Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) is celebrating 50 years of conserving clean water, plant and wildlife habitat, farmland and scenic beauty in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) closed on a conservation easement to protect 29 acres of farmland.

Nearly 300 million acres of American farmland is expected to change hands over the next 20 years, and a new program from the American Farmland Trust called “Land Transfer Navigators” aims to help farmers and landowners retire with confidence as they help new farmers access land. 

Registration is open for the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s fourth annual Winter Hiking Challenge, asking participants to complete 60 miles of trail in the 60 days between Jan. 1 and March 1. 

The Sandy Mush Game Lands in Buncombe and Madison counties are now 67 acres larger after the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy helped the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission acquire the property.

The 448-acre woodland property sitting right off U.S. 23/19 and Interstate 40 near Canton was almost a speedway. Then, it was almost an indoor ski resort. It was almost a lot of things over the years, but now it will be a public park and conservation area. 

After a year of planning, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has closed on a 448-acre purchase in Haywood County that it plans to gift to the Town of Canton as an outdoor recreation area. 

If all goes as planned, Canton will soon have a 448-acre park for hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor recreation activities just a mile from town limits. The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy hopes to close on the property, known as the Chestnut Mountain Tract and currently owned by Canton Motorsports LLC, within the next couple months. 

Efforts to conserve the 488-acre property currently owned by Canton Motorsports got a boost when the N.C. Department of Justice awarded the project a $150,000 Environmental Enhancement Grant.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has purchased 62 acres at Doll Branch in the Highlands of Roan, an acquisition that adjoins the Cherokee National Forest and is less than half a mile from the Appalachian Trail.