Conservation Fund protects WNC woodlands
The Conservation Fund announced that a critical property in the Great Balsam Mountains is protected as forest and natural land.
The approximately 3,850-acre Balsam Gap property connects to 770,000 acres of previously conserved lands, and continues a 25-year legacy of federal, state and private investment to protect over 12,000 acres of working forest, wildlife habitat, watersheds and recreation land in the region.
The area around Balsam Gap is especially important in the long-term effort by The Conservation Fund and other organizations to protect land bordering the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the National Park Service’s most visited sites attracting millions of visitors each year. The property shares almost four miles of boundary with the Blue Ridge Parkway and protects spectacular views along a 17-mile stretch of the Parkway, including five scenic overlooks.
In addition to preserving the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway, conserving this property will add to the wealth of recreation opportunities in the area, support local tourism and timber jobs, sustain vital habitat and migration corridors for wildlife, and protect water quality from multiple headwaters. Nature-based recreation and tourism are significant drivers of the local economy, supporting thousands of jobs and generating almost $400 million in annual revenue for Jackson and Haywood counties alone. Taking steps to support and sustain that economic activity is especially important following the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to the region.
The property is now protected by two easements. Mainspring Conservation Trust helped make this conservation success possible by agreeing to hold and steward a 1,147-acre easement that expands an existing no-cut buffer adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway. A second 2,703-acre working forest easement, held by the State of North Carolina, will be stewarded by the North Carolina Forest Service. The properties will become a key portion of 55,000 acres of protected land in the Great Balsam Mountains.
Funding for this project comes the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program, Mainspring Conservation Trust, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and private donors. This project builds upon a 2002 U.S. Forest Legacy Program project.
