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The Blue Ridge Rural Land
Trust has had great fortune in the coming together of
its founding Board of Directors, and extending its Board
members beyond that initial group. It also seized an
opportunity upon the availability of its staff, and has
formed a well-directed and supported team. With the addition
of the Director of Development, BRRLT also needed stronger
guidance from the community. BRRLT has been fortunate
to add to the ensemble a group of individuals that make
up the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust Advisory Committee.
The Advisory Committee is comprised of
individuals from a whole host of cultures and lifestyles,
locations and interests. Some of the members were cajoled
by friends into participation, while others joined due
to their satisfaction with their own donated conservation
easements, and still others sought out this opportunity
based on a desire to serve the community. By whatever
means they agreed to join our team and add their specific
direction to the future of BRRLT, it is working. Thus
far the Advisory Committee has met twice. Both occasions
have lead our organization, its staff and Board into
new territory regarding organizational development. Ideas
for grantwriting, fundraisers and member events have
been proposed and honed. It is further proof of the growth
and maturity of this organization when we are able to
divide greater detail of role responsibility. From its
origin of a handful of people making great accomplishments,
BRRLT is now becoming a well-oiled machine that can march
to a steadier pace and settle into achieving its loftiest
goals as a matter of annual success, for years to come.
The Advisory Committee is not limited to
its current members. If you would like to be a steward
for your community as a volunteer on the Advisory Committee,
please contact Penny Robinette at (828) 265-0334, and
join us for the next adventure.
The next Advisory Committee meeting will be held at 6:30
pm on Thursday, 24 October 2002, at the home of the Director
of Development, Penny Robinette. Great outcomes are expected;
even greater outcomes will be achieved.
The Board of Directors and staff of Blue
Ridge Rural Land Trust are grateful for the commitment
of this group to the mission of our organization. Currently
serving on the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust Advisory Committee,
as follows:
Mike and Helen Ruth Almond
John Bond
Steve Carlson
Brian Crutchfield
Jeff Gray
Stacy Merten
Ann and Chester Robertson
Theodore Stern
Rob Willis
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••••••••••
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Acquistion
of the Beech Creek Bog Underway
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The Beech
Creek Bog is quite unusual and nearly unique in the Southern
Appalachians. To quote Shawn Oakley of the N. C. Natural Heritage
Program, it is a natural site of "national significance" and
supports a "globally rare" Southern Appalachian Bog
natural community. This bog is the largest and most pristine
example of this natural community existing in North Carolina.
Lying at elevations between 4600 and 5160 feet above sea level,
it is significantly higher than other bogs in the state, and
as its small watershed comprises the headwaters of Beech Creek,
it is protected from runoff and pollution from adjacent sources.
The Beech Creek Bog Project is an effort to protect a unique
site as a State Natural Area in the N. C. State Park System.
BRRLT led field trips not only allow hikers to experience
the wonders of the bog, but also the beauty of the northern hardwood
forest on the upper portions of the site.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Bake)
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust's Beech Creek Bog Project has progressed
rapidly in the past three months, with a successful closing now
scheduled for late October. To date, all staff and overhead costs
have been covered by a grant award from the Clean Water Management
Trust Fund. We have raised sufficient funds to allow purchase of
this critical tract and its transfer to the North Carolina Division
of Parks and Recreation. This funding has come from grant awards
from the J. W. and A. H. Hanes Foundation, Lyndhurst Foundation,
the Conservation Trust for North Carolina's Land Acquisition Revolving
Fund, and a number of private donors. These funds will be added
to the $549,000 grant awarded to the Division of Parks and Recreation
by the Natural Heritage Trust Fund in April of 2002 to make the
purchase possible.
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This tract
of 120 acres had been appraised by the State of North Carolina
as having a land value of $549,000, and that amount of money
has been awarded to the DENR Division of Parks and Recreation
by the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund for acquisition. A second
appraisal was completed by BRRLT in early August, giving a value
of $692,000 to the tract. We consider this to be a far more accurate
valuation of the property than the State's appraisal, due to
its use of similarly sized parcels in similar resort communities
as comparables.
The second appraisal greatly facilitated fundraising
for this project. With the leadership of BRRLT Board member Fred
Pfohl, we have held well-attended public meetings about the importance
of the Bog and field trips to the Bog through August and September.
These efforts have been quite successful in increasing awareness
of the Beech Mountain community of the unique ecosystem on its
borders. These efforts have resulted in significant contributions
to the project.
When asked what the preservation of Beech Creek
Bog means to him and the community of Beech Mountain, Fred Pfohl
replied: "All of the folks that have been involved in the
Bog preservation process and in the hikes to look at the Bog
realize the importance of green space. Helping to preserve green
space at our backdoor is something that appeals to all of us.
