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1,488 Parkway acres protected forever
Monday, October 26, 2009
By: Margaret Lillard
CSX property from the Orchard at Altapass
Conservation agreement on CSX property will safeguard historic trail
A six-year conservation saga has finally come to a successful end with permanent protection – and, eventually, public access – for a property that contains part of a centuries-old trail that played a role in the creation of the United States.
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Jackson Knob on CSX property seen from The Loops Overlook on Blue Ridge Parkway on Oct. 26, 2009.
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In a deal brokered by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the state of North Carolina has signed a conservation agreement with CSX Corp. to protect 1,488 acres owned by the transport company in McDowell County. The easement, finalized Sept. 4, will protect the property from development and logging while CSX will continue to own the land and pay relevant property taxes. CTNC will manage the easement and monitor the property annually under an agreement with the state Department of Cultural Resources.
The tract encompasses dramatic forested mountain views from Milepost 325 to Milepost 329.5 of the Parkway, including some of its most popular overlooks. This kind of scenery, according to state data, is the strongest draw for tourism in North Carolina – a $17 billion industry that employs 200,000 people. The Parkway alone attracts nearly 20 million visitors and contributes more than $2 billion to the regional economy each year.
The property also includes about 1.5 miles of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, the route followed by mountain militiamen during the American Revolution on their way to the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina.
“This agreement accomplishes so much more than lasting protection of a beautiful place. It safeguards drinking water for a million people downstream. It preserves uniquely American history and culture. And conserving the spectacular vistas and opening the Overmountain Victory Trail will boost tourism, providing jobs and a lasting economic benefit to local communities,” Reid Wilson, executive director of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, said at a news conference announcing the project on Monday, Oct. 26.
This section of the Overmountain Victory Trail, the only National Historic Trail that passes through North Carolina, is not currently open to the public. The conservation agreement allows improvements to be made that will enable the public to hike the trail. When opened, the route will connect with an OVT section on another property recently protected by CTNC, the Rose Creek tract across the Parkway, opening about three miles of the OVT to public use.
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"On the CSX property, we are protecting sections of the trail that, as far as we know, follow its original route. That’s a very unique opportunity, because few of the older sections of the trail exist today," said Paul Carson, superintendent of the National Park Service's Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail unit. "Once we are able to open it to the public, people will be able to actually walk in the footsteps of the patriots who came this way in 1780.”
The property also connects critical habitat in the Pisgah National Forest to the Blue Ridge Parkway and other protected areas. The site contains all or part of two state Significant Natural Heritage Areas, with mature native forests and more than seven miles of headwaters streams that provide clean drinking water for communities downstream and critical habitat to North Carolina’s declining trout population.
“The protection of this property is a wonderful public-private partnership that saves the natural and cultural heritage of this region from hundreds of years ago,” said state Rep. Mitch Gillespie, who represents McDowell County. “And since the land will still be owned by CSX Corp., they'll continue to pay taxes and employ local people, supporting our local economy. A win-win all around.”
The $3.67 million project was funded by the NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund ($1.13 million), the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund ($868,000), the State Parks Trails Recreation Trails Program ($75,000) and CTNC ($1.6 million) with additional funding assistance from the National Park Service, Altapass Orchard Foundation and Overmountain Victory Trail Association. Fred and Alice Stanback and Bill and Nancy Stanback, all of Salisbury, made generous donations to CTNC for this project.
CSX property viewed from Heffner Gap Overlook
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