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Mount Lyn Lowry tract protected
Monday, July 26, 2010
Bargain purchase will add 35 acres to Blue Ridge Parkway land
A 35-acre tract of forested land next to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Browning Knob has been protected to safeguard its scenic views and wildlife habitat.
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| View of the Parkway from the Mount Lyn Lowry property |
The Mount Lyn Lowry property is adjacent to the Parkway on the Jackson-Haywood County line near Waterrock Knob, between Mileposts 449 and 450. With funds from private donors, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina purchased the land on July 16 from a group of investors represented by Boodleville LLC of Sylva. CTNC plans to convey the tract to the National Park Service for inclusion in the boundaries of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
"The Mount Lyn Lowry property is small in size, but large in importance to the region’s wildlife habitat and spectacular natural beauty,” CTNC executive director Reid Wilson said. “Its location next to the Parkway and less than six miles from Great Smoky Mountains National Park makes it another link in a critical chain of protected lands and waterways in this area.”
The Mount Lyn Lowry property is in the Little Tennessee River basin in Jackson County and is entirely visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway, running north uphill from the Parkway to the top of Balsam Ridge.
The property is home to a variety of native wildlife and contains a portion of a state Significant Natural Heritage Area due to its undisturbed plant communities. It falls within the Great Balsams and Plott Balsams Mountains focus area of the Blue Ridge Forever coalition's Conservation Vision. The Vision helps the coalition's land trust partners - including CTNC - plan and and coordinate their conservation efforts, using resources wisely to protect natural areas that face the greatest danger from development.
The Mount Lyn Lowry property shares a border with 6,000-foot Browning Knob, which is visible from the Parkway near Waynesville. Browning Knob was named in honor of R. Getty Browning, the North Carolina engineer who helped persuade federal officials to build the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, not Tennessee.
Funds for the $200,000 bargain sale purchase were provided by Fred and Alice Stanback of Salisbury, NC.
The property was brought to CTNC’s attention by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, another Blue Ridge Forever partner and one of several land trusts that work in the region. The others are Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust.
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