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COALITION RELEASES CONSERVATION VISION FOR NORTH CAROLINA’S MOUNTAINS
Land Trusts Identify 28 Places with Highest Need for Protection

Release Date: September 4, 2008
Contacts: Valerie True, Blue Ridge Forever, 828.253.0095 x213

Asheville – The Blue Ridge Forever coalition released their Conservation Vision for Western North Carolina today, highlighting twenty-eight areas in Western North Carolina in urgent need of protection. The Vision is the product of two years of collaboration among all the land conservation organizations serving Western North Carolina as well as some of the region’s and state’s leading conservation thinkers, biological experts, agricultural specialists and cultural researchers. It will help guide the land trusts as they race against time to protect the world’s richest remaining temperate forest.

"With population and development growing at unprecedented rates in western North Carolina, land trusts are having to take a broader look at where they invest their limited resources," stated Phyllis Stiles, campaign director for Blue Ridge Forever. "The lands we lose or protect this decade will define the region for generations to come."

Each of the focus areas identified met at least three of five extensive selection criteria:
National or state significant ecological qualities
High quality waters or a significant water supply
Connectivity of the landscape – linking protected lands and habitats together
Cultural and economic importance, including exceptional scenic views
Significant tracts of working forests or farms

"Our region contains assemblages of species and habitats found nowhere else in the world," said Carolyn Wells, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Many of the places that support these natural resources do not occur on federal- or state-owned lands, but occur instead on privately owned lands with no form of protection from development. From cool, swift flowing trout waters to habitats for our most imperiled endangered species, without the various forms of protection that the Blue Ridge Forever Coalition is aiming to provide, these places are likely to be lost forever."

The focus areas include such iconic places as the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail that truly highlight the economic and cultural importance of land protection. The Blue Ridge Parkway alone stimulates over two billion dollars a year in tourism dollars to the regional economy.

"Land trusts provide an important opportunity for the American people to play a significant role in the preservation of public lands such as the Blue Ridge Parkway," stated Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway. "Without their work, important viewsheds could have been lost which would have degraded the overall character of the Parkway."

Other focus areas such as the North Fork of the Catawba River, Chattooga Headwaters, New River and the Little Tennessee, may be less known than the Blue Ridge Parkway, but in time of drought the clean water that flows through their valleys is certainly as precious. The headwaters in Western North Carolina furnish drinking water for millions of residents in the southeastern United States.

"Land conservation and water quality protection go hand in hand," said Richard Rogers, executive director of the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund. "Both are essential to the sustainability of our natural resources and heritage and to our economy as well."

North Carolina leads the nation in farm loss. Focus areas such as Sandy Mush, Spring Creek, Bethel, Valle Crucis and Fairview embody the agricultural heritage that has existed in these mountains for at least 3,000 years. With about 12,000 working farms in the mountains today, agriculture is a vital sector of Western North Carolina’s culture and economy.

"We have a moral obligation to our children and their children to protect open space, especially farms and agricultural land," said David Gantt, Buncombe County Commissioner. "Buncombe County is pleased to endorse the efforts of Blue Ridge Forever for their conservation Vision that prioritizes areas that need special protection from over development. We urge each County in our region to consider the Blue Ridge Forever Vision plan before growth and development slams the window shut on preservation of our significant agricultural land permanently." To date, the County has committed over $2 million dollars for the protection of the Sandy Mush farm community. Land trusts only work with willing landowners.

Since the beginning of 2006, the coalition of land trusts that make up Blue Ridge Forever have protected over 26,000 acres with the help of 180 private landowners, putting them on track to meet their 50,000-acre goal by 2010. By working together the land trusts have been able to protect more land, more efficiently, but they continue to need private support to leverage public dollars. By taking this strategic approach to land protection, the land trusts hope to work together to have even greater impact.

"We urge everyone to get involved with their local land trust and help to protect the special places in Western North Carolina that we all love," stated Stiles.

View the Blue Ridge Forever Conservation Vision at www.blueridgeforever.info/conservation_vision.html.
Click here to download quotes from Blue Ridge Forever parnters and supporters.
# # #

Blue Ridge Forever is a collective campaign led by local land trusts and national conservation organizations to engage the public and raise financial resources to safeguard land and water in the Southern Blue Ridge for present and future generations. For more information, see www.blueridgeforever.info.

PARTNERS OF BLUE RIDGE FOREