To the Editor:

When my Needmore neighbors and I began working in 2000 to protect 4,500 acres from development, we never imagined that 26 years later we would be fighting Duke Energy over our own private property.

Duke Energy acquired 4,500 acres along the Little Tennessee River when it bought a local independent utility in 1988. The land had originally been purchased at low prices from residents of Swain and Macon counties for a dam project on the Little Tennessee that was never built.

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture first announced its intention to rescind the Roadless Rule in August 2025, Southern Environmental Law Center staff received around 8,000 mailed public comments opposing to the decision, which they stuffed into boxes and delivered to the Forest Service. 

In all, the agency received 625,930 public comments, despite a historically short comment window. 

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, under the leadership of longtime Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, will host a Farmland Preservation Advocacy Day on Wednesday, May 13, at the General Assembly in Raleigh.

The event aims to rally support for increased funding to protect North Carolina’s working farms and forests. 

The Open Space Institute and Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust announced the acquisition of the 104-acre Peregrine Tract along the southern face of Whiteside Mountain. Permanent protection of the property, which had been approved for development, marks a major victory in longstanding efforts to safeguard one of Southern Appalachia’s most scenic and ecologically significant landscapes. 

Jackson County commissioners have approved a sweeping new conservation framework designed to balance growth with preservation across some of the most ecologically significant lands in Western North Carolina, located in the southern part of the county. 

Thanks to a collaboration among local conservation partners, Mainspring Conservation Trust has acquired a critical 94-acre inholding within Panthertown Valley that is now on track to be permanently protected.

One of Western North Carolina’s most cherished natural areas, Panthertown is often called the “Yosemite of the East.” 

The National Forest Service, housed under the United States Department of Agriculture, plans to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule instated by President Bill Clinton to protect national forests’ roadless acres. 

Drawing opposition from 99% of public commenters, this recission is part of a series of opaque federal actions and policies instituted in the face of significant public outcry. 

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust is proud to announce the permanent protection of 47.97 acres of ecologically significant land generously donated by High Hampton. This private conservation easement ensures the preservation of unique natural features such as rock outcrops, mature forests, headwaters, floodplains and mountain bogs. 

Mainspring Conservation Trust has named Sylva resident Jeremy Hyatt as its new Executive Director.

Hyatt, a Tribal citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in government, natural resources and cultural preservation.

County governments and conservation nonprofit groups may apply for grant funding from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for farmland preservation projects.