Volume 2, Issue 3
November, 2003

Protection of the Beech Creek Bog
Expands to the Watershed

Last year Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust acquired for transfer to the state of N.C. the 120-acre tract owned by Mr. Dale Hill of Dallas, Texas known as the Beech Creek Bog. This project was successfully concluded in November of 2002 with the property being transferred to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation to become the Beech Creek Bog State Natural Area.

The protection of this unique site required not only a great deal of effort on the part of the staff of Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, but also involved a great many of the residents of Beech Mountain and the surrounding community. The Beech Creek Bog Project of BRRLT, lasting from early 2001 until November of 2002 afforded us many opportunities to meet and work with residents and landowners in the area. These conversations, meetings, and shared efforts have resulted in a number of other land protection projections beginning on or near Beech Creek. To date we have had six additional serious inquiries about conservation easements and/or sales of properties whose protection will serve to protect the watershed of the Bog itself and of Beech Creek.

Of these six potential conservation properties, three are far enough advanced to mention at this time:

The largest of these projects is the protection, through a conservation easement, of the 103-acre farm of Jay and Rita Presnell, which lies about one river mile downstream of the Bog. The Presnell farm has a small amount (roughly 20 acres) of pasture and about 80 acres of woodland. It has very long frontage on Beech Creek. This rugged cove farm has been in the Presnell family for well over a century, and the Presnells do not want to see it subdivided and developed.

The Presnells have very graciously agreed to sell a conservation easement on this farm for about half of its appraised value. With funding provided by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, BRRLT has had an appraisal completed and the survey is underway. We are now seeking funding for the actual easement purchase. Once completed, this project will allow the Presnells and their heirs to live on the property, farm it, log it, and use it for hunting and other recreation.

The next most advanced of these three projects is the conservation easement donation now underway by Mike and Barbara Hoots on their 25-acre wooded property immediately upstream of and adjacent to the Bog. The Hoots were instrumental in the protection of the Bog, and have decided that they should also protect their acreage. The conservation easement will prevent further development of this parcel, while allowing all traditional uses of the property. BRRLT has sufficient funding in hand to cover the transactional costs of this project, provided by a grant from the Conservation Trust for North Carolina’s Phase IV Riparian Planning Program.

Thus, we have found that large, high profile projects, such as Beech Creek Bog, will trigger several other projects nearby. The Bullhead Mountain project (1999-2000) on the Alleghany-Wilkes County line is our most successful example. This project resulted in the creation of the Bullhead Mountain State Natural Area and has, so far, triggered 9 land protection projects, 6 of which have been completed and total about 1500 acres.

In less than a year after designation of the Beech Creek Bog State Natural Area, BRRLT is pleased to see the trend continue. The first three “spin-offs” reported in this article total nearly 200 acres. Three more properties, totaling 150 acres, are currently under discussion and could result in further protection of the Beech Creek watershed.

• • • • •

  
Serving Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey Counties.

Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust To Protect Tract
in Cove Creek

The property of Allen Childers is a wooded tract of 21.3 acres located in Cove Creek in Watauga County, North Carolina. This tract lies on the east side of Old U. S. Highway 421 almost directly across from the old Cove Creek School. The property rises from west to east, with the lowest elevations being nearest to Old U. S. 421 at about 2500 feet above sea level, and the property rises to the ridgeline at 3200 feet above sea level.

In late 2001, after several years of consideration, Mr. Al Childers decided to donate a conservation easement on this property to Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust. This conservation easement on the tract will allow all traditional agricultural, horticultural, and forestry uses of the property, but it prevents intensive development of the farm. Mr. Childers requested that Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust locate funds to allow this donation of a conservation easement to proceed without cost to himself. Accordingly, BRRLT staff sent a proposal to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) for sufficient funds to cover costs of the necessary survey, title search, legal and closing, environmental site assessment, staff time and overhead, and monitoring for this project. This proposal was funded by CWMTF in early 2003, allowing work to proceed on this project. This process is now almost complete, and the actual easement donation should occur within the month of November.

Allen Childers

On October 20, 2003, Al Childers stated that he wanted to donate a conservation easement on his land in memory of his parents, Lloyd W. Childers and Geneva Young Childers, “because I worked as a conservationist for the USDA for 31.5 years, and I am especially interested and concerned about land and water conservation.” When asked what important properties of his land this easement will protect, Al added “If I were to develop my land it would destroy the unique aesthetic quality of the community of Cove Creek. My land is quite steep and should be used only for forestland, not houses.” Further discussing protecting Cove Creek, Al said “This tract of mine is only one piece of the puzzle. It (easement donation) is one of the ways I feel I can make a difference in Cove Creek.”

When asked why he chose to work with Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Al Childers stated “I met the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust through my career relationship with Becky Wallace and Stan Steury at the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation and Development Council. I also knew several BRRLT Board members who have made this entire process easier. Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust has been great to work with.”

The primary conservation values of the Al Childers tract are preservation of the view available to residents and visitors to Cove Creek, preservation of the rural culture of Watauga County, and the preservation of the forested landscape of rural Watauga County, and the protection of the water quality of Cove Creek and the Watauga River.

