In all, the region encompasses over 400,000 acres of public lands--some in the Nantahala, Chattahoochee and Sumter National Forests, some in large state holdings in all three states. And it is the only place in the National Wilderness Preservation System where a designated wilderness laps into three states, the Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area. It encompasses 8,274 acres—the largest share, 3,394 acres, in North Carolina. The Ellicott Rock Wilderness straddles the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River which rises in North Carolina’s mountains and skirts Terrapin Mountain, a Mountain Treasure described below. For all its wildness, much of the escarpment is unprotected from mounting threats. The region is a magnet for vacation homes and such recreational facilities as golf courses, and urban development inches northward from such places as Greenville. Biological diversity does not recognize ownership boundaries and, in fact, private lands may support more than public lands do. Only broad-based conservation efforts, across landscapes and ownerships, will ensure the region’s vitality for future generations. The upcoming forest plan revisions are a crucial step in that effort.
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North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures
Fishhawk Mountain Approximate Size: 5,668 acres Old Growth Acreage: 389 acres Location: Macon County, NC, north of Highlands, NC Wayah Ranger District USGS Topographic Maps: Scaly Mountain The outstanding feature of this gem is its cliffs. A dozen or more rock faces afford the hiker an abundance of long-distance views, at least one in every direction. The cliffs provide excellent nesting habitat for peregrine falcons. Cedar Cliff, on the western end of the area, is a rock face on which cedar trees have gained a toehold, pushing their roots into fissures on the cliff ’s hot, southern exposure. These ancients have clung there for over a century in one of the most adverse environments imaginable. Botanists consider Cedar Cliff among the best examples of a mountain cedar glade because of its size, diversity and the rare plants it harbors. At Jones Gap the springtime blossoms of trillium and other ephemerals make a dazzling display of color. It’s worth a trip just to see them. There is much private land surrounding Fishhawk, and it is being hemmed in by development. That makes protection of this area even more critical. The North Carolina Bartram Trail bisects this Mountain Treasure, running generally along the crest of a long ridgeline.