The natural history of the bog, what's in it, its age.all these
things make is an important project that is right at our back
door."
“People that go on hikes or attend meeting
tell me they appreciate me working on this, on protecting the
Beech Creek Bog. It gives me a sense of stewardship for my own
land that we are protecting it for the public.”
“ I long have heard about ‘that swamp over there’. The local
people talked about it as being a special place where a cougar or a bear lived.
For a long time it has been regarded as a spiritual spot. The fact was not many
people ventured into it. Since it is not really accessible, not many people ventured
in there.”
" I just feel that being a part of this project
is very satisfying and I feel lucky to have been selected to
be on the Board of Directors of Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust."
Though this project has been a daunting and exhausting
effort for a small organization, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust
is extremely proud of its role in the preservation of such an
unusual site. When the transfer of this property to the Division
of Parks and Recreation occurs in late October, BRRLT will have
brought into being its second state park, the first being Bullhead
Mountain State Natural Area.
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Mike and Barbara Hoots
Mike and Barbara Hoots live near the Bog and are
active members of Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust. When asked why
they wanted to see the Bog protected, Mike said, “We were
environmental types. We looked for property for 7 years trying
to find the right place.”
When asked: “What is it about the Bog that
made you want to get involved in the effort to protect it?” Barbara
Hoots replied “Probably the situation in Cary, NC, our
former home. The population went form 18,000 to 100,000 in just
11 years. There was massive, unstoppable growth. It was a designated
tree city, but developers found a way around this and clear cut
the trees.”
Mike Hoots added: “You need to focus on special
unique places that if they are destroyed, they will never be
seen again. Beech Creek Bog is a unique piece of land and we
knew that when we moved that the Bog was a wetland and once destroyed,
it couldn’t be replaced. For Barbara, it has been a passion
in life to protect the Bog.”
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust has been extremely
fortunately in this effort to have people such as Fred Pfohl
and Mike and Barbara Hoots take an interest in the preservation
of this unique tract.
••••••••••
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President's
Message
Just
Another Land Trust? |
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North Carolina contains numerous special and unique places.
Northwestern North Carolina is also experiencing rapid development,
resulting in numerous threats to these places. Therefore,
it is not surprising to find several conservation organizations
at work in this part of the state. These fine organizations
have preserved spectacular portions of our landscape that
could have been ruined without their efforts.
About five years ago when a group of people got together
to discuss the possibility of forming what would become Blue
Ridge Rural Land Trust, we considered the conservation groups
already active here. We asked ourselves if we would be duplicating
work they were already doing. The answer was no. We discovered
the need for a land trust with a broad focus. A land trust
primarily interested in farmland protection. A land trust
with a regional approach. A land trust concerned with the "ordinary" land
that collectively forms our extraordinary rural mountain
landscape. These needs have defined and shaped Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust’s work over the past five years, without
duplicating the efforts of other conservation organizations
in the region.
No single conservation organization can save every parcel
worthy of preservation. In order to take advantage of conservation
opportunities, more than one organization must be operating
in our corner of the state. The situation is analogous to
the medical community in a town, where many physicians are
needed, but each one specializes in a different area of medicine.
At Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, we see ourselves as the "general
practitioner" of the conservation community in our region.
Your support of Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust - northwestern
North Carolina’s only regional land trust - is needed
to ensure that no land preservation opportunity is missed.
Kelly Coffey
President
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Bullhead Mountain
Appreciation Day
Bullhead Mountain is safe. There
may be a few undecided issues regarding who has access for
bird watching, or how improvements will be financed and liability
covered, but there is no longer any question about the number
of homes that will line its ridge, or the size of the lots
that will divide the beautiful camel hump that represents
Bullhead Mountain. In honor of the mountain itself, and the
people of Alleghany County and the Blue Ridge Rural Land
Trust who had the foresight to visualize a Bullhead Mountain
State Natural Area, the Bullhead Mountain Appreciation Day
was observed on Thursday, 15 August 2002.
Frances Huber was a most gracious host for the event, and
shared her stunning view of the Day’s namesake from
her farm. Few opportunities lend themselves to the vision
of Bullhead from Frances’ porch, framed by the trees
and underscored by the exquisite beauty of the gardens. Fortunately,
Frances and the staff of BRRLT were not the only ones to
relish another opportunity to bask in our achievements… echoing
the achievements of nature herself. Joining us were members
and non-members of BRRLT, representing neighbors from Alleghany
County and adjoining counties, from within and beyond the
boundaries of the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust.
Guests enjoy refreshments and the view at Bullhead
Appreciation Day
We celebrated our triumph and recognized individuals, shared
further accomplishments of the Land Trust, updated everyone
on our current projects, and invited all to continue our
endeavors. It felt wonderful to raise our sights from our
desktops, give and receive several pats on the back, and
gaze with deep appreciation at a vista of immense proportion
that will now remain forever. It propels us forward and united
us again in the next campaign.
We again thank all those in attendance, and
now take this opportunity to thank those unable to attend.
We enjoyed working side by side with all of you on the
Bullhead Campaign, and hope that we will continue to work
together on current and future endeavors of equal greatness.
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Make A Difference
by Penny Robinette, Director of
Development |
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Close your eyes for
a moment, and imagine that you are surrounded by green mountains.
In the distance you can hear the sound of water rushing. You
look across the landscape and see a breathtaking scene of gold
and crimson leaves, and nestled high on a hill is a beautiful
old barn with a large pasture of rolling hills. Looking beyond,
there is a vast stretch of freshly cut hay with rolled bails
as far as the eye can see. Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is there.
The 346 acre Vannoy farm, protected
by a
conservation easement donation to BRRLT
Keep your eyes closed and continue. To
your right is a mountain that looks today as if mankind has never
stepped foot on it. There are tall trees across its ridgeline
and rock outcroppings down its side, beckoning you to explore
its majestic peak. Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is there.
Turn to your left, and you can smell the deep woods,
moist with its continued regeneration. You hear numerous bird
songs and the chatter of squirrels. You look overhead and ask
yourself the name of that tall tree that is providing the canopy
above you, a Red Spruce. You stare intently at the details of
a bright orange Gray’s Lily and marvel at its perfection.
Thank goodness, the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is there.
Fortunately, the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is
here so that we don’t have to close our eyes and imagine.
We can hike the trails and drive the scenic byways and say, “Oh,
I just love living here…it’s so very beautiful!!!” And
you pass by without even realizing that without the Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust and its membership, that view may have been
developed, that trail may have ceased to exist, or that stream
may have become polluted. We take so much for granted…that
what is, will always be. The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust will
make sure that some parts of our landscape will always be that
beautiful and that grand, but not without your help. We need
you in our membership.
North Carolina is being developed at a rate faster
than anywhere else in the country. It is beautiful and it’s
a great place to live. The same reasons that we love it are also
appealing to more and more people across the country. Development
is occurring in areas that most residents assumed would always
be open space whether as farmland, deep forests or mountaintops.
Property taxes are increasing so that the next generation farmer
can’t afford to keep the farm of six generations operating,
encouraging sale of the farm for development.
What do you look at and say, “This is what
life is all about.” Maybe it’s the viewscape from
the Blue Ridge Parkway…or the sights and sounds along all
of the intricate trail systems…or the taste of fresh water
from a mountain stream…or maybe it’s the view at
sunrise from your own front porch?
Can we preserve land at the same rate it is being
developed? The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is trying, for you
and your children and their children and their children and their
children and their children. That is at least as long as that
6th generation farmer has preserved his farm. Let’s help
him out, together. Roll up your sleeves and pitch in…join
today. What we preserve today can last forever!
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Each dollar contributed to BRRLT over the past five years
has leveraged roughly $24.50 in easement donations.
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The Blue Ridge Rural
Land Trust has made incredible accomplishments in this regard
with completed conservation easements and land purchases. These
locations have been saved from potential harm, forever. This
success is the organization’s platform. From it’s
inception in 1998 through the end of this year, the Blue Ridge
Rural Land Trust will have completed 15 Conservation Easement
acquisitions, totaling 3,503 acres in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga
and Wilkes counties. We will have also purchased and transferred
to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation 340 acres, bringing
into being Bullhead Mountain State Natural Area and Beech Creek
Bog State Natural Area. Thus the total acreage protected by the
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust over this initial five-year period
is 3,843 acres. The total projected cost of protecting this amount
of land is $375,000 for a cost of roughly $98 per acre protected.
Further, the appraised value of the conservation easements to
be donated to Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust are projected to be
worth approximately $9.2 Million dollars. Again, using the figure
of $375,000 in overhead costs over a five-year period, and $9.2
Million in donated easement value, we can state that each dollar
given to BRRLT for operational support has leveraged roughly
$25 worth of donated conservation easement value.
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BRRLT is protecting land through conservation easements
at an overhead cost of roughly $97.80 per acre.
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These figures are worth repeating:
- Each dollar contributed to BRRLT over the past
five years leveraged $25 in easement donations. Every dollar
you donate is worth $25.
