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The Biltmore Beacon reports:
A 7,500-acre tract of land in Mitchell and Avery counties has been permanently protected as a nature preserve thanks to a donation to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
The property includes one of the largest American Chestnut restoration projects in the country, extensive boulder fields, rich coves, old growth forests, 11 waterfalls, over 100 miles of streams in the Toe River basin, and a system of rare heath-balds.
“This is the largest gift of land to a land trust in North Carolina,” said Carl Silverstein, executive director of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. “These 7,500 acres include some of the most sought-after conservation acres in the eastern United States. We really are honored to be entrusted with the responsibility to steward this vast mountain complex.”
The South Yellow Mountain Preserve, located between Spruce Pine and Roan Mountain, provides a haven for wildlife and natural beauty, and will serve as a nature preserve and research forest.
The size of the preserve, unbroken by bisecting roads, provides connection and space for animals and plants to move through different elevations and ecological communities to adapt to climate change in coming decades.
“Strategic acquisition of large parcels of land is increasingly important for climate resilience — and increasingly hard to accomplish as privately owned parcels continue to be subdivided and developed,” Silverstein said.
From rocky escarpments to hidden hollers, from ephemeral native wildflowers to a plunging waterfall tucked behind moss-strewn boulders, the preserve abounds with natural beauty. It supports numerous threatened and endangered plant and animal species and features some of the most extraordinary scenery in the eastern U.S.
“This project is a conservationist’s dream come true. Pristine, roadless land that has not been timbered over is almost impossible to find in the Southern Appalachians at this point in time, but this assemblage contains so much that we value — from old growth forests to high-elevation open areas in an undisturbed condition,” said Marquette Crockett, SAHC’s Roan Stewardship Director.
Conservation story
Creation of the preserve has been years in the making. Longtime SAHC member Tim Sweeney envisioned assembling multiple parcels into a unified block of land with the intention of conserving the entire mountain ecosystem.
He began purchasing the various tracts in 2012. In 2021, Sweeney announced plans to donate the 7,500 acres to SAHC and to donate smaller tracts to other land trusts based in North Carolina and Virginia.
With this gift the philanthropist’s dream has become a reality for the benefit of future generations.
“We are immensely grateful to the landowner for making this historic, incredibly generous gift to SAHC for the benefit of the entire region, fulfilling his conservation vision,” said Silverstein.
Research forest
The preserve is home to an experimental forest aimed at bringing back the American Chestnut through cross-breeding. The hope is to arrive at a species genetically similar to the American Chestnut, yet resistant to the blight that wiped out the magnificent tree more than a century ago.
“Over 70,000 hybrid American Chestnut trees have been planted across the preserve since 2016,” said Park Greer, manager for South Yellow Mountain Preserve. “The planting sites were chosen to study how the hybrids adapt to various conditions such as elevation, amount of sunlight, and proximity to water.”
Greer has spent much of the past two years connecting with local community groups and exploring the physical and biological features of the preserve. The preserve provides a potential learning environment for researchers, as well as a place for local school and community college groups to learn about conservation and environmental education.
State geologists completed a survey to update the geologic map of the area for the first time since 1953.
“Not only does this add to our understanding of how these mountains are formed but it may aid in locating certain species that are associated with rock types/geologic environments,” Green said. “Other preliminary research has been to monitor rare plant communities, conduct bat surveys, and to treat Eastern Hemlock against the hemlock wooly adelgid.”
SAHC’s preserve manager and Roan stewardship staff are in the process of creating a comprehensive land management plan to thoughtfully guide the care and long-term management of the preserve.