Secondary conservation value of the tract lies in the diversity of plant communities present. Open pasture, mixed young hardwood and pine forests, and the young stand of white pines mixed with old field species all attract a diversity of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians that utilize such areas at elevations around 3000 feet elevation. Trees include white oak, chestnut oak, red oak, black cherry, black locust, tulip poplar, red maple, black gum and pignut hickory. Understory plants include the flowering dogwood, blueberry, mountain laurel, galax, smilax, jack-in the pulpit, and poison ivy. Old field species on field edges include goldenrod, sneezeweed, mountain mint, blackberry, blueberry, lespedeza and little blue stem. Mammals such as the white-tailed deer, raccoon, Virginia opossum, woodchuck, gray 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 Watauga County.

Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust wishes to thank Mr. Allen Childers for his extreme generosity in protecting this tract for future generations. BRRLT also wishes to thank the Staff and Trustees of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (www.cwmtf.org) for providing the funding to make this project possible.

• • • • •

For each $50 license tag purchased before January 15, 2004, $20 will go to BRRLT for land conservation projects adjacent to the Parkway boundary and approved by the National Park Service. These funds will be held in an escrow account managed by The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, a private, supporting foundation for the Blue Ridge Parkway, is authorized to request and receive funds on behalf of the Parkway under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Interior.

“This is an excellent opportunity to involve park partners and we are pleased to have the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust participating in this effort”, said Dan Brown, Parkway Superintendent.

“The Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust deserves the recognition for their efforts and for their professional leadership in land conservation initiatives along the Parkway”, emphasized Dr. Houck Medford, the Foundation’s Executive Director.

The Board and staff of BRRLT have often been asked by contributors, members, and easement donors “Why does it cost so much?” or “Why are you always asking for money?”, especially if the landowner is DONATING the easement itself. These are valid questions…and here are the answers.

First, even if the conservation easement (or development rights) on a property is donated by the landowner to Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, there are substantial costs associated with the project that many landowners cannot bear themselves, and thus need for BRRLT to raise in order to allow the donation. These costs are termed “transactional costs”. They include:

• A Survey of the Property: If there is no relatively recent survey available. Costs depend upon acreage, and in the last year BRRLT has commissioned surveys costing from less than $2000 to $25,000.
  
• A Title Search of the Property: No land trust can accept an easement on a property with a clouded title, or a mortgage, unless the mortgage is subordinated to the easement. Costs can run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.
  
• An Environmental Site Assessment, Phase I: This is a professionally executed survey of the property and its history, and search of records of surrounding properties, to determine if there exists, or could exist, hazardous substances or toxic wastes on the property. The costs again vary with acreage, but generally run from $1000 to $3500.
  
• An Appraisal of the Property: This is paid for by the land trust if there are no tax consequences to the donor, otherwise the donor carries the cost. Costs vary from about $1500 to $4000.
  Legal and Closing Costs, Recording Fees: This can vary from about $500 to $2500, and is involved in every conservation easement.
  
• The Stewardship Fund Contribution: Somewhat difficult to explain, but vital. All conservation easements are essentially simply legal documents, in which the donor agrees to forego certain uses of his land and the land trust agrees to accept the easement and to enforce the donor’s wishes. If there is no mechanism for this enforcement, then the document is worthless. BRRLT, and all other land trusts, insure that they will have the ability in the future to enforce the easement, and carry out the donor’s wishes, by building a legal defense fund, called, in our case, a Stewardship Fund. This is an inviolate fund, the principal of which can only be used for court costs in the case of a legal challenge to one of our easements. BRRLT tries to raise an amount equal to 6% of the value of each easement for the Stewardship Fund. This amount can vary from a minimum of about $3000 to upwards of $50,000.
  

• • • • •

Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust is looking for enthusiastic, take-charge individuals for a variety of volunteer opportunities. Many of these opportunities are “wide open,” i.e. our staff has little time to devote to these activities, therefore a dedicated volunteer would have the freedom to be creative and shape a particular program area. It’s a great chance to help build a still-young and growing organization. NO EXPERIENCE WITH CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND LAND TRUST WORK IS NECESSARY. We’re looking for:

• Retirees (we need your experience & expertise)
• Students (many options for building a resume)
• Scouts (opportunities for projects)
• Anyone willing to donate any amount of time

Some opportunities are volunteer “positions” that require an ongoing commitment; others are one-time, as-you-are-able tasks. We need volunteers to:

• be in charge of fairs & festivals; i.e. arrange to have a land trust booth at various events throughout the year in our region, & schedule volunteers for these events
• staff our booth at fairs & festivals
• give presentations to civic groups
• maintain our PowerPoint presentations and convert these presentations to the old-fashioned slide projector format (so those who are not computer-friendly can help out, too.)
• create, plan, & prepare for fundraising events (got an idea for a fundraising event? a golf tournament? a benefit concert with a local musical group? Let us know!)
• lead field trips on protected properties
• write newsletter articles (we have a newsletter editor, but we need someone to write specific articles)
• be a liaison to the press

• Are you a professional with land trust-related skills (e.g. attorneys, accountants, etc.)? Your donated time would make a difference!
  
• Are you a financial/investment planner who can help us arrange gifts of stock, life estates, and other indirect ways of giving?
  
• Can you be available for a variety of tasks as needs arise?
  
• Have other suggestions or ideas? Do you see a need not mentioned here? We’ll be glad to discuss it with you!

If you’re interested, just call Becky at 828-263-8776, or e-mail Sarah at brrlt@boone.net. They will put you in touch with an appropriate Board member or staff person. We look forward to hearing from you!

• • • • •