Land conserved along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Jackson
The Blue Ridge Parkway will soon acquire an additional 46 acres in Jackson County thanks to a pair of land acquisitions completed by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina.
The CTNC recently received a donation of 21 acres in the Hi-Mountain subdivision, a property known as Woodfin Creek Headwaters, and the parcel abuts a 25-acre property that CTNC owns at the Parkway’s milepost 447. CTNC will donate both properties to the National Park Service to expand the Parkway’s boundary.
“The land seemed so appropriate for conservation purposes that the initial intention of developing or selling to a developer quickly changed,” said John Scelfo, who donated the 21-acre property to CTNC. “We are proud to help protect the beauty and natural heritage of the region by donating this property to CTNC and the Blue Ridge Parkway.”
The property conserves a portion of land at the headwaters of Woodfin Creek, upstream of Woodfin Falls in the Little Tennessee River basin. It will contribute to the complex of land recently assembled around Waterrock Knob establishing a 5,000-acre recreation area near the Parkway’s south end. The property is visible from the Mt. Lyn Lowry Overlook at milepost 445.
Conserving land along the Parkway enhances the landscape’s resilience to the changing climate by providing protected places where human and natural communities can move and adapt. With an elevation between 4,840 and 5,060 feet, the newly protected Woodfin Creek Headwaters has the potential to support significant numbers of rare plant and animal species.
The Conservation Trust for North Carolina has now conserved 66 properties on the Blue Ridge Parkway totaling 34,472 acres.