- BRRLT is protecting land through conservation
easements at an overhead cost of $98 per acre. Every $100 donated
is an acre of land preserved.
The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust applauds its membership
and donors. The successes described are the accomplishments of
this community.
It bears witness that YOU are our greatest resource.
Without you, our future and the future of the land are limited.
The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust will continue to expand its conservation
easements throughout the seven-county region, only with your
help.
Here’s how…
- If you have never been a member, please become
one today.
- If you are currently a member, please raise
your membership to the next level.
- If you are currently a Steward Member level,
please make a recurring annual donation.
- If you are currently making an annual donation,
please sponsor a particular project.
We need everyone to be involved in this worthwhile
campaign for our lands. Don’t wait until it’s too
late to make a difference.
Make a difference now!
Join the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust!
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The Alex Woodruff
Farm
by James Coman
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| After more
than a year of careful negotiation, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust
in October recorded an agricultural conservation easement on the
North Carolina portion, approximately 121 acres, of the picturesque
farm of Mr. Alex Woodruff in northern Alleghany County. This beautiful
and rugged property crosses the North Carolina - Virginia line,
with approximately 80 acres lying in Grayson County, Virginia.
The Virginia portion of the farm will be protected by a similar
conservation easement to be held by New River Land Trust. Together
the two easements will not only protect this farm, but also nearly
one-half mile of the New River in an area of significant development
pressure.
The goals of Mr. Woodruff and his family were: a.) to help insure
that the family was not forced to sell the farm to pay inheritance
taxes on Mr. Woodruff’s passing, b.) to allow continued agriculture
and forestry on the property, as well as traditional recreational
uses, such as hunting, and c.) to allow construction of several
new residences for family members, as needed, while protecting
the conservation values of the farm and the view from the New River.
The conservation easement does this.
The North Carolina property of Alex M. Woodruff is a farm of approximately
121 acres located in Gap Civil Township of Alleghany County, North
Carolina. Nile Road, a state-maintained gravel lane that runs through
the property, accesses it from U.S. 21 about 7 miles north of Sparta.
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The property lies on the south side of the New River, abutting
the lands of Mr. George R. Crouse, Mrs. Ruby Maines, and others.
A portion of the boundary of this property is the North Carolina – Virginia
state line. Alex Woodruff also owns approximately 80 acres contiguous
in Virginia, and the property is managed as a whole. The property
rises from north to south, with the lowest elevations being along
the bank of the New River. The southern portions have quite steep
topography, while the northern portions have gently rolling topography.
The property is currently being managed as a cattle farm and woodland.
A local group also leases the farm for hunting. The pastures are
healthy and lush, with no overgrazing or erosion noted. The wooded
areas are quite diverse mixed hardwoods that are regenerating naturally
after logging in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The property
has an intact early 20th century farmstead, consisting of a main
residence built about the turn of the century and numerous barns,
sheds, spring houses, garages, a dairy, and storage buildings,
most of which are in good repair.
Alex Woodruff
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The primary conservation values of the Alex Woodruff Farm are
preservation of the rural culture of Alleghany County, preservation
of the view from the New River and the preservation of the agricultural
landscape of rural Alleghany County.
Secondary conservation value lies in the diversity of plant and
animal communities present on the property. Open pasture, mixed
hardwood and pine forests, and the riparian habitat present along
the bank of the New River all attract a diversity of mammals, birds,
reptiles, and amphibians that utilize such areas at elevations
of 2500 feet to 2700 feet in elevation. This property’s proximity
to the New River also make it valuable as a sanctuary for wild
life and as a migration corridor for migratory songbirds. Mammals
such as the white-tailed deer, raccoon, Virginia opossum, beaver,
chipmunk, woodchuck, gray squirrel, fox squirrel, eastern cottontail
rabbit, gray fox, red fox and bobcat are present. Additionally,
the usual populations of mice, shrews, bats, moles and voles are
present.
This property with its diverse natural landscape is certain to
harbor, at various times, most of the 204 species of birds proven
to occur in Alleghany County. A few of the birds known to occur
here include the Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, American wild
turkey, blue jay, Baltimore oriole, pileated woodpecker, white-breasted
nuthatch, bald eagle, osprey, and red-tailed hawk. As the farm
lies on the New River, it will be used at times by a large variety
of waterfowl as a feeding and resting area during migration. Species
observed on or from the property in the last few years include
red head, solitary sandpiper, hooded merganser, common merganser,
pied-billed grebe, and blue-winged teal.
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is quite proud of its
role in assisting this family in carrying out their goals for
the protection of this unique property.
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