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holding a state-issued hunting license. For generations, such arrangements kept a lot of Western North Carolina acreage forested while enabling local folks to make low-impact use of these lands. In 2007, however, The ForestLand Group sold the property to a Charlotte-based developer who subsequently went broke, enabling Sweeney to aquire it in 2011. Stewardship activities unfolding in Box Creek nowadays are geared toward preserving its natural communities — and many rare species — for the long term. A team of specialists from the Durham-based Unique Places has taken on a series of restoration projects on the property, including treating hemlock stands against the woolly adelgid, the imported pest that’s killed great numbers of these majestic trees across Western North Carolina. The team has also planted blight-resistant chestnut trees from The American Chestnut Foundation in a bid to re-establish the oncedominant hardwood species here. In addition, a recently launched burning program seeks to restore fire-dependent natural communities, including the many rare plants associated with rock outcrops on the property's higher elevations along Rockey Face Mountain. But perhaps most unusual: There are plans to remove and restore the few roads present on the tract. ATV users have worn tracks in places, and old logging roads have left their mark. It's like reverse engineering for conservation purposes, and it's generally undertaken only by the most seriously conservation-minded owners. "Nothing on this scale has ever been done in North Carolina by a private individual," Jones reports. Stressing that the current owner prefers to keep a low profile, Jeff Fisher of Unique Places
chuckle. "You can decide whether you like privet — which our team is spending a lot of effort to remove from this natural area — or you can decide to avoid landscaping with invasive species” that escape and proliferate in natural areas across the Southeast. linda Pearsall, who directs the state agency’s Office of Conservation, Planning and Community Affairs, agrees. "It's always significant when a landowner makes this kind of conservation commitment," says Pearsall, whose office oversees the state's registry. "It demonstrates a real appreciation for North Carolina's natural beauty, its wildlife and significant places. It makes it part of the public conversation that doing conservation is valued." X Contributing reporter Susan Andrew can be reached at sandrew@mountainx.com.
pretty in purple: Box Creek Wilderness is home to some 88 rare species, including the Appalachian skullcap, a native wildflower that’s classified as endangered in North Carolina. adds, "He's doing what we wish the state would do with their best conservation lands: He's doing what's in his heart." But you don’t have to own a large parcel to follow Sweeney’s lead, Fisher asserts. "Good land management is something anyone with land can do. From deciding to only plant natives, to how you control water runoff on your property, to creating wildlife habitat — heck, there are things you can do with a lawnmower," he says with a
Most attorneys charge a contingent fee which is the lesser of $6000 or 25% percent of your back benefits. A contingent fee means that if your claim is denied, no attorneys fees are owed. The Administrative Law Judge must review and approve employment agreements before any legal fees can be charged. Most lawyers will advance the expenses of a claim with the understanding that these costs will be recovered when the claim is approved.
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