Welcome Blue Ridge Conservancy
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
By: Molly Lester

NC's newest land trust combines two well-known groups

Two North Carolina land trusts that, individually, have protected 15,000 acres are combining staff, resources and conservation efforts to save even more of Western North Carolina’s mountain landscapes.

Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust (BRRLT), based in West Jefferson, and High Country Conservancy (HCC), based in Boone, announced in May that they are joining forces to create a new conservation organization, the Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC). The new organization will help landowners protect the natural and cultural resources of Appalachia by conserving land with significant agricultural, ecological, cultural, recreational or scenic value in northwestern North Carolina.

With more than 20 years of combined conservation experience, BRC brings a rich and successful history in protecting North Carolina’s natural beauty and cultural heritage. Like its predecessors, BRC will collaborate with willing landowners to preserve working farms, forests, rivers and streams, mountain ridges and a variety of often endangered wildlife.

Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust was founded in 1997 out of a recognized need to protect and preserve the rapidly vanishing rural landscape and farmland in North Carolina’s seven northwestern counties – Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey. During its 14 years, BRRLT operated under the ideology that, “when the land is developed beyond recognition, we lose much more than a visual amenity; we lose part of the community and ourselves.”

High Country Conservancy originated in 1995 as the Watauga Land Trust, created by a group of enlightened Appalachian State University students with a mission “to protect the natural resources of Appalachia by conserving land with significant ecological, cultural, recreational, or scenic value in the North Carolina High Country.”

“The merger of these two highly respected groups has created an enhanced organization with the capacity to advance land preservation in our northwestern mountains to an unprecedented level,” said John Turner, president of Blue Ridge Conservancy. By joining forces, Turner believes BRC will maximize its efficiency and eliminate “previously duplicated administrative costs, conservancy functions and overlapping service areas.”

BRC will continue to work closely with state, federal and private partners to expand the public’s access to land with significant recreational, cultural and ecological value.

“Today’s challenging economic times demand that conservation organizations carefully plan how to best utilize public and private dollars to fulfill their missions,” said Walter Clark, BRC’s executive director.

Through various public and private partnerships, BRRLT and HRC helped protect critically important areas throughout Western North Carolina including Bear Paw State Natural Area, Pond Mountain Game Lands and Blue Ridge Parkway lands. Together as Blue Ridge Conservancy, they will contine to save the places you love.

For more information, visit Blue Ridge Conservancy's website. And check out CTNC's land trust coverage map to find local land trusts across North Carolina.