The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, in collaboration with The Conservation Fund and 130 of Chatham, LLC, announced the completion of an acquisition that protects 238.14 acres of high-elevation land that has long been identified as critical acreage in Mount Mitchell State Park’s land protection plan.
The land is located southwest of the main public access area of Mount Mitchell State Park and adjacent to other land that the state park protects along the southern border of Yancey County. The acquisition provides additional connections to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and the Asheville Watershed.
“These are important acres the division has been trying to acquire for conservation the last 50 years,” said State Parks Director Brian Strong. “We are very grateful for this partnership with 130 of Chatham and The Conservation Fund that has helped protect areas of exceptional natural resource value in the Black Mountains.”
“This opportunity represents the kind of challenge The Conservation Fund (TCF) was created for,” said Mike Leonard, TCF’s former Board Chair. “We believe that land sustains us. TCF has been actively involved here since 1998 to expand Mount Mitchell State Park, including efforts that more than doubled the park's size in connection with its 100th anniversary in 2016. Expansion sustains the many park visitors, rare species that rely on the unique 6,000-foot-high spruce fir forest and the local Yancey County tourism industry. We are proud to be involved.”
The acquisition consists of high-elevation spruce-fir forest. The southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest ecoregion is among the most endangered ecosystem in the U.S. It is home to several species listed federally and in North Carolina as rare, threatened, or endangered, including the Carolina northern flying squirrel, and the spruce-fir moss spider, both of which are found only in the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest region and nowhere else in the world.
Red spruce and Fraser fir once dominated the southern Appalachian forests, but as temperatures increased, they became isolated to the highest peaks in North Carolina, those above 5,000 feet in elevation. Logging through the 1800s and 1900s further reduced the habitat by as much as 60%. Acid rain and the balsam woolly adelgid continue to present threats to the trees’ survival. N.C. State Parks is currently a part of the Southern Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative, which aims to replant red spruce trees in high-elevation lands across western North Carolina.
The $3.588 million acquisition was made possible through a North Carolina Land and Water Fund grant awarded to The Conservation Fund and matching grant funds from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to N.C. State Parks. 130 of Chatham, owned by Epic Games CEO and conservationist Tim Sweeney, made the initial acquisition of the parcels.
North Carolina State Parks manages more than 262,000 acres of iconic landscape within North Carolina’s state parks, state recreation areas and state natural areas. It administers the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, including its local grants program, as well as a state trails program, North Carolina Natural and Scenic Rivers and more, all with a mission dedicated to conservation, recreation and education. The state parks system welcomes more than 19 million visitors annually.
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.