View from the Highlands 2025 v.1

View from the Highlands

Protecting the World’s Oldest Mountains

Laura Boggess and Mars Hill College students help plant spruce trees for habitat restoration on SAHC preserve

Photo by Travis Bordley

372 Merrimon Avenue

Asheville, NC 28801-1222

828.253.0095

sahc@appalachian.org

Board of Trustees

Sheryl Aikman, President Asheville, NC

Larry Pender, Vice-President Statesville, NC

Janet Garrett, Secretary Asheville, NC

Pam Kelley, Treasurer Kingsport, TN

Allison Williams, At-Large Wichita, KS

Kayla Carter Johnson City, TN

Sarah Davis Asheville, NC

Mary Fanslow Kingsport, TN

Kevin Fitzgerald Waynesville, NC

Jeff Hatling Minneapolis, NC

John McLendon Pittsboro, NC

Maria Palamar Asheville, NC

Spencer Scheidt Asheville, NC

Jay Leutze Senior Advisor to the Board Staff

Carl Silverstein Executive Director

Kristy Urquhart Associate Director

Anna Kuhlman Director of Development

Lisa Fancher Finance Compliance Director

Michelle Pugliese Land Protection Director

Jess Laggis Farmland Protection Director

Hanni Muerdter Conservation Director

Kyle Shute Land Protection Associate

Sarah Sheeran Stewardship Director

Chris Kaase GIS & Stewardship Manager

Mike Szymkowicz Stewardship Manager

Marquette Crockett Roan Stewardship Director

Travis Bordley Roan Stewardship Technician

Cheryl Fowler Membership Director

Angela Shepherd Communications Director

Emma Goldrick Development & Communications Manager

Chris Link Community Farm Manager

Park Greer South Yellow Mtn Preserve Manager

LaKyla Hodges Community Engagement & Education Manager

Kirin Battaglia Weddings & Events Coordinator

Tim Arrowood IT Manager

AmeriCorps Project Conserve

Josie Cohen Stewardship & Volunteer Associate

Connor Hovendon Stewardship & Volunteer Associate

Adam Kluge Stewardship & Volunteer Associate

Alex Russell Community Engagement Associate

Letter from the Director Carl Silverstein

This edition of the View from the Highlands celebrates many important milestones that YOU have empowered us to achieve through your generous support of our three-part conservation mission: Protect, Steward and Connect.

Protect. We’ve recently closed on seven significant conservation acquisitions across our six geographic focus areas – from the massive White Oak Mountain tract adjoining Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Round Mountain near Carvers Gap, prominent in the view from the Appalachian Trail in the Highlands of Roan.

With your support, we recently completed four new farmland conservation easements, which further our commitment to protecting productive agricultural land. These include the Wilson Farm and Masters’ family farm, both located in the Highlands of Roan. And in Haywood County, the Palmer family worked with SAHC to preserve almost 800 acres at Buckskin Branch Farm and Valley High Farm, honoring their family’s long legacy in the mountains.

Steward. In the eight months since Hurricane Helene, our stewardship staff and volunteers have tackled almost insurmountable odds as we continue to assess and recover from storm damage. Although the devastation in the region has been heartbreaking, we are encouraged by uplifting efforts to replant forests, clean up flooded farm fields, repair access, and more. And, we are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support which has made this work possible.

Connect. We remain committed to increasing opportunities for people to get outdoors in nature, including hikes, volunteer workdays, educational workshops and beginning farmers. Check out stories on pg. 32-36 about stream clean-up at Bowditch Bottoms and recent developments at the SAHC Community Farm. Fulfilling a Promise. As we recently celebrated SAHC’s 50th Anniversary and springboard into our next 50 years, we’ve launched a fundraising campaign to build our organization’s resilience to fulfill our promise to future generations. We invite you to consider contributing to our ‘Fulfilling a Promise’ campaign (pg. 42-43), to help SAHC prepare to continue to meet challenges today and in perpetuity.

Americorps Project Conserve. After twenty years of participating in and building the Americorps Project Conserve program, we’re devastated by the termination of this program. We’ve hosted four Americorps members this past year, including three members supporting our stewardship program and one member supporting our education and outreach work. We’re scrambling to meet capacity needs within SAHC following the termination of the program. Over the years, we’ve hosted dozens of members who’ve gone on to become leaders in the conservation field. We stand with the other organizations in Project Conserve that are fighting to reinstate the program.

pg. 18-21

pg. 22-23

Round Mountain pg. 4-5

White Oak Mountain pg. 14-17 Richmond Hill pg. 12-13 Wilson Farm pg. 6-9

Bee Creek Farm pg. 10-11

Welcome to the team!

Mike Szymkowicz has joined SAHC as our new Stewardship Manager. Mike grew up in Upstate New York, relishing a childhood exploring the forests, fields, and creeks that made up his family’s land. Taking care of his homeplace laid the foundation for his ethic of stewardship and his appreciation for the importance of place. Mike previously worked with The Land Trust for Tennessee (LTTN). For eight years he helped lead LTTN’s statewide stewardship program by managing land, assisting landowners, and navigating conservation easements, annual monitoring, and all things stewardship. Mike is thrilled to continue his conservation work in the Southern Appalachian region with SAHC.

The mission of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is to conserve the unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for all people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, enduring for future generations. We achieve this through long-term conservation relationships with private landowners and public agencies and owning and managing land. We are committed to creating and supporting equitable, healthy and thriving communities for everyone in our region. SAHC acknowledges that the land we work to conserve is the current and ancestral land of the Cherokee, Yuchi, Catawba, and Miccosukee people. We hold deep respect for the indigenous stewards who preceded us. We are committed to fostering meaningful connections with indigenous communities, and we recognize that we have a great deal more to learn.

Round Mountain

Near Carvers Gap

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy recently purchased 92 acres on Round Mountain in Mitchell County, just south of Carver’s Gap. The rounded, forested crest of this aptly-named mountain rises above the approach to Carver’s Gap, just off NC 261.

At 4,900 ft. elevation, Round Mountain is conspicuous in the view from the scenic drive on NC 261 to Carvers Gap and from the Appalachian Trail between Round Bald and Jane Bald. The land we purchased includes the summit of Round Mountain and its surrounding slopes.

“Round Mountain is only about 1.5 miles from Round Bald, Jane Bald, and Grassy Ridge Bald and features prominently in the viewshed from them,” says Joe DeLoach, former SAHC Trustee and avid Appalachian Trail volunteer with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. “Development of it could have resulted in a permanent scar on the Appalachian Trail experience in one of its finest locations. It was a thrill to see that SAHC purchased this important, high elevation mountain.”

The tract is also important for wildlife habitat and water resources. It is located within the Audubon

Round Mountain is prominent in views from recreation areas in the Highlands of Roan. Photo courtesy Travis Bordley.

Society’s Roan Mountain Important Bird Area and the Grandfather Unaka Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area.

A small section of a tributary to Fall Creek flows through the northeast corner of the property, and a tributary to Little Rock Creek originates near the southern property boundary. Both Fall Creek and Little Rock Creek have been designated as High Quality Waters and Trout waters by the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality –Division of Water Resources.

“Our purchase of the property will contribute to a protected corridor between SAHC’s Little Rock Creek preserve and the large network of conserved land on the Roan Massif, including SAHC’s Haw Orchard Ridge preserve,” says Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese.

“It is not often that we have the opportunity to protect an entire high-elevation mountain, including the summit and its surrounding slopes. We know that species move to high elevations to escape the impacts of a changing climate. The Round Mountain purchase will forever protect this important plant and animal refuge.”

SAHC plans to own and manage the land as a wildlife preserve.

In Memoriam – Founding Member Rick Phelps

Thank you to former Board President Joe DeLoach for contributing this heartfelt tribute honoring Rick.

“In November 2024 SAHC lost one of its founding members, Richard C. (Rick) Phelps. Born in 1942, Rick graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a degree in chemistry in 1965. That year he joined Eastman Chemical Company, retiring as a Senior Environmental Associate in 1998. Rick developed expertise in air and water quality analysis, combustion source assessments, and industrial waste treatment technologies. During his career and afterwards Rick served on several Environmental Protection Agency advisory and regulatory development groups, and with numerous environmental and outdoor recreation organizations.

SAHC founding members in 2014

It speaks to Rick’s conservation passion that very quickly after joining Eastman he became deeply involved with the Appalachian Trail and the Roan Highlands. In 1966 the Roan Mountain Preservation Committee (RMPC) was formed as a committee of what was then the Appalachian Trail Conference (now Conservancy, ATC), with the purpose of preserving the unique and natural environment along the Roan Highlands and maintaining a continuous right of way for the Trail. The RMPC was spearheaded by Stan Murray, Chair of ATC at the time and a member of what was then the Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club (TEHC). Stan had proposed moving the Appalachian Trail off roads and across the magnificent Roan Highlands in 1948. Though this relocation had been largely accomplished in the 1950s, much of the land traversed was privately owned and at risk of encroachment and development. Stan, Rick, Judy Murray and other members of TEHC held the first meeting of the RMPC in November 1966. Rick was 23 when he attended this first meeting. Later, recognizing that focusing narrowly on protecting the Appalachian Trail corridor alone would not suffice to preserve the many-textured treasures of Roan and the Southern Appalachian Highlands, members of the Roan Mountain Preservation Committee formed an independent, 501(c)3 land trust in 1974: The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.

SAHC very soon attracted members from North Carolina and other states, and starting in the 1990s started expanding its scope to other parts of the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Rick’s broad conservation experience and passion helped greatly with this expansion. He served on the SAHC Board and, up until his passing, was a member of the SAHC Lands Committee. More than his formal involvement, Rick served as a great mentor, source of sage wisdom, and friend to yours truly and many others involved with SAHC. The phrase ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ truly applies.”

L to R: Otto Smith and Rick Phelps

Wilson Farm

A Farm Story, a Family Story

87.5 acres of farmland in Mitchell County, NC

As conscientious landowners and stewards of the land, Steve and Cynthia Wilson have taken deliberate steps over the years to safeguard the natural resources on their property in Mitchell County, NC. They completed mitigation easements in 2007 to protect waterways on the farm, and later sold part of their forested acreage to be conserved – which is now part of SAHC’s South Yellow Mountain Preserve. Then, they worked with us to preserve 87.5 acres of farmland with agricultural conservation easements. Steve and Cynthia both grew up in the region, with deep roots in the farming traditions of the Southern Appalachian mountains. They continue to carry forward the legacy of their ancestors – raising livestock, growing food from heritage seed, and teaching their children to understand and appreciate a connection to the land.

“The concerted effort of the Wilson family to collaborate and do what’s best for the land and their family members is simply inspirational,” says Farmland Protection Director Jess Laggis. “The family wanted to keep farming their land but to ensure that it wouldn’t be developed. The parcel’s public road access, rolling terrain, stunning views, and proximity to Bakersville create an alluring tract for development. Maintaining the land as farmland not only protects the natural resources and agricultural viability of the tract, but also provides an open space buffer to SAHC’s adjoining 7,500-acre South Yellow Mountain Preserve. This agricultural conservation easement continues water protection on waterways flowing from the preserve. Steve and Cynthia’s commitment to conservation is remarkable. Protecting the heart of their farming operation with SAHC and Natural Resources Conservation Service is the final piece of a conservation puzzle they’ve been working on for years. This is a gift for posterity we can all be thankful for!”

Charolais cattle herd at Wilson Farm

A section of White Oak Creek flows through the middle of the farm, and the Wilsons have implemented fencing cattle out of the stream, using water tanks in pastures with rotational grazing, mitigation easements, and other management practices to protect and improve water quality.

“In addition to protecting prime and important soils, an easement on this farm is part of a larger effort to increase farmland protection in Mitchell County through a partnership with SAHC, Mitchell Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Blue Ridge Forever Coalition,” adds Jess. “As part of the Blue Ridge Forever Regional Conservation Partnership Program, the Wilson Farm property’s soil and clean water resources contribute to a landscape scale effort that protects over 1,000 acres of important soils and provides clean drinking water to millions throughout the Southeast. The Wilson Farm is located just two miles from Sinkhole Creek Farm, (SAHC conservation easement completed in 2020). It’s also in the vicinity of SAHC’s farmland conservation easements on the Byrd Charolais Farm and Harrell Hill Farms, Inc., as well as other protected land in the Highlands of Roan.”

The Wilson Farm is located in a beautiful, quiet cove just southeast of Bakersville, adjoining SAHC’s South Yellow Mountain Preserve. Protecting the land helps preserve water quality, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat, and productive farmland with important agricultural soils.

The farm has been used for a dairy operation, Christmas tree cultivation, and raising heritage breed Charolais cattle.

“I am happy for Steve, Cynthia, and the Wilson family to have the opportunity to preserve such a beautiful property,” says Mark Byrd, District Director/Technician of Mitchell County Soil & Water Conservation Service.

“I have worked with, and observed Steve and Cynthia’s dedication to their land for the past 20 plus years. The farm was transitioned from the last dairy farm in Mitchell County to a productive Christmas tree farm and is now a beautiful beef cattle farm. Steve and Cynthia have worked diligently to achieve this task. WNC is a beautiful, peaceful place to live, and having farms like the Wilsons’ farm in Mitchell County preserved is instrumental in holding on to the history and natural beauty of the area.”

a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), generous conservation supporters, and donation of a substantial part of the conservation easement value from the landowners.

Names of geographic features in the surrounding landscape echo the family’s long and persistent connection to the land: the farm is situated at the end of Wilson Dairy Road, with Wilson Knob just to the south. Steve’s father purchased the recently conserved tract of land in the late 1960s, expanding his dairy operation from neighboring land that had been in the Wilson family for generations.

Permanent conservation of this farmland was made possible by

Family Farm to Grow On

“My dad started the dairy business on a neighboring property that had been in the family for a long time,” recalls farmer and landowner Steve Wilson. “He bought this place in 1968 when I was just nine years old. At first, it was like a playground to me, and then as I grew older and began to work with cattle, it was a training ground. Over the years, it has also been a retreat and a place of respite. This farm is like a paradise.”

Steve Wilson

Steve worked alongside and then succeeded his father in the family’s Grade A dairy operation, running it on his own for about 15 years until the dairy was disbursed in 1996. With Steve and Cynthia both employed off the farm for many years, they allowed other farmers to use the land for cattle and Christmas trees. The couple continued living and raising their children at the Wilson Farm, and Steve credits his brothers and sister with helping make it possible for their family to do so. Before he retired, Steve began rebuilding a cattle herd. For the last approximately 15 years, he has focused on rearing a herd of heritage breed Charolais beef cattle and selling high quality breeding stock. He enjoys the return to the familiar, working cattle like he did years ago.

keeps me going – but it’s more than just a hobby farm. I take pride in being able to breed a better line of cattle. To be here and care for the place, to not see it divided or grown

putting chains on the big bus tires in winter to complete her route, picking up fellow students and then joining them in class. The leadership of Appalachian women resonates within the Wilson family. With both parents brought up in mountain homestead traditions, farming is just “something that is very much part of what they do and who they are.”

“Following in our ancestors’ footsteps, we are committed to this land and look forward to preserving its inherent value and priceless legacy in partnership with SAHC.”

up as has happened to a lot of small farms when the children moved away… that is a gift.”

“It’s what gets me out of the recliner,” laughs Steve. “It’s good for me and

Cynthia continues to work the land with Steve. She grew up on a farm in Buladean, NC, and is just as adept at helping to pull a calf [assist with birth] as growing beautiful cut flowers and vegetables from heritage seeds passed down through her family. Cynthia attended high school during the time period when Western North Carolina school bus drivers were recruited from among the student class; she recalls

The family traces their connection in Mitchell County to William James Wilson, Steve’s great-greatgreat grandfather, who was born in Stafford, VA in 1775. William Wilson moved down into the Piedmont region of NC before obtaining a land grant for 150 acres in what was then Burke County [now part of Mitchell County] in 181011. That land in the White Oak Community – on White Oak Creek and Snow Creek – is situated between the Wilsons’ recently conserved farm and Bakersville. A chimney from the William Wilson homeplace still stands up White Oak Road, about five minutes away from the Wilson Farm.

William’s son Philip had ten sons, and Steve’s great-grandfather Isaac Newton “Newt” Wilson was the youngest of the ten brothers. His line of the family began trading in livestock.

Cynthia’s roots include the Tipton, Whitson, and Garland families who hailed from the Green Mountain area

Ten Wilson Brothers, historic family photo

Steve and Cynthia Wilson with their five children.

and the northern end of Mitchell County near Red Hill and Buladean.

“We appreciate the opportunity to partner with SAHC to preserve our farm into the future,” says Cynthia. “I have raised a garden on this farm, which my Granny Clyde taught me to do. She showed me how to grow corn, tomatoes, dahlias, and her greasy-cornfield beans among other things. I kept her bean seed and have grown it in my own garden. I raised my five children on these beans, and today, I am so blessed and grateful to share them with my four grandchildren. They request them by the quart and eat them directly from the jar! They love them.”

The family notes that their approach to running, caring for, and conserving the farm is egalitarian. They’ve come at it together as a family, fortunate to have ancestral ties to the mountains on both sides and to understand land stewardship as a family.

“From the beginning, I knew I wanted to stay on this land,” says Steve. “We’ve raised our family here, and our children have had some unique opportunities, growing up on a farm. Doing the conservation easement makes it possible to keep the land in farming, whether or not they choose to operate it. We’re happy to be associated with SAHC and to make that possible. We learned that SAHC has its roots in the Roan Mountain area, too, and we’re glad to be a part of that.”

Now adults with successful careers in widespread fields (physician, writer, soil scientist, surgeon, and teacher), the Wilson children view

the experience of growing up on the farm as a privilege that provided them a connection to nature while teaching understanding and appreciation for the work that goes into caring for the land, animals, and food crops. They enjoyed growing up with the benefit of fresh produce from a robust home garden. Watching both of their parents work with a sense of genuine intention, care, and awareness helped instill a strong work ethic.

Nolichucky River watershed.

“We are excited and grateful to partner with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to help ensure the long-term protection of our family’s beloved farmland,” say Steve and Cynthia’s five children: Kyle, Lauren, Amelia, Reuben, and Alora. “Following in our ancestors’ footsteps, we are committed to this land and look forward to preserving its inherent value and priceless legacy in partnership with SAHC.”

“This is such a wonderful, quiet place,” adds Steve. “I just love everything about this farm – from the sunny hillsides to the streams. Water is a special part of this place.”

Steve also notes that their prior efforts to implement best management practices for water quality helped to save their stream banks and fencing during the recent storm. The property contains multiple ephemeral streams and two perennial headwaters that merge to form White Oak Creek, a tributary of Cane Creek in the North Toe and

“At the end of the day, the cows are still there – that’s the baseline,” recalls Steve, reminiscing about the experience of growing up working in the family’s dairy. “The cows had to be milked and fed whether there’s a ball game or something else going on. Dad’s approach to work taught me to love it. He wasn’t hard on us, but there were certain expectations. ‘The cows are going to be there’… there’s a kind of comfort in that certainty.”

Likewise, their children grew up with a sincere appreciation for life. The stakes on a farm are life and death, they note – something deeply real, which makes you feel connected to something bigger. The family looks forward to finding ways to keep the farm a vibrant, welcoming and productive landscape. The Wilson Farm is very much a place for the present and future, strongly rooted but not stuck in the past.

Cynthia’s garden at the Wilson Farm

Bee Creek Farm

Masters’ Family Farm in Mitchell County

Conservation of this 116-acre farm on Bee Creek in Mitchell County, owned by the Masters family, expands a growing cluster of agricultural conservation easements in the foothills of the Roan Highlands. This scenic, rolling farm with views of beautiful mountain ridges is located near the Wilson Farm and nearly adjoins the Harrell Hill Farm and Byrd Charolais Farm conservation easements protected by SAHC. Landowner Carol Masters committed to complete the preservation of the land in order to honor the wishes of her husband Keith Masters, who passed away in 2022.

“Keith Masters was an historian of his family’s long tenure on Masters Farm,” shares Jess Laggis. “The family traces their stewardship back

to a land grant in the 1700s. To this day, the Masters family continues to honor their family’s land legacy by permanently protecting these 116 acres. Keith’s wife Carol and their sons were unwavering in their commitment to complete Keith’s vision of conserving their family farm after his unexpected passing.”

A former board member of the Mitchell County Soil and Water Conservation District, Keith cared

about the health of the land. He completed best management practices to protect water quality on the farm, such as excluding cattle from streams. The western boundary of the property runs along Bee Creek, which flows into Big Rock Creek then to the North Toe River in the Nolichucky River watershed. There are also five headwater streams of Bee Creek within the property.

“The Masters’ family farm is stunning, with breathtaking views of the distant mountains and rolling

The rolling hills of the Masters’ family farmland are framed by distant mountain views.

Masters family and SAHC staff at project closing, L to R: Lincoln Masters, Jess

hills dotted with cattle,” adds Jess. “Protecting this farm expands a block of more than 200 contiguous acres of agricultural conservation easements that helps preserve streams, agricultural resources, and the rural farming character of the landscape. Protecting the Masters Farm furthers SAHC’s and Mitchell County Soil and Water Conservation District’s goals of farmland preservation in Mitchell County.”

Keith Masters

The property contains 3 acres of prime soils, 43 acres of state important soils, and 38 acres of locally important soils. The Masters family has farmed on this land for more than 200 years. Now it is predominantly used for cattle production.

Preservation of the farmland was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Agricultural Lands Easements, by a significant contribution from SAHC supporters, and a donation of part of the land easement value by the landowners.

Born on December 6, 1946, in Mitchell County, Donald Keith Masters lived as a “lifelong cattle farmer and cowboy that truly enjoyed working on his farm.”

In a past reminiscence about farm life, he wrote, “I was raised on a farm using draft horses as our sole source of power, meaning we did not have a farm tractor until I was 19 years old. My granddad kept and knew good horses. His mainly were smaller types that weighed about 1200 pounds. My dad always kept Belgians that weighed in about 1600 to 1800 pounds.”

Keith’s great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Masters, settled on the headwaters of Bee Creek. Keith was raised in the community, proud of the long history of farmers, skilled woodworkers and craftsman in the family. His parents were Norris Masters and the late Joyce Street Masters.

Keith possessed a keen memory, which served his talents as an outstanding storyteller. He dearly loved his family – especially his sons and grandchildren – and is remembered as a kind man and a father figure to many. He also enjoyed playing the guitar, listening to bluegrass and country music, hunting, traveling the western United States, and spending time with his family and friends.

He graduated from East Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science. He was employed by the Toe River Health District for thirteen years and later with the NC Department of Hazardous Waste Management where he served as supervisor until his retirement. With the preservation of his farmland, Keith’s legacy in Mitchell County lives on.

Laggis, Carol Masters, Carl Silverstein, Chris Kaase

Richmond Hill

Forested Bluff Overlooking French Broad River

The 83-acre forested property in Woodfin slopes steeply toward the French Broad River.

In March, SAHC purchased 83 acres adjoining Richmond Hill Park and overlooking the French Broad River in Woodfin, NC. This purchase ends a 4-1/2 year long legal battle over a permit for an intensive real-estate development on the property.

“This is a great outcome for this prominent forested bluff above a big bend in the French Broad River, especially in light of the shared desire among locals to support the river’s recovery from Hurricane Helene,” says Executive Director Carl Silverstein. “The scale of the proposed development in this sensitive location sparked acute opposition. We’re proud that SAHC could provide a solution supporting the community, while meeting the developer’s financial need.”

“This property was on SAHC’s wish list for conservation for the past 20 years, and now it can eventually be added to Richmond Hill Park,” continues Carl. “It was one of the last undeveloped parcels along the French Broad River in this area. Residents and visitors to the waterfront and motorists on multiple roads have a clear view of the promontory, which slopes down to a major bend in the river.”

This section of the French Broad is popular for tubing and paddling.

“Seeing hundreds of landslides as well as businesses and homes washed away in Hurricane

Helene underscored the importance of protecting our floodplains and forested slopes to soak in and filter stormwater, protect important riparian species, and help reduce future flooding risk,” says Hartwell Carson, MountainTrue French Broad Riverkeeper.

Adding the newly conserved property to Richmond Hill Park would increase the size of the park from 180 to 263 acres. Important ecological features include a vernal pool at the lower elevation property edge, and inclusion within the French Broad Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area.

Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese

Wetland areas in the vicinity host a variety of salamanders, including spotted and marbled salamanders as well as the Southern Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon entralis), which is a state species of special concern.

“Richmond Hill Park is a popular place for people who enjoy outdoor recreation,” shares MountainTrue Resilient Forests Director Josh Kelly, a member of SAHC’s land protection committee. “It is home to rare species like the mole salamander, nodding trillium, and the Eastern Fairy Shrimp (Eubranchipus holmanii). Adding 83 acres to the boundary of Richmond Hill Park will provide habitat for birds and countless other species, while protecting water quality in the French Broad River. Large, forested areas are especially important for combating the urban heat-island effect and, in this case, for providing wildlife habitat and clean water. Looking to the future, there is a unique opportunity to restore the forest on the tract and create an urban ecological preserve.”

SAHC sought to buy the property several times since 2013, but the owner always held out for a higher price from developers. In 2020, developers contracted to buy the property and filed an ambitious plan that provoked intense opposition and litigation by multiple parties.

In 2022, the property was transferred to another development group, which scaled down the proposed development. However, it still proposed 692 units, which was felt to be too intensive for the fragile forested slopes above the French Broad and too dense for the narrow roads that provided only one way in and out of the property.

Community members along with Town of Woodfin officials continued opposing the permit. Eventually the developer became willing to end the conflict by selling the property to SAHC for conservation.

“What a delight to hear this heartwarming news,” says Shelli Stanback, CEO of OM Sanctuary. “The parcel connecting to Richmond Hill Park will remain protected, preserving aspects of the French Broad River, wildlife habitat,

and our neighborhood’s quality of life. Deep gratitude to all who stood together to make this possible!”

The OM Sanctuary Holistic Retreat placed its 41-acre forest preserve under a permanent conservation easement in 2014.

Neighbors and other private donors contributed funds and made a loan to SAHC to make the 83-acre purchase possible. SAHC will hold the property until it can eventually be added to Richmond Hill Park. For now, the tract is not open to the public. SAHC will assess damage to the land due to Hurricane Helene, which will be addressed according to the property’s land management plan.

The tract adjoins Richmond Hill Park.

White Oak Mountain Haywood

County

SAHC’s White Oak Mountain Preserve extends to the ridgeline border with Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The massive mountains of Great Smoky Mountains National Park provide shelter and forage for a wide diversity of species. Now, hundreds more acres in Haywood County on the eastern shoulder of the Park have been conserved, buffering its boundary from incompatible real-estate development.

SAHC purchased 407 acres on the eastern edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Not far from Cataloochee Valley and other SAHC-protected lands (including Stevens Creek Preserve), this new acquisition provides exceptional habitat for a variety of plant and animal species in an important corridor for wildlife movement. Conservation of the property will not only protect this habitat, but also scenic views from the Appalachian Trail and water quality in headwater tributaries of the Pigeon River watershed.

“This property possesses more than two miles of boundary with Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and the Pisgah National Forest,” explains Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter. “The land is visible from a variety of locations around the Pigeon River Gorge along I-40, and from the Appalachian Trail where it runs through GSMNP. The White Oak Mountain ridgeline can be seen from many prominent points in the Smokies, including Mt. Sterling, Kuwohi, and more. It has been gratifying to see how many partners and agencies came together to

help secure a conservation solution for this land. Conserving this large stretch of the mountain will help protect the viability of diverse ecosystems and species within the national park, as well as the rural character of upper White Oak, which neighbors have shared they really value.”

A total of 12 headwater stream corridors originate on the property, supporting downstream populations of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta). These waterways include source streams of White Oak Creek, Laurel Branch, Liz Branch, and Snelson Branch.

Photo courtesy Adams J. Wood.

The massive forested tract provides habitat for diverse species and a buffer for the park.

According to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the property serves as an important movement corridor for species including elk (Cervus elaphus) and black bear (Ursus americanus) which are focal species of the ongoing research associated with wildlife crossings in the Pigeon River Gorge. The land is also within the Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Important Bird Area and Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area – designations which highlight the importance of the area in providing habitat for a plethora of species.

Preserving an Important Park Buffer

“The acquisition of the 407-acre White Oak Mountain tract adjacent to the park in the Cataloochee and Big Creek areas is a significant achievement,” says Kevin Fitzgerald, SAHC Board Trustee and former Deputy Superintendent at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“In the 1930’s, the original national park boundary was drawn entirely along the ridge lines without regard to the unforeseen future issues of ridge line development, wildlife corridors, watershed protection, rare plant communities and cultural landscapes. Without the assistance of land trusts like SAHC, critical additions and buffers essential for the long-term protection of public lands and the resources within and adjacent to them would not be possible.”

The GSMNP boasts the highest visitation rate of any national park in the United States – with more than 13 million visits in 2023 (more

than Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon combined).

Designated an International Biosphere Reserve (1976) and World Heritage Site (1983), the park spans 522,427 acres in NC and TN and is well-known for a stunning range of salamanders, synchronous fireflies, and reintroduced elk, among the estimated 100,000+ species found within it.

“This project hits all the highlights of exceptional conservation,” adds Hanni.

“Protection of the sizable White Oak Mountain property and eventual transfer of the land to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission will help protect the integrity of the globally important ecosystems of the GSMNP and improve wildlife habitat management. We are grateful to our partners at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) for their assistance in surveying habitat and wildlife evidence on White Oak Mountain.”

Habitat for Elk and a Wide Variety of Species

From hidden thickets to the crest

of Cowpen Top, the tract supports a range of species, including neotropical migratory songbirds like the Blackburnian Warbler and large resident mammals.

“Because of its multiple natural communities and numerous headwater seeps and streams this parcel has very high value for wildlife including elk, black bear and bobcat, and rarer species like Eastern spotted skunk, long-tailed weasel, and timber rattlesnake, along with numerous breeding neotropical migrant bird species,” explains Steve Goodman, NPCA conservation biologist. “Yet its most outstanding feature is the ridgeline atop White Oak Mountain,

which serves a landscape-level, critically important wildlife corridor connecting the GSMNP to the Pisgah National Forest, and that now joins a larger network of protected lands that include several other SAHC parcels to the south and north, including the Wilkins Creek Tract (acquired in 2019) which has proven foundational for restoring and protecting wildlife connectivity in the I-40/Pigeon River Gorge area.”

The property ranges from 2,800 to 3,900 ft elevation, with steeply sloped, wooded habitat on the east-facing slopes of White Oak Mountain intersected by small soil tracks that provide passageways for animal movement. Habitat on the mountainside primarily includes a combination of young and mature forest, with successional Northern Hardwood Forest and Rich Cove Forest recovering from logging done

approximately 10-20 years ago in conjunction with preparations for potential development. The undisturbed middle-upper slopes contain Chestnut Oak Forest.

“Slated for development in 2006, the White Oak Mountain property had already been platted for subdivision into a large-scale development,” continues Hanni. “Then, when the 2007 financial recession hit, the development stalled. With the location adjacent to the national park boundary, such development would have been highly visible in the surrounding landscape. It also would have created increased fragmentation in an important wildlife corridor, raising the potential for problematic human-wildlife interactions.

Eventually, SAHC began negotiations with the owner to purchase the land for conservation, and after four years, we were able to bring the project to successful completion.

transfer the land to become part of NC’s state game lands. The bridge loan, necessary for SAHC to purchase the land, will be repaid in the future with an awarded $1.56 million NC Land and Water Fund (NCLWF) grant when SAHC transfers the property to the NCWRC.

“We are excited to partner with SAHC and others to protect this property, an extraordinary opportunity to expand conservation adjacent to the GSMNP,” says Will Summer, executive director for the NCWLF. “Through partnerships like this one, the NCLWF has contributed to expansion of 50 NCWRC game lands, which not only benefit game species, such as trout and elk, but also protect numerous non-game species and provide other recreational and water quality benefits.”

At over 400 acres, this was one of the largest unprotected tracts in Haywood County, and we are thrilled that we are able to help preserve it for future generations.”

The purchase was made possible by a $250,000 grant from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), generous support from the Stanback family, and a loan obtained by SAHC to cover the remaining half of the purchase cost. SAHC plans to own the White Oak Mountain tract for the short term, then

“RMEF is grateful to work alongside SAHC and the NCWRC on this important conservation project, which supports RMEF’s mission of ensuring the future of quality big game habitat and public access in the eastern United States,” says RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver.

SAHC’s nearby Stevens Creek Preserve has been actively managed by NCWRC to improve habitat for elk, migratory birds, and other wildlife, supported by RMEF grant funds. In 2001, 52 Rocky Mountain Elk were released into Cataloochee Valley as part of an experimental program to reintroduce elk to the national park, since native elk had been eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. A 2022 DNA study estimated there are now approximately 240 elk in

Safe Passage Partnership

This White Oak Mountain property was one of the largest privatelyowned tracts in the Pigeon River Gorge/White Oak area; long-term conservation of the land supports initiatives of the Safe Passage coalition.

“We are so grateful to work in partnership with SAHC and celebrate yet another land acquisition that buffers Great Smoky Mountains National Park from development, while providing safe passage for wildlife beyond park boundaries,” says Jeff Hunter, NPCA’s southern Appalachian director.

Western NC. In 2023, SAHC’s partners at NCWRC received RMEF grant funding to improve elk habitat on the 147-acre Stevens Creek tract at the northern end of Cataloochee Ridge in Haywood County, which SAHC had purchased in 2013 to protect water resources as well as habitat for elk, turkey, deer and other wildlife, at the edge of the national park.

“Acquisition of the White Oak Mountain land, and future conveyance to the State of NC, will coalesce habitat management and can prevent future conflict on the public-private land interface,” adds Jenn Doherty, RMEF managing director of mission operations. “This collaborative effort improves public access within the immediate area while enhancing vital habitat for elk, whitetail deer, wild turkey, grouse and other wildlife.

Safe Passage is a coalition of people and organizations working together toward a common vision: balancing the needs of wildlife with the ever-growing human population in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. This ongoing project seeks to reduce wildlife mortality and lessen the barrier effect of I-40 along a critically important wildlife corridor — increasing the safe flow of animals in and out of the national park to adjacent undeveloped public lands.

To gain an understanding of how animals navigate the landscape, Safe Passage partners Wildlands Network and National Parks Conservation Association conducted a three-year study that, now completed, provides the framework for mitigation strategies to both improve existing structures and construct new wildlife-specific structures to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and increase habitat connectivity.

These findings were shared with state and federal agencies, including the Tennessee and North Carolina Departments of Transportation, and in fall 2023, the first of several wildlife infrastructure projects on this stretch of I-40 was completed at Exit 7 in North Carolina. The coalition continues to work closely with the agencies on implementation strategies and to advocate for wildlife crossings in the region through shared research, collaborative planning, public awareness and fundraising campaigns and outreach.

As the coalition’s newest member partner, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has long supported the work started by Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association, North Carolina Wildlife Federation, Smokies Life, The Wilderness Society and Wildlands Network. Since joining Safe Passage, SAHC Land Protection Associate Kyle Shute has become an active member on the coalition’s Outreach and Steering committees, furthering the collaborative work of the organizations.

Elk track on the property, photo courtesy Steve Goodman of NPCA

Buckskin Branch Farm

489 Acres of Farmland In Haywood County

Like a lovely landscape painting, Buckskin Branch Farm spreads across a scenic valley in the Fines Creek community of Haywood County. The open pasture and fertile fields of the farm sit nestled between Max Patch Road and forested hillsides overshadowed by the ancient Smoky Mountains. Landowners Kim and Tracey Palmer worked with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to permanently protect 489 acres of the farm with a conservation easement, a testament of their joint respect for the land, familial legacy, and farming traditions which helped shape this rugged mountain community.

“Our big inspiration in doing the conservation easement has been to protect the land for farming and keep it from being developed in the future, and to preserve its scenic beauty,” says Kim. “My father spent a lot of time painstakingly purchasing the many tracts of land which make up this farm, and it would have been a shame for it to be split up again in the future.”

Kim’s family has historic ties to this farm and the wider area of Haywood County, including the farm where Kim grew up in the Rush Fork valley. His

father, Joseph “Joe” Hardy Palmer, began purchasing tracts of land to create what is now Buckskin Branch Farm in the 1960s, often from extended family members. Bit by bit, the Palmers accumulated the rich bottomland fields and surrounding forested hillsides in the cove, which drain into tributary creeks of the Pigeon River watershed.

“Kim and Tracey’s property was lovingly quilted together by the Palmer family over decades,” says Farmland Protection Director Jess Laggis. “In total, 17 parcels were recombined for this gigantic conservation easement, protecting one of the largest remaining privately-owned tracts in Haywood County. The property anchors the corner of NC Scenic Byway Hwy 209, Max Patch Road, and Fines Creek Road. It is part of the scenic views from the Fines Creek Community Center, the historic Ferguson Supply and Café general store, and Crabtree Bald. The

Palmer family traces their family ties to the land back nearly 200 years, and collectively own over 1,000 acres in Fines Creek. The family commitment to conservation is inspiring, with three of the Palmer brothers (Chris, Kim, and John) protecting their land.”

As conscientious landowners, the Palmers implemented land management practices decades ago to help protect land and water resources while farming – such as fencing cattle out of the streams.

About a third mile of Cove Creek, a tributary of Fines Creek, crosses the property along with smaller, unnamed tributaries. Cove Creek and Fines Creek are classified as Class C Waters (indicating that they are protected for recreation, fishing, wildlife, biological integrity, and agriculture) by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality. Fines Creek is a direct tributary of the Pigeon River. In total, water resources

Rich bottomland soils and open fields spread out at the lower elevations of Buckskin Branch Farm.

on the farm comprise approximately 14,734 linear feet of drainage, including perennial and intermittent streams.

“At 489-acres, the Buckskin Branch Farm property is one of Haywood County’s largest privately held tracts,” said Tara Scholtz, Senior Program Officer with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. “A permanent easement on a property of this size, containing numerous headwater tributaries and portions of Cove Creek and Fines Creek, will help protect these water resources forever from the effects of sedimentation that low-density housing development inflicts on watersheds. The Pigeon River Fund is honored to play a role in funding transactional costs, which are a crucial part of this important conservation project, and to support an effort that furthers the goals of the Haywood Waterways Association’s Pigeon River Watershed Action Plan.”

The conservation easement protects both the wooded cove and wide open fields of Buckskin Branch Farm. Bottomlands along creeks, such as those found at Buckskin Branch Farm, benefit from soil deposits formed over very long periods of time that create fertile, productive farmland in low-lying areas. Such nutrient-rich soil deposits are relatively rare in mountain regions, and worthy of protection because they support robust crop growth. The rich fields of the Buckskin Branch Farm include 11.7 acres of nationally important “Prime” soils, 45.6 acres of soils of statewide importance, and 87.4 acres of soils of local importance.

Funding for the project was made possible in part by a grant from the NC Dept. of Agriculture’s Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund,

private philanthropic donors, and a grant through the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

“The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is proud to be a partner on such an important project,” said Evan Davis, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Director – Farmland Preservation Division. “The Buckskin Branch Farm is the largest agricultural conservation easement recorded in the mountain region funded in part by the NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. Preserving a large, working farm in the mountains could not be done without the dedication of the Palmer Family, and the collaboration between Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and the State’s Farmland Preservation Division. We are thrilled to see this productive family farm become an NC Forever Farm.”

NEW SAHC-protected Land

Other SAHC Conservation Easements & Preserves

U.S. Forest Service Land

Other Protected Land

Fund Easement properties, held by the NC Department of Agriculture. It is also close to the Pisgah National Forest (Appalachian Ranger District), the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and two NC Natural Heritage Natural Areas: Raven Cliff and Crabtree Bald. Other nearby lands and conservation easements held by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy include the Rush Fork Farmland Conservation Easement, Crabtree Bald Conservation Easement, Split Pine Cove Preserve, and Valley High Farm.

Buckskin Branch Farm is located near three NC Farmland Preservation Trust

“The connectivity of farmland and forested land around Buckskin Branch Farm is important for agricultural viability

Buckskin Branch Farm

Valley High Farm

of the region as well as plant and animal diversity,” adds Jess. “Conservation of the farm adds to a significant protected landscape within the Newfound Mountains and helps protect the rural scenic quality for visitors and local residents alike.”

Kim attributes inspiration for conserving the land to his younger brother Chris Palmer (now deceased). Chris inherited the family cattle farm on Rush Fork and conserved his farmland through term easements with Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District.

“Chris was a visionary,” says Kim. “He understood the importance of preserving farmland for the future, and inspired both me and our brother John (pg. 20-21) to conserve our respective lands.”

Art and Farming

Kim’s livelihood has always revolved around farming. He grew up on the family farm in the Rush Fork community, then studied agriculture and dairy production at NC State University before returning home to run his father’s dairy operation.

“I didn’t know anything but farming,” shares Kim. “When we were little, we’d start off with small duties, picking rocks out of the fields or taking care of a calf.

Later, I did some of everything – raising crops and livestock. The farm was constant, and the dairy had to run seven days a week.”

Kim and Tracey have been stewards of Buckskin Branch Farm since 1982, when they married and moved there to set up home. Over time, the farm produced tobacco, bell peppers, dahlia bulbs, corn for silage, tomatoes, and Black Angus cattle. Early on, the couple even cultivated the land together using mules.

The land around Buckskin Branch Farm provides inspiration for Tracey’s art, showcased on her website Bonnieblinkstudio.com. A self-taught artist and member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Tracey’s felted wool painting technique draws from her Scottish roots. Her art reflects the livelihoods and landscape around them: individual animals, scenic landscapes, and snapshots of farm life.

“We’re thrilled to know that this land is going to be safe from development,” says Tracey.

“We wish we could save more.”

Farm Transition

“We wanted to preserve this land

partly because of all the wonderful things about it – the mountains, views, water, and wildlife – and also because of the farm itself,” shares Kim. “If you study NC agriculture, you know that we’re losing thousands of farms every year. It’s very important to us that Buckskin Branch remains a working farm. We wanted to preserve it to promote local agriculture.“ After working with SAHC to protect the land with a conservation easement, Kim is now able to retire while his partner for the past 8-10 years, distant cousin Jonathan Ferguson, takes over farm operations.

“I would never have wanted to retire if we hadn’t found someone to take it over,” he adds, reflecting on the future. “They will continue raising cattle and plan to grow ears of ‘picking’ corn. It’s really cool to see this transition happening now, while I’m alive.”

Kim and Tracey Palmer, cultivating tobacco on the Buckskin Branch Farm property.

Tracey’s felted wool artwork is inspired by the beauty of the land.

Landowners Tracey and Kim Palmer (L to R)

A career farmer and cattleman, Kim wants Buckskin Branch Farm to remain a working farm for future generations.

Palmer Family Legacy

Both Kim and Tracey, have family ties to the Scots-Irish settlers who made the mountains home.

“My 3x-great grandfather Robert “Robin” Ferguson was born in Scotland in 1764,” shares Kim. Robin married Frances “Fanny” Love (born in Ireland in 1768). According to a history compiled by Kim’s brother John, the family settled in upstate SC before moving into NC sometime between 1807 and 1808. The Ferguson family made money in cattle and timber and continued purchasing land in the Rush Fork valley, eventually accumulating thousands of acres.

Robin and Fanny’s grandchildren continued to live and farm in the area. Harrison and Elbert, with help from their father Thomas Ferguson, purchased several tracts of land on Fines Creek that would later be assembled into the Buckskin Branch Farm property.

Riley Ferguson (Kim and John’s greatgrandfather) made his home and raised his family near the Fergusons’ original homestead in the Rush Fork community.

“It’s very rare that you can find a family connection to the land that far back,” says Kim. “My father was a land collector, and so was his grandaddy, and so on. We have

farmland he inherited in the Rush Fork community. A decorated Marine Corps veteran of World War II, he served 10 years in the NC General Assembly – first in the House of Representatives followed by four terms in the NC Senate. Joe married Nina Elise DeLozier Palmer, who similarly possessed a long family history in the WNC mountains, dating to at least the early 1800s. She was born in 1926 in Judson, a Swain County town submerged beneath Fontana Lake after the construction of the Fontana Dam. During WWII, she worked in the FBI’s fingerprint Identification Division under J. Edgar Hoover, and afterward she pursued a successful career as an astute educator.

According to the Ferguson family history, “Harrison and his brother Elbert bought the ‘Penland Tract’ of land on Fines Creek, divided it, and moved there to operate their farms and raise their families.” For his part,

family ties to this land going back six generations, so we wanted to make sure Buckskin Branch Farm stays together and will never be split up again. With the conservation easement, this land will always be preserved, and we thank the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for that.”

Riley Ferguson married Mary Emily Noland in 1886. They had two daughters who lived to adulthood: Lula (married to Handy Kirkpatrick) and Fannie (married to Glenn Palmer, who was born in the Cataloochee Valley – now part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park). The two daughters each inherited half of their father’s farm estate, then passed the land to their children.

Kim and John’s father Joe Palmer ran a dairy operation on the family

The Fines Creek land that Harrison and Elbert Ferguson had purchased passed initially to their own descendants. When later generations became ready to sell, they often contacted family members – like Joe Palmer –first.

He purchased land, piece by piece, in the Fines Creek community.

“He started buying the land in 1964 when I was a little boy,” recalls Kim. “He would just buy whatever piece he could at one time, and then come back later and purchase another piece. He spent years putting the Buckskin Branch Farm property together, which is what makes me so interested in saving it.“

For Kim and Tracey, preserving their farm at Buckskin Branch for posterity underscores the importance of the history of the land and the generations of family heritage linked to it.

Riley Ferguson house in the Rush Fork community. Riley was the grandfather of Joe Palmer (Kim and John’s father).

Joseph & Elise Palmer and first two sons, 1953, on their farm property in Fines Creek.

Valley High Farm

Forest and Farm Conservation

“Idyllic pastoral land, an old-growth sugar maple grove, and a storybook historic cabin setting characterize this unique property,” says Farmland Protection Director Jess Laggis. “The high elevations of this property reach up to 4,400 feet, and it is highly visible from NC Highway 209, which is part of the Appalachian Medley Scenic Byway. The rolling fields of the farm have served to host cattle herds for ‘summer vacation’ over the years – but the rich biodiversity of the tract’s forest makes it particularly important for conservation.”

The land at Valley High Farm lives up to its name. Situated on a steep mountain slope overlooking the Fines Creek community, this farmand-forest tract spans 299 acres in northeast Haywood County. A scenic, winding stretch of NC 209 wraps around one edge of the property. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and SAHC’s 408-acre White Oak Mountain property, can be seen from a corner of the farm. John Palmer, a dedicated forester with a lifelong love of the land, worked with SAHC to permanently protect Valley High Farm and his beloved Palmer Woods.

Protecting the land also helps protect water sources. Tributaries of Cove Creek (Buckeye Cove Branch, Sugar Cove Creek, and Turkey Cove Branch) flow through the property and eventually into Fines Creek and the Pigeon River. Permanent protection of such a large tract of forest and open space farmland will help ensure that these water resources are forever protected from the impacts of sedimentation caused by development.

An active farm with historic tobacco barn and hog pen structures still standing, Valley High Farm has been used for growing a variety of crops including tobacco, potatoes, trellis tomatoes, and corn – and especially for cattle grazing. Exclusion fencing and watering systems help to protect water quality on the property.

“At one point, cattle from Buckskin Branch Farm down in the Fines Creek valley were herded up the road to the summer grazing land here at Valley High Farm,” recalls

John. “More recently, livestock has been loaded onto trucks and driven up instead, as there are a lot more vehicles on the road now.”

The large forested area and boulderfields of the property create healthy habitat for a wide diversity of species, and the undeveloped ridgelines serve as corridors for wildlife movement. John’s love and respect for the land have been reflected in his decades of careful stewardship of the property. A retired forestry professor and campus arboretum director who taught for 30 years at Haywood Community College, John often brought students out to his forested land to experience it as an outdoor classroom.

Walking through the tract with SAHC staff, he points out different species of trees and then scoops up a handful of rich, dark earth to emphasize the quality and fertility of the soil.

In addition to a significant stand of mature, 200+year-old sugar maple trees, a mix of hickory, cherry, yellow

High quality forest dominates the 299 acres at Valley High Farm.

Valley High Farm is another piece of historic Fines Creek farm and forest land preserved by the Palmer family.

poplar, and sugar maple saplings grow interspersed. John describes the change in forest type from one area to another, pointing out the higher elevation oak forest and northern hardwoods forest type, with walnuts, black cherries, bitternut hickory, buckeyes and sugar maple. A natural, rocky indentation on one side of a forested cove creates a natural amphitheater. Over the years, John has used the area as a lecture and lesson space for students, and as a gathering place for forestry groups.

Distinguished Career in Forestry

Preserving the forest and Valley High Farm serves as John’s legacy for future generations, as well as a tribute to his parents. A distinguished forestry professor, he recalls that his mother inspired him to create a career from his love for trees and outdoor spaces.

John pursued two bachelor degrees at NC State University – one in forestry and one in conservation – and then worked overseas in the United Kingdom Forestry Commission. Returning to the U.S., he assumed a graduate teaching assistantship in the forestry program at the University of Tennessee (UT), and eventually found his long-term home at the Haywood Community College (HCC). Along with his teaching John was the founding director for 30 years of the HCC Campus

Arboretum. He was also the faculty advisor for the student lumberjack team and founded the annual Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Competition at the Cradle of Forestry. He has led large delegations of dendrologists from around the world on 13 major tours to see virtually all the native forests in America. In January 2025, John became the President of the International Dendrology Society.

Post-Helene Forest Impacts

When Hurricane Helene passed through the region on September 26-27, 2024, much of the property’s 299 acres survived the storm without damage. However, the prized sugar maple forest suffered severely. John counted 30 or more of the largest trees on the ground, most around 200 years old. Along with the maples, a huge black cherry and a massive black walnut tree were brought down. However, many younger trees were spared.

“I never thought I’d see these trees fallen over and ripped up,” shares John, distraught by devastation of the muchloved trees. “As a forester, I understand that there is a cycle of the forest, but I just didn’t think I’d see this end stage of tree life during my generation. These are big, high quality trees that have come down because of the devastating force of the storm. Harvesting them in an environmentally sustainable way and using the resources in a thoughtful manner is a way to celebrate and honor their lives.”

The sugar maple forest on the property is one of the largest and best examples of its kind in the southeastern United States. Removal of the fallen and damaged trees will help the remaining younger trees grow to maturity.

“Palmer Woods was impacted by the heavy rain and strong winds from

Hurricane Helene,” shares Stewardship & GIS Manager Chris Kaase. “Most notably, a stand of mature sugar maples (Acer saccharum) at the heart of the forest suffered a windthrow event resulting in the fragmentation of the canopy, with many mature specimens being uprooted and blown down. Under the stewardship of John Palmer, this forest has been visited by countless students, forestry professionals, and conservationists for decades. The tenets of sustainable land use are at the core of proper forest management. A salvage harvest planned for this particular forest stand will serve two purposes: it will improve accessibility to the forest itself, allowing future visitors in SAHC’s outings program to safely traverse the area, and it will utilize unique timber resources that would otherwise go to waste. While the Palmer Woods perfectly exemplifies the rich cove forest type, it is the occurrence of the near-pure sugar maple stand that sets it apart.”

John will work with forestry professionals to plan the project through a Forest Management Plan and coordinate with SAHC stewardship staff to ensure that conservation values of the property are protected.

John Palmer, distinguished forestry professor.

Chris Kaase (L) visits the forest property with John to view impacts from Helene.

Early History

The Garden Creek Archaeological site sits just two miles from SAHC’s Dutch Cove Preserve, a testament to human presence in the area as far back as 8000 BCE. That site hosts remnants of two ancient villages and four earthwork mounds, three of which have been excavated by archaeologists. Indigenous stewards of the region, the AniKituwahGi (or Cherokee people) created relationships with the land based on balance and respect.

By the late 1780s, European settlercolonists entered the Dutch Cove valley, following the end of the Revolutionary War. As homes and farmsteads were established, the remaining Cherokee were pushed out of Haywood County.

Of Land and People

In Dutch Cove, Haywood County

Before fences divided soil and deeds marked ownership, the Southern Appalachians sheltered generations of people who lived, hunted, and gathered on the land. Later, as agriculture spread across the mountains, structures like the log barns and cabin on SAHC’s 157-acre Dutch Cove Preserve marked changes in human habitation. These vestiges of the past create tangible connections to the history of the land and people who lived here.

knit, self-sufficient community where families rarely needed to leave the cove. Dutch Cove had its own country store, school, churches, and boarding houses. Some families opened their homes to summer visitors, further enriching the local culture.

Smathers Family Ownership

The recorded local history of SAHC’s Dutch Cove Preserve begins around 1880 with the arrival of the Smathers family. According to research by volunteer and SAHC member Sharon Winters, the cove’s name itself is a nod to the area’s early German settlers, who were known as Deutsch, and the pronunciation eventually softened to “Dutch.” These settlers formed a close-

By the 19th century, SAHC’s Dutch Cove property had become home to the Smathers family, who would live and work on the land for nearly 200 years.

John Smathers and his wife Mary Agnes Smathers originally migrated from Pennsylvania to Rowan County, NC. By 1815 they had settled near what is now Canton and established a homestead where they raised their children. The

Smathers played a significant role in their community and local culture, shaping Appalachian traditions that extended beyond Dutch Cove. One descendant, Quay Smathers, left his legacy through shape-note singing, a distinct style of Appalachian singing with roots in English and Scottish traditional music. This system of singing, which used shape notes to teach harmonies, was brought to the region by early European settlers and became a vital part of Appalachian community gatherings.

By 1880, the land SAHC now owns in Dutch Cove and its structures had passed to Mary Amanda Smathers Shope. Mary’s son, John Luster Smathers, inherited the land, eventually passing it to his son, Lenoir William Smathers, in 1946. Lenoir, a WWII veteran, was the last of the Smathers to live on the land. Following his death at age 49, the property reverted to his mother, Dollie Smathers, and was subsequently passed down through the family until Rebecca Myers Greene, Lenoir’s niece, transferred it to SAHC in 2022.

In an interview conducted by Sharon

Cabin with lower barn, photo courtesy Sharon Winters

A closer view of the cabin, photo courtesy Hilda DiBacco

Winters, former landowner Rebecca describes the Smathers homestead as resembling a Little House on the Prairie, bearing marks of traditional Appalachian craftsmanship. The structures feature hand-hewn wood, square nails, and even an apple barn constructed with packed red clay to insulate against the cold. A natural spring provided refrigeration, and remnants of a once-thriving chestnut grove stood as witnesses to the family’s history. In the interview, Rebecca recalled that snakes would slither into the buildings to shed their skins, which were left hanging from the rafters. The Smathers family primarily raised cattle, herding them up to the mountains in the summer and then back down in the winter. Corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, and squash thrived in the high elevation without the need for fertilizers or pesticides, and the apple orchard produced remarkably large fruit. The Smathers family maintained a traditionally self-sufficient Appalachian lifestyle, tending gardens below the barn while keeping cattle fenced in separate pastures.

Historic Structures

scale livestock operations, this structure reflects an era when free-range livestock management was the norm, a practice that continued until NC’s 1918 livestock fencing law.”

“Approaching the house from a distance, my first impression was that it was a common 1½-story log house later covered in poplar lapped siding, a common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries as families became more economically stable,” explains Taylor. “Upon closer examination, several architectural features hinted at an earlier origin, perhaps even antebellum.”

According to Barnhill, the house lacks many of the elements typically seen in 19th-century rural homes, such as covered porches and added windows.

“The livestock barn at the Smathers’ Dutch Cove farmstead resembles a traditional log two-crib or pen livestock barn with an adjoining hallway or open workspace,” shares Taylor Barnhill, lead historic and architectural researcher for the Appalachian Barn Alliance (ABA).

“This architectural form, commonly used in the 19th century, provided shelter for draft animals such as horses, mules, or oxen, while allowing beef cattle to roam freely in pastures and woods. Unlike modern barns designed for large-

The barn’s construction suggests it may date back to the mid-19th century. The property’s second major structure, a single-pen log barn, exhibits hallmarks of a flue-cured tobacco barn, including tall mud-chinked log walls, lapped siding on the gable ends for heat retention, and its location on a slight slope, which would have allowed for stone furnaces to be installed outside the barn. However, no clear evidence exists of these furnaces or tier poles, which are standard for tobacco curing. This absence suggests that while the Smathers family may have intended to cultivate flue-cured tobacco, they never fully converted the structure for this purpose. Instead, it likely transitioned into a multipurpose barn for stall and hay storage.

The final structure on the Smathers’ Dutch Cove property, the main residence, boasts a quiet and unassuming exterior.

“The combined effect of the proportions, the chimney, and the absence of porches makes this house stand out,” Taylor adds. While porches were often later additions that served as vital workspaces, social spaces, and musical gathering spots, Barnhill found no evidence, no ghost lines or attachment band boards, to suggest porches were ever part of the cabin’s design.

Adding to the mystery is the vernacular classic shallow pediment over the front entrance and the meticulously applied nailing patterns on the exterior doors. These rare design choices, Taylor notes, bear a resemblance to German Moravian architecture and suggest an older or more culturally distinct origin than typical Appalachian homes.

Reminiscing

The relationships between people and land do not always hinge on ownership. Over time, some of the people who lived and worked on the farm at SAHC’s Dutch Cove property were renters. On a recent visit to the land, Hilda DiBacco, whose grandparents leased

Barn in Dutch Cove, photo courtesy Hilda DiBacco

knife and scrape the inside of the apple and eat it. Yes, that was the apple spot.”

Ongoing Stewardship

Today, SAHC’s stewardship team focuses on managing the land’s health and preserving its future.

“We are managing a suite of invasive plant species on the property, including Oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose, Chinese privet and Japanese barberry,” explains Stewardship Director Sarah Sheeran.

Roughly 25 acres of the property were previously grazed by cattle, and much of this area has grown thick with multiflora rose and blackberry.

“We’ve consulted with wildlife experts at the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to help establish management actions,” Sarah continues. “We’ve also partnered with Wildwood Consulting to develop and help implement a Forest Stewardship Plan, as well as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, which developed a Conservation Plan for the property and is providing costshare funding for certain management practices.”

SAHC’s Dutch Cove Preserve, with its aging barns, open pastures, and a view of downtown Canton from the ridgeline, offers a rare combination: a portal into the past and ecological restoration in progress.

the property in the early 1920s from the Smathers family, walked through the sagging rooms and reminisced about the summers she spent there in her childhood.

“My grandparents didn’t have running water or lights – just straight-backed chairs, lanterns, a straw bed, and a cookstove,” Hilda remembers. “Even when they moved, they never had a couch or anything like that. They always kept a garden and stored milk and butter in the spring house just down the hill.”

Standing in the first room, Hilda shares a memory of a night when she was a little girl. Her grandmother was cooking blackberries in “the blue pots with the white specks” when their white horse poked its head in through the open door.

Walking around the front of the house, Hilda recalls, “My grandpa would sit just there in front of the cabin with an apple. He’d take his pocket

“Our goal is to create high quality, early successional habitat that benefits migratory birds and small mammals, and promotes native grasses,” explains Sarah. “Removing non-native invasive plant species, implementing prescribed fire, and creating structural diversity are instrumental to our efforts. Similarly, we want to restore the native forest ecosystem in a way that facilitates natural succession of native trees. Non-native plants threaten forest productivity and inhibit the growth of desirable native plant species.”

To help carry out that work, SAHC has brought in a number of partners.

“This property is a great representation of the traditional and rural character of Haywood County, with its historical structures and open pasture, even though downtown Canton is visible from the property,” Sarah says. “Dutch Cove offers a peek into the past while so much of our mountain region changes under development pressure.”

Thanks to sustained management efforts and collaborative partnerships within the community, SAHC’s Dutch Cove property represents a success story of conservation initiatives existing hand-inhand with cultural preservation.

Hilda DiBacco, whose grandparents leased the property in the early 1920s.

Summer 2025 Roan Stewardship Team

We welcome two new seasonal team members – Virginia and Camila – to the summer Roan Stewardship team. Long-time Roan/outings staff member and talented photographer Travis Bordley returns as the seasonal Roan Technician.

Virginia Ward

As the Roan Naturalist, Virginia will work on public education and stewardship along the Appalachian Trail in the Roan Highlands. She grew up in Fairview, NC, at the base of Hickory Nut Gorge. From horseback riding to hiking to rock climbing, her love for the outdoors began young and only strengthened with time. Virginia is currently pursuing a B.S. in botany at the University of Maine and working in a research lab investigating the relationship between red spruce mycorrhizal fungi and the current threat to spruce trees across the east coast and Appalachian range. Her career started in the Southern Appalachians, working with the plant ecologist on the Blue Ridge Parkway to conduct rare plant monitoring efforts aimed at preserving fragile ecosystems. From this work, she was awarded the George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. SAHC hosts the Roan Naturalist with support from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, and the TN Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. Virginia is excited to assist SAHC’s conservation and interpretation efforts this summer; she will return to Maine in the fall to continue her studies.

Camila Rodriguez

A Stanback Fellow from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Camila is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and comes from a Colombian family. She studied Sustainable Development at Columbia University and, after working on wildfire-related projects with NASA FireSense and pursuing other environmental work in sustainability and green real estate, decided to return for a Master of Environmental Management at Duke University. She is working on geodatabase development for SAHC lands that will assist staff with hurricane recovery and habitat management work, applying her background in GIS and remote sensing. In her free time, Camila enjoys skating, cooking, bartending, and spending time with her mixed terrier, Joey. She is excited to explore North Carolina and spend time in the mountains.

Congratulations, Marquette!

Roan Stewardship Director Marquette Crockett was named Public Lands Conservationist of the Year in the NC Wildlife Federation’s 60th Annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards. Marquette is in her 11th year working to safekeep this imperiled mountain region. She leads efforts to restore forests of red spruce and wide open grassy balds that attract visitors from around the world. She also works to keep those visitors from trampling the very ecological treasures they’ve come to enjoy and helps ensure the stunning Gray’s lily will continue to bloom in the Roan. We’re thrilled to see her efforts honored with this award!

L to R: Travis Bordley, Camila Rodriguez, Virginia Ward, and (sitting) Marquette Crockett on a field orientation in the Roan Highlands

Roan Stewardship

Spruce-Fir Habitat Restoration and Recreation Area Updates

Science-based habitat management forms the core of SAHC’s Roan Stewardship program. Student researchers and volunteers assisted in a new phase of red spruce habitat restoration on SAHC-protected land, continuing a project we conducted in 2021.

Spruce Habitat Restoration

Roan Stewardship Technician Travis Bordley led a group of students from Mars Hill College on a research field visit to the Highlands of Roan. Dr. Laura Boggess and her students assisted with a follow-up work day continuing our 2021 red spruce habitat restoration project. The students counted trees, measured growth, looked for predation, and cut back beech suckers that were shading seedlings. They planted 100 new red spruce seedlings provided by Dave Saville in areas that were missing trees. Following the research and work period, Travis led the students on a hike to Round Bald so they could enjoy the natural splendor of

the Roan Highlands.

“SAHC has been partnering with Mars Hill environmental science students since 2017,” says Travis. “For years we have worked closely with Dr. Laura Boggess to find service projects that best match what her students are studying in the classroom, from planting red spruce trees to Golden-winged Warbler habitat management. It has been remarkable and heartwarming to witness the joy getting outside and learning outside of the classroom brings to the next generation of environmentalists. This year their service project was to collect data and plant red spruce saplings on an SAHC preserve near Grassy Ridge. This property is an ideal location to help

Mars Hill College students enjoyed a hike to Round Bald after completing a research project and planting 100 red spruce seedlings on an SAHC preserve in the Highlands of Roan.

expand the red spruce and Fraser fir forest habitat in the Highlands of Roan, which currently occupies a fraction of its historic range. Thanks to help from numerous volunteers and these students from Mars Hill, we are one step closer to restoring this endemic forest ecosystem.”

Thank you to all SAHC members for helping to support ongoing habitat management and future conservationists! Group research projects like this –paired with SAHC’s real-world habitat conservation efforts – create unique opportunities for students to learn while assisting with tree planting and habitat management.

“Seeing this restoration work continuing to progress on SAHC’s preserves adjoining national forest land in the Highlands of Roan is heartening, especially in light of the devastating blowdown in mature spruce-fir stands around Carvers Gap,” says Roan Stewardship Director Marquette Crockett. “Hurricane Helene brought down large mature trees, particularly around the upper elevations of the Roan Massif and the Cloudland/ Roan Mountain Day Use Area. The U.S. Forest Service is in the process of removing debris and fallen trees in from these globally rare ecosystems, in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.”

Recreation in the Roan

In response to the increased risk of wildfire in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the USDA Forest Service has issued an order prohibiting all burning in the area of Roan Mountain on the

Pisgah National Forest’s Appalachian Ranger District as well as in the Cherokee National Forest’s Watauga Ranger District.

According to a statement from the Appalachian Ranger District, the spruce-fir forests found on Roan Mountain are not fire adapted systems and wildfire within these forests would cause the permanent and irreparable loss of the habitat.

is currently closed to visitors due to construction; however; the new fire restriction will remain in effect should the closure be lifted while the risk of a potential wildfire continues.

“Preventing forest fires helps protect the resources we love,” says Marquette. “Instead of thinking about what we cannot do, I like to focus on the positive aspects of the burn ban. For example, we can focus on enjoying the stars and natural night setting. We don’t have to worry about disbursing fire rings before leaving a site, or smoke damage to clothes and gear. Small stoves provide quick and efficient cooking methods. Plus, no moving or carrying wood helps prevent the spread of invasive species.”

This restriction is in effect on all National Forest System land from Hughes Gap to Doll Flats on the Appalachian Trail. The restriction includes all campfires, portable stoves, and all other forms of outdoor burning, with the exception of persons using a device solely for cooking and that such device is fueled solely by LPG (liquid petroleum) fuel. Such devices can only be used in an area that is barren or cleared of all overhead and surrounding flammable materials within 3 feet of the device.

The day use area around the Cloudland hotel site and Rhododendron Gardens

The Roan Mountain Day Use Area has been closed since 2024 to enable several improvements to the site thanks to the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). The closed area includes the rhododendron gardens, Roan High Bluff, Cloudland parking area, and Cloudland Trail. Carver’s Gap and the Appalachian Trail have remained open, but limited parking is available at Carver’s Gap. The Forest Service plans to re-open the day use area this year.

No campfire? Try this!

• Enjoy solar lanterns

• Watch fireflies and glow worms

• Gaze at the stars

• Tell stories

• Identify night sounds

Volunteers enjoy stunning evening views after working in the Grassy Ridge Mow-Off.

Monitoring Protected Land

As a leader in the conservation field, SAHC began developing procedures to use remote monitoring several years ago. Stewardship Director Sarah Sheeran has led professional workshops about implementing remote monitoring for conservation properties. After Helene, SAHC’s cutting-edge stewardship capabilities helped ensure we were able to successfully complete 2024 monitoring responsibilities and positioned the team to better meet additional challenges due to storm damage.

“All the properties in our stewardship portfolio – the land SAHC owns and conservation easements we hold – must be monitored at least once per year,” explains Sarah. “Because we had a remote monitoring program in place since late 2019, we were able to quickly and seamlessly shift our remaining monitoring burden in 2024 entirely to remote monitoring.”

Post-Helene Stewardship Caring

for the Land after Catastrophe

In the wake of Helene, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s land stewardship team perseveres with new intensity. We continue to meet land management responsibilities while tenaciously facing obstacles and meeting evolving challenges. Over the past months, SAHC’s “stew crew” has tackled technology improvements to enhance monitoring, assessed damage on preserves, repaired access points, and navigated partnerships to accomplish environmental recovery goals across the landscape. We continue to assess damage, plan recovery efforts, and explore ways to adapt land management.

To meet challenges in monitoring and land management, the stewardship team relies on high resolution satellite imagery provided by a subscription service, aerial footage from drones piloted by SAHC staff, and remote disturbance/change mapping.

NC Wildlife Resources Commission staff Maggie Coffey and Haley Smith survey for trout on one of SAHC’s preserves. Providing access to the stream helps our partners fill data gaps, and SAHC’s stewardship team uses data collected by partners to inform land management work.

Helene damage presented the team with challenges related to accessibility, safety, and efficiency.

“Many conservation properties were (and some remain) inaccessible due to damages to roads, culverts, bridges,” explains Sarah. “Many properties also suffered substantial tree blowdown and have unstable slopes associated with landslides, making it difficult and unsafe to traverse the property on foot. We lost over a month of monitoring time, and using remotely sensed data allowed us to ‘see’ more properties in a short period of time, which also allowed us to spend more time communicating with our conservation easement landowners and other community members.”

“True color imagery can show obvious and substantial changes to the landscape like debris flows and landslides,” continues Sarah. “If resolution is high enough, we can even see individual downed trees. Roan Technician Travis Bordley has been instrumental in capturing aerial images of properties that were inaccessible on the ground. He identified significant landslides, debris flows, and blowdowns, particularly in sensitive habitats like spruce-fir forests. His work and funding provided by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina have been critical in our decision to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles and certify additional staff pilots, because areas of our conserved properties will remain inaccessible or unsafe for years to come. Remote monitoring does not entirely replace on-the-ground work, but it provides us with a tool to

Steve Goodman of NPCA places an autonomous recording unit on an SAHC preserve in the Craggy Mountains to track bird activity.

better prepare for site visits by showing us which areas might be difficult to access.”

Remotely sensed vegetation data can help identify significant disturbances to vegetation vigor, and HiForm (Highresolution forestry mapping) data provided by the U.S. Forest Service can help the team determine impacts to conserved properties in order to assist in assessment and recovery. Using various data sets helps the team more effectively plan and implement land management efforts.

Partnerships

SAHC has teamed up with partners such as the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and National Parks Conservation Association NPCA) to facilitate comprehensive data collection.

“This cooperation and data sharing provide a great example of partnership work with other agencies during recovery efforts,” says Sarah. “For example, by

allowing NCWRC staff to access streams on SAHC preserves and survey trout populations, we help them fill gaps in data, and they in turn share findings with us to assist with managing the land in recovery.”

SAHC hosted a Lunch and Learn with guest speaker Steve Goodman (recording available via YouTube/@sahc) to highlight how NPCA has collaborated with SAHC on bird diversity research using bioacoustic monitoring, followed by a guided hike to our Stevens Creek preserve in the Smoky Mountains to demonstrate the use of autonomous recording units (ARUs). Steve also accompanied the stewardship team on site visits in the Black and Craggy Mountains.

“SAHC is helping NCPA (in partnership w/NCWRC) facilitate access to public lands by way of SAHC-protected properties since traditional access points are closed due to storm damage,” adds

Grants Support Recovery

Sarah. “This work is tied to Steve’s avian diversity project, which he presented in the Lunch & Learn. Steve and other researchers are looking at population declines in birds, and exploring whether populations were impacted by the Helene.”

SAHC extends deep gratitude to The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) for providing Emergency and Disaster Response Fund grant support to assist recovery efforts on conserved land. CFWNC’s grant support is helping SAHC provide personal protective equipment for volunteers and staff conducting recovery work, purchase saws to remove downed trees, repair roads and bridges to restore access to conservation land, and much more. We are also very grateful to the NC Land and Water Fund for providing funding support to SAHC for emergency management, including culvert replacement. Thank you so much for your support!

Signs of strength and resilience. A rare shooting star blooms on an SAHC preserve amidst trees felled by hurricane force winds.

The stream crossing to access SAHC’s preserve on the upper Catawba headwaters, protected by former landowners Mary and Joe Hemphill, suffered catastrophic damage during Helene. A very large iron boiler, which had been installed by previous landowners as a culvert, washed downstream. We repaired the stream bank and replaced the culvert with an improved crossing.

Volunteers Make an Impact in Recovery Bowditch Bottoms

Over the past eight months, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has been hard at work restoring land at Bowditch Bottoms Preserve, a treasured 87-acre property in Yancey County, NC. Nestled within the Nolichucky River Watershed and framed by scenic views of Celo Knob and the Roan Massif, Bowditch Bottoms is a conservation gem and a symbol of community resilience.

In 2020, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy worked with the former landowners to place a conservation easement on the property, ensuring its long-term protection. Three years later, the land was donated to SAHC to own, and the easement was transferred to conservation partners at Blue Ridge Conservancy (because a land trust cannot simultaneously own a piece of land and hold a conservation easement on it).

Ayles Creek runs through the conserved land, which is rich in fertile farm soils and mixed hardwood forests. Both the land and creek suffered severe impacts from Hurricane Helene. Stormwater saturated the fields, altered the course of the stream channel, and scattered copious amounts of trash and debris across the property.

SAHC invited conservation professionals attending the Land Trust Alliance’s (LTA) 2025 Southeast Regional Land

Conservation Conference to participate in hands-on recovery efforts in March. Volunteers from across the Southeast spent a day removing an entire dumpster full of storm debris from the preserve.

honor to work alongside such dedicated conservationists and emotionally process this moment in such good company.”

Renee Sniegocki, Director of Land Stewardship with the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, also volunteered during the workday.

“You don’t really understand the impact until you’re standing there, pulling personal items like family photos and Christmas decorations out of the dirt,” Renee shared. “Seeing the ecological damage up close – learning about species like trout and hellbenders that are affected – it really underscores how crucial land stewardship is.”

For Asheville native and Coastal Land Trust Director of Land Protection

Kenneth Lingerfelt, the day was deeply personal.

“Hurricane Helene left scars on both the land and the people who depend on, steward, and enjoy it,” he said. “It was an

Renee emphasized the weight of responsibility that comes with managing protected land. “On a good day, stewardship is hard. After a natural disaster, it’s monumental. But it matters. The land can’t always heal itself.”

SAHC Stewardship and GIS Manager

Get Involved! Next Bowditch Bottoms Volunteer Work Day with NC Wildlife Federation –Friday, June 20 from 9 am to 12 pm. More info and registration link at Appalachian.org.

Volunteers from the Land Trust Alliance Southeast Regional Conference removed a large dumpster full of debris from SAHC’s Bowditch Bottoms property. Teams worked to remove large and small debris carried by floodwaters across the land.

Volunteers cleaned up tons of debris on the preserve to help repair the stream corridor.

Chris Kaase reflected on how the day held both personal and professional significance.

“It meant a lot to have people coming from all over the Southeastern U.S. for a conservation conference here – after all we had been through – and to have so many people want to contribute to the storm recovery,” Chris said. “That day really demonstrated the special place this landscape holds for so many folks.”

Chris spent days at Bowditch Bottoms in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, often alone, navigating fields scattered with remnants of belongings swept downstream from nearby homes.

“Even though I personally experienced living through the storm, I had many more heartbreaking moments out on this property,” he reflected. “So to see others encountering the same pieces of people’s lives, and recognizing the impact – it was meaningful.”

As cleanup and invasive species removal efforts continue across the region, Bowditch Bottoms stands as an example of how partnerships and volunteers come together to care for the land we all depend upon. SAHC is partnering with the NC Wildlife Federation on a series of volunteer workdays to remove invasive plant species and restore this ecologically significant landscape. We will be working on a management plan for the property over the next year. SAHC remains committed to both ecological restoration and creating spaces for community connection.

Personal Perspective: Intern Gressa Cedergren

Less than 10 minutes north of Bowditch Bottoms, the Celo Community stands as one of the oldest non-religious intentional communities in the United States. Founded in 1937 by Arthur Morgan, a flood engineer, former president of Ohio’s Antioch College, and a converted Quaker, Celo was envisioned as a refuge for people recovering from the economic upheaval of the Great Depression, a place to share resources, rebuild lives, and live cooperatively. It was grounded in the belief that resilience could be cultivated through shared land, consensus-based governance, and community stewardship.

This vision was put to the test on September 27, 2024. Within hours, Hurricane Helene had transformed the South Toe River, washing away a 50-year-old food co-op and art gallery, extensively damaging the cherished Celo Inn, and washing out the bridge, leaving residents stranded. Among them were my parents, now in their 60s, who joined Celo in 2009. They built their home with the help of neighbors and raised me and my siblings in a place where showing up for each other was just a part of everyday life.

Although I couldn’t reach my parents for days, I felt reassured knowing that if they had to face a disaster anywhere, Celo was the place to be. By the afternoon of the 27th, residents had already held a community-wide meeting and accounted for nearly every household. They organized into teams: clearing with chainsaws and tractors, checking on neighbors. When I finally spoke with my mom on the phone, she described to me her new post-Helene routine: oats cooked over the fire, a bike ride with my dad to the daily community meeting, then onto the assigned task of the day — clearing debris, preparing food, repairing damage. Their days were marked by community mealtimes and recovery work. A week after the storm, a helicopter full of supplies landed on the community’s soccer field — the same field where I scored my first goal and spent many summer nights lying on blankets with friends, counting shooting stars.

A few weeks after the hurricane, Sierra Magazine posed the question: could intentional communities like Celo offer a model for new climate harbors? From where I stand, they already do.

Gressa is a junior studying Creative Writing and Communications at UNC Asheville. She grew up in the South Toe River Valley, where she enjoyed hiking and exploring wildlife in her backyard. Over the past semester, she has helped research and write blog and newsletter stories for SAHC.

Volunteers in the NCWF partnership work days removed invasive autumn olive and multiflora rose.

Celo Community, photo by Tal Galton

volunteers from the

Academy

help in the agroforestry project areas and along the Discovery

students have been dedicated, repeat volunteers with SAHC for more than 10 years. Thank you for sharing your helping hands!

SAHC Community Farm Conservation • Education •

Celebration

Located in Alexander, NC, the 140-acre SAHC Community Farm hosts production space for burgeoning farm businesses, demonstration projects for land management, an event venue for special gatherings such as weddings or reunions, and education resources for groups and individuals. Visit Appalachian.org for a schedule of upcoming tours and workshops.

A Learning Model

In addition to guided hikes, the SAHC Community Farm continues to offer a rich variety of hands-on learning experiences and demonstration projects that connect people with sustainable land practices.

Farmer Education: Pruning with Purpose

More than 30 participants – including permaculture enthusiasts, landscapers, and farmers – joined us for the Farmer Education Workshop, Pruning the Silvopasture Project. Led by guest speaker Thomas Leonard of Contour Lines, Inc., the workshop offered practical, hands-on training in sustainable pruning techniques.

“I’m trying to incorporate more sustainable methods of pruning into my landscaping,” shared Geneva Bierce-Wilson, owner of West AVL Gardens.

“I want to learn how to prune not only for aesthetics but for the health of the land.”

This workshop is part of SAHC’s ongoing series designed to empower land

stewards with tools to promote long-term resilience and ecological health.

Learning Tours: Local & Global Perspectives

In March, the SAHC Community Farm hosted a special tour for attendees of the Land Trust Alliance’s Southeast Regional Conference. Twenty conservation professionals from across the region explored our farm and asked in-depth questions about stream restoration, shortleaf pine reforestation, and agroforestry practices.

We were also honored to welcome Dr. Trinh Huynh from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, hosted by the USDA Southeast Climate Hub. Dr. Huynh visited the farm as part of her comparative research on agroforestry systems and drought resilience strategies, learning how Southeastern U.S. practices align with global efforts in climate-adaptive farming.

SAHC Community Farm work is funded in part by grants from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (under grant award number 2021-70033-35717), and a cost-share grant from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Youth

French Broad River

(FBRA)

Trail. FBRA

Fiona, new calf born to SAHC’s Highland cattle herd this year, sports a silver coat. It is a rare color for this heritage breed.

Helping Hands in Action

Community support keeps our farm thriving. Students from French Broad River Academy volunteered their time to plant hazelnut trees, tend to cover crops, and spread mulch. Staff from Wicked Weed Brewing pitched in on the Food Forest Project by planting fruit trees –continuing their strong commitment to conservation and community. Thank you to all our amazing volunteers and partners! Want to get involved? Keep an eye on our e-news or sign up at Appalachian.org.

New Faces on the Farm

We’re excited to welcome Dylan Rachelle of Daisy Chain Flower Farm to the Farm Incubator Program. Dylan specializes in

Chris Link (right) shares details about agroforestry projects with guests from LTA’s Southeast regional conference.

unique cut flowers, bouquet subscriptions, and small event arrangements. Her farming practices focus on no-till methods and cover cropping, supporting soil health and beneficial insect habitats.

“My passion for farming and community building is rooted in sustainability,” says Dylan. “We’re here to celebrate the beauty of nature through shared experiences.”

Learn more about her offerings at Daisychainflowerfarm.square.site.

Otto Smith and Jovi Locascio join the team as SAHC Community Farm interns this summer. Otto has a long history with SAHC. He and his father David Smith were recipients of the Stanley A. Murray Award for Volunteer Service in 2014, and he interned with the Roan Stewardship

Upcoming Farm Education Workshops

team last summer. A junior at Carolina Day School, Jovi leads the Gardening Club as president and volunteers with the Blue Ridge Audubon Society, combining a passion for nature with hands-on community involvement.

Welcome, Otto and Jovi!

And last but not least – say hello to our newest (and furriest) farm resident, Highland calf Fiona.

Farm Program Graduate

Suzanne Nolter of Blazing Star Flowers will graduate out of SAHC’s Farm Incubator Program at the end of this season and is currently seeking local farmland of her own to continue her farm endeavor. Connect with her at BlazingStarFlowers.com.

Value-Added Products and Community Kitchen – Thursday, July 24 from 1 - 3 pm. Cost $20

Small Engine Maintenance and Repair – Tuesday, August 30 from 10 am - 1 pm. Cost $30

Find details and registration info at Appalachian.org.

Dylan Rachelle/Daisy Chain Flower Farm, new Farm Incubator Program participant

Volunteers from Wicked Weed Brewing plant trees in the Food Forest project. These young nut and fruit trees will provide a resource to the community as they mature over time.

Otto Smith, summer farm intern, has a long history of volunteering with SAHC.

Story Walk Installation

Thank you to the 2024-25 AmeriCorps Project Conserve service members who installed the new Storywalk on the SAHC Community Farm Discovery Trail.

These dedicated young conservationists installed 16 Storywalk sign posts and panels for the new trail feature. The replaceable story inserts in these sign panels will be updated seasonally, to keep education programs and field trips on the farm fresh and engaging.

We also thank and recognize Buncombe County Government and the Buncombe County Recreation Services Grants Program for providing grant funding to purchase the Storywalk signs. The grant was awarded and disbursed to SAHC last year, before Hurricane Helene. This installation completes our grant-supported project, which also provided funding for seating and shade structures to improve youth education experiences at the SAHC Community Farm.

Youth Education

SAHC Community Farm as an Outdoor Classroom

On a sunny afternoon in May, Community Engagement and Education Manager LaKyla Hodges and Community Engagement Associate Alex Russell welcomed a group of students from North Buncombe High School to the SAHC Community Farm for a special field trip.

The day began inside the Education Center, where LaKyla introduced students to the day’s activities while Alex handed out binoculars and bird bingo sheets.

“Sometimes our outings align with events in the natural world,” shared LaKyla. “A birding activity during migration season was the perfect way to engage this group.”

Binoculars in hand, the students headed out to the field, an ideal spot for catching glimpses of birds like the American Goldfinch, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, and Great Crested Flycatcher. The group’s energy was high and full of excitement. One student exclaimed that it felt like a safari. Some students preferred to bird solo, while others gathered around LaKyla and Alex, asking questions about the farm and its wildlife.

“Bringing people of all ages and backgrounds into safe and beautiful natural spaces is one of the ways we instill a connection to the outdoors and sustainable farming in the next generation, ensuring they see the value in continuing this work,” LaKyla explained.

Next, the group explored a tour of the farm, learning how contour farming helps prevent

erosion. The students remained curious and engaged, raising hands to ask questions.

“There was a beautiful sense of presence and wonder throughout the day,” reflected Alex. “Watching students light up while spotting birds or asking questions about the trees and animals really shows the power of hands-on learning in nature.”

“Our educational field trip with SAHC gave students an unforgettable opportunity to connect classroom learning with the natural world,” said Ashley Maney, an Exceptional Children Teacher at North Buncombe High School. “Exploring the SAHC Community Farm brought their science curriculum to life – deepening their understanding of ecosystems, conservation, and biodiversity while inspiring curiosity and stewardship through hands-on experiences in the outdoors.”

Students from the North Buncombe High School enjoyed birding during a farm field trip.

The field trip group explored agroforestry.

Thank You Corporate Partners!

Our Corporate Partner members are business supporters who contribute to SAHC at an annual level of $1,000 or more. We are so grateful that these businesses choose to give back to our communities by supporting land and water conservation in the mountains of NC and TN.

In Memoriam – Oscar Wong

“He was known by many as the ‘Godfather of Craft Beer’ in our small town,” shares Membership Director Cheryl Fowler. “What many don’t know is that Oscar had a passion for local land and water conservation as well. He became a member of SAHC during the time when he was brewing craft beer in the basement of Barley’s Taproom, before he founded Highland Brewing Company in 1994. He knew that it was important to protect the mountains of Western North Carolina in order to keep our water sources clean. Oscar and Highland Brewing Company have helped support SAHC’s efforts to conserve watersheds and headwater streams across the region over the last 33 years.”

Leah Wong Ashburn, Oscar’s daughter, has continued his legacy of supporting land and water conservation and brewing award-winning craft beer. We’re grateful to her, we’re grateful for having known Oscar, and we’re grateful for all that the Wong family does for our community.

“I fondly remember seeing him at events at Highland Brewing Company, hiking with friends, and volunteering at the SAHC Community Farm,” adds Cheryl. “He was a genuinely kind soul and will be dearly missed. Cheers, Oscar!”

Thank you to our 2025 Land Trust Day sponsors:

For information about becoming a Corporate Partner with SAHC or participating in our Real Estate Partner Program, contact Cheryl Fowler at cheryl@appalachian.org or 828.253.0095 ext 209.

Corporate Partners

Mt. Mitchell: $25,000+

The Biltmore Company

Wicked Weed Brewing

Witherspoon, Platt & Associates

Waterrock Knob: $15,000+

Highland Brewing Company

Mast General Store Salesforce

Roan Mountain: $10,000+

Hunter Hometown Foundation

Cold Mountain: $5,000+

Kee Mapping and Surveying

Headwater Environmental, Inc.

Big Yellow: $2,500+

Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority

Hickory Nut Gap Meats

Pisgah Map Company

TE Connectivity

Max Patch: $1,000+

Altura Architects

B Local AVL & WNC

Equinox Environmental

French Broad River Garden Club Foundation

Gilman Fire and Flood Restoration

High Five Coffee

Jus’ Running

Lillah Schwartz Yoga

NC Native Plant Society

New Belgium Brewing Company

Revel Real Estate

Roberts & Stevens, Attorneys at Law

Webb Investment Services

Westmoreland & Scully (Chestnut & Corner Kitchen)

White Oak Financial

Wildlands Engineering

Wildwood Consulting, LLC

In Memoriam

Jeanne Labouisse Cummings, Beloved SAHC Member and Hiker

We remember with deep affection and admiration Jeanne Labouisse Cummings, who passed away on January 21, 2025, at the age of 89. Jeanne had been a member of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy since 1986. Her bright spirit and adventurous heart made her a beloved presence on the trail and in our community.

Jeanne’s love of the mountains was only matched by her joy in sharing them with others. A native of New

Orleans, she embraced life in Western North Carolina after moving to Asheville in the early 1960s. Here, she raised a family, built rustic homes named Nowhere, Somewhere, and Where?, and became a passionate volunteer and community leader. Jeanne brought her boundless energy and creativity to countless causes.

Her hiking companions remember her as a force of nature— gracious, funny, and always game for an adventure. Whether fly fishing around the world, tracking orangutans in Borneo, or wielding a chainsaw during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Jeanne brought the same fearless joy and generous

spirit that she shared so freely with her family and friends.

We are grateful for Jeanne’s decades of support and friendship. Her legacy lives on in the protected lands she loved, the trails she walked, and the people she inspired.

With love and gratitude, we remember Jeanne.

Kathy Overholser, Dedicated Advocate for Land Conservation

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Kathy Overholser on April 12, 2025, a longtime friend, supporter, and advocate for land conservation whose roots in the mountains of Western North Carolina run deep.

Kathy’s love for the mountains was generational, inherited from her mother, Kay Hultquist, whose adventurous spirit and passion for nature helped shape her family’s legacy of conservation. Kathy and Jim remained actively involved with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for many years, continuing that legacy through their thoughtful stewardship of Bent Knee Knob in Haywood County. Kathy was part of a family whose

connection to this land goes back nearly 80 years. The 65-acre Bent Knee Knob property, protected by a conservation easement in 2000, holds stories of childhood hikes, wild edible foraging, and even the wedding of Kathy and Jim in 1973. Together, they hosted friends from the University of Tennessee Hiking Club on the land, sharing its beauty and tending to its care.

Kathy was a loving wife and mother who brought a unique perspective and vision to the world around her. She had a keen eye for aesthetic detail and found beauty everywhere she traveled. She delighted in train and steamboat journeys, classic movies, music, art, architecture, flowers, TV,

and crossword puzzles, but above all, she cherished time spent with family in the Great Smoky Mountains, which held a particularly special place in her heart.

We are so grateful to Kathy, Jim, and the entire Hultquist-Overholser family for their steadfast commitment to conservation. Kathy’s presence, thoughtful, grounded, and generous, will be deeply missed by all who knew her, and her legacy will live on in the land she loved.

Memorials

— as of May 12, 2025

Members’ Corner

Memorial contributions to SAHC honor the memory of special individuals. A memorial gift is a gift of flowers in perpetuity. You can remember a loved one by making a gift to SAHC to help permanently protect the places they loved.

In memory Darla Beverage

Betty Hurst

Judy Murray & Tom Gatti

In memory Everett Bowman

Mark & Lindsay Merritt

In memory Thomas A. Bushar

Bonnie Asbury

Mary Bready

Cathy and Nick Powell

John Robenalt

In memory Carol T. Coffey

Carolyn Novak & Don Johnson

In memory Perry Combes

Rebekah Beerbower

Judy & Paul Jordan

In memory Jeanne Cummings

Randy Hunter

In memory Randy Ellis

Richard Bell

Kathryn Reihard

In memory of A. Murray Evans

Kerry Keihn

Dee Montie

In memory Woody Farmer, Jr.

Geoffrey Schramm

In memory Hank Gamble

Mr. Juan Ascoli

In memory David Hamilton

Dianne Turner

In memory William Hamilton

Dianne Turner

In memory Miles O. Hayes

Jacqueline Michel

In memory Riley Howell

Nancy Blevins

In memory Kay Hultquist

Charles & Teri Hultquist

Derek Hultquist

Joe Hultquist & Family

Greg Overholser & Family

Jim Overholser

In memory Tim Kelley

Reba Barber

Nancy and Ron Edgerton

In memory Stan Murray

Arthur & Denise Foley

In memory Donald Neblett

Popsie Lynch

Katharine Mann

In memory Katherine Ann Overholser

William Skinner

Robert Webber

In memory Rick Phelps

Sara V. Davis

Joe DeLoach

Mary Fanslow

Judy Murray & Tom Gatti

Jeff Needham

Carolyn Novak & Don Johnson

In memory Annette Phillips

Helen C. Gift

In memory Kathy Rauch

Popsie Lynch

In memory of Larry Rodgers

Andrew Stevenson & Kristy Urquhart

In memory Stu Ryman

Nancy Ryman

In memory Shirley Schultz

Victor and Sharon Fahrer

Susan Haines

Annette Mclean

Heather Rayburn

Angelina Schultz

In memory Thea Siefke

Helen C. Gift

In memory Beth P. Thompson-Oaks

Mr. Craig Thompson

In memory William J. Turner

Martha Turner

In memory Kent Urquhart

Bettye Boone & Saylor Fox

Cheryl Fowler

Photos from Bill Popper Memorial/ Prices Creek Preserve Wildflower Hike, by Communications & Development Manager Emma Goldrick.

Members’ Corner

Tributes — as of May 12, 2025

Tributes are gifts made to SAHC that celebrate a person, achievement, or special occasion.

In honor of Kent & Jeanette Blazier

Dr. & Mrs. Harrison Turner

In honor of Bruce Byers

Scott & Meryl Lawrence

In honor of Chuck & Lisa Carver

Joseph & Pam Morris

In honor of Russell Cate

Andrew Cate

In honor of Elizabeth Cheesborough

Charles Cummings

In honor of Perry Combes

Jo Cesta

In honor of Thomas Buchheit

Sophie Buchheit

In honor of Steve Compton

Jonathan Compton

In honor of Marquette Crockett

Jeff Needham

In honor of Harry Dalton

Jan Brabham & Jeffrey Kalil

In honor of

Dr. Art & Charlotte Ellis

Tom & Jo Brock

In honor of Peter Erickson

Mandy Erickson

In honor of Sayle, Chelsea, Waylon, Jackson & Kira Fox

Betty Boone & Saylor Fox

In honor of Diogo Castro Freire

Julia Thompson

In honor of A. Lee Galloway

Zach Galloway

In honor of Bob Gault

Ruth G. Wells

In honor of Greg Gillum

Mike Gillum

In honor of Cyndi & Dave Hagenbuch

Diane S. Hagenbuch & David Wiliamson

In honor of Tyler Hagenbuch

Diane S. Hagenbuch & David Williamson

In honor of Jeff Hatling

Kim Barnhardt

Mark File

In honor of Alan & Chrissy

Householder

Glenda & Darrell Eastridge

In honor of Malcolm Kendall

Charles Cummings

In honor of Bill & Dee Dee Maxwell

Fielding & Julia Lewis

In honor of Bill & Linda McGowen

Charles Keeton

In honor of Hanni Muerdter

Marty Watkins Prevost

In honor of Ken & Joan Pierce

Todd Dunnuck

In honor of all SAHC staff/volunteers

Katherine DeCoster

In honor of Alison & Dave Schuetze

Caroline & John Clark

In honor of John & Kathy Singleton

Gary & Catherine Tucker

In honor of David & Melissa Smith

Lee Ann Smith

In honor of David & Elaine Smyth’s 50th Wedding Anniversary

Mary & Tom Smyth

In honor of

Tahnee & Nathan Steinkamp

Diane S. Hagenbuch & David Wiliamson

In honor of Felix & Oscar Stone

John Schlotterbeck & Barbara Steinson

In honor of Jasper & Ellis Tait

Megan Sutton & Andrew Tait

In honor of Martha

Jan Brabham & Jeffrey Kalil

In honor of Travis & Ben

Diane S. Hagenbuch & David Wiliamson

In honor of USFS Cherokee NF, Bill Hess & Jim Froula

land acquisition

Glen & Mary Jo Hess

In honor of Glenn White

Hope Butterworth

In honor of Will & Rachel

Jane Knight

Check out upcoming events at Appalachian.org/events, or sign up for E-News updates. We host outings and events to help connect people to conserved land. SAHC’s Outreach Program offers guided group hikes and tours of the SAHC Community Farm. We also host community events and member celebrations like Appalachia Day and the annual June Jamboree, as well as educational Farm Workshops and informative virtual Lunch and Learn sessions. Popular programs include combination pairings of Lunch and Learns with in-person field outings, which highlight topics such as birding and geology. To find out more and join upcoming events, be sure to follow SAHC on social media, subscribe to our e-News (sign up at Appalachian.org), or periodically visit the website!

Legacy Fulfilled

Honoring those who protect the mountains they love, for generations to come

At the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, we are often inspired by people who choose to protect these lands forever. Legacy gifts are more than donations, they are personal acts of love and hope. They show a deep connection to this special place and a desire to care for it beyond their lifetime.

“For some, it’s about giving back to the mountains that have given so much: a sense of peace, adventure, belonging, or renewal,” says Anna Kuhlman, Director of Development. “For others, it’s about ensuring that the next generation can walk these same trails, breathe in the clean mountain air, and feel the same sense of wonder. No matter the reason, each legacy gift is a powerful reminder that conservation is a shared promise, one that reaches into the future.”

We are deeply honored to share the stories of two individuals whose thoughtful planning and generosity will help safeguard the places they loved.

Shirley Schultz

Shirley made her home in Asheville after a lifetime of travel and exploration. A lifelong learner with an adventurous spirit, Shirley brought quiet curiosity to each walk in the woods. She found joy in birdsong on the trail and in peaceful moments with her beloved dog, Remi. Through the Klaus and Shirley P. Schultz Fund, a planned gift held at the Community Foundation

of Western North Carolina, Shirley’s love for the mountains will continue to make a difference. Starting in July 2025, this endowed fund will provide annual support to SAHC’s ongoing conservation work.

Kathy Ruach

Kathy Rauch was a generous and thoughtful leader who gave of herself in many ways. Her heart for people and nature guided her professional life, where she carved out space for pro bono work and mentorship, especially of women. Kathy and her husband Bob built a life together in Fairview, where they found joy in music, gardening, and long walks with their dogs and horses. Kathy included SAHC in her estate plans, ensuring her care for the land will live on through a gift that helps protect the beautiful places she called home.

“We are filled with gratitude for Shirley, Kathy, and others who choose to make a lasting impact by including SAHC in their legacy planning,” shares Anna. “These gifts are truly acts of love, rooted in hope, care, and a deep connection to this place.”

If you’re open to a conversation about legacy giving or would like to learn more about the campaign and how your values can guide your giving, please reach out to Anna Kuhlman at 828.367.7312 or anna@appalachian.org. She would love to connect.

L to R: SAHC Associate Director Kristy Urquhart with Shirley

Photos by Travis Bordley

Fulfilling a Promise for Future Generations, Forever

For more than 50 years, thanks to generous supporters like you, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has protected biodiversity hotspots, breathtaking scenic views, headwater sources of pristine water, working farms, and beloved trails in the mountains of east Tennessee and western North Carolina. Together, we’ve created new parks, filled critical gaps in our national forests, preserved family farms, and inspired naturalists young and old.

SAHC is poised to continue making a positive impact on conservation in the years ahead. However, we have to stretch because the Southern Appalachians are at a pivotal moment now.

There is intensifying pressure for real estate development as people move to the region for our high quality of life. Forestlands and farms that were remote not that long ago are now being lost to real estate development. Development pressure is converging with an acute need to mitigate impacts from climate change, requiring us to accelerate the pace of our conservation efforts.

Simultaneously there’s a need to address overuse of our finite recreational resources.

And responsibility to uphold and defend conservation on more than 66,000 acres of land and conservation easements, while helping our forests, waterways, and communities recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and mitigating risks from wildfires and other natural disasters.

To meet these challenges, SAHC is pursuing a Campaign to Fulfill a Promise for Future Generations, Forever.

Our goal is to increase SAHC’s endowment and long-term investments by $10 million, to give us capacity to meet that forever promise. Adding this amount to SAHC’s existing funds will increase the spendable investment income available to us each year for our programs and budget. This will help us:

• Act swiftly when critical land conservation opportunities arise.

• Implement cutting-edge stewardship strategies to protect conserved lands, including wildfire mitigation and advanced monitoring techniques.

• Expand our community impact, connecting thousands of people to nature through youth education programs, our Community Farm, public hikes, and virtual learning.

• Strengthen organizational resilience to meet both current and future conservation needs across the Southern Appalachians.

We will responsibly invest the $10 million that we raise through this Campaign, making up to 4% available each year to support our capacity, programs and strategic goals. The rest will grow, keep up with inflation, and be available for future needs.

Your support of the Campaign will:

• Protect more farms, forests, streams, and scenic views.

• Provide fair compensation and growth opportunities for conservation professionals.

• Create new staff roles to protect and steward land.

• Connect more people to nature for health, wellbeing, and community sustainability. We are about 85% of the way in commitments and gifts to our $10 million goal. We’re in the home stretch, and your gift could be among the ones that enable us to reach the goal! There are so many ways to give, and every gift, at whatever level, will meaningfully help us.

Join Us!

To help us Fulfill our Promise For Future Generations, Forever, please make your gift or pledge today at Appalachian.org/fulfilling-a-promise.

Questions? Contact Anna Kuhlman, Director of Development, at 828.367.7312 or anna@appalachian.org.

“For my family, a significant gift to this campaign was an investment in SAHC — and in the places we are grateful for every day.”

~ Sheryl

Aikman, President, SAHC Board of Trustees

As we celebrate our first 50 years of conservation and look ahead through our Fulfilling a Promise Campaign, your legacy can help shape the next 50. Whether through a gift of appreciated stock, a charitable IRA distribution, or a commitment in your estate plans, there are thoughtful ways to support the mountains you love and receive potential tax benefits. We’d be honored to talk with you about ways you can make a lasting difference.

Have you considered including SAHC in your estate planning?

If ‘Make a Will” is on your to-do list for 2025, we can help. Learn how easy it is to make a gift to SAHC through your will. Legacy gifts can provide peace of mind while ensuring that future generations benefit from protected land and water.

For more information, contact Anna Kuhlman at anna@ appalachian.org or 828.367.7312

If you have included SAHC in your estate plans, please let us know. We would like to thank you for your generosity and recognize you as a member of our Legacy Society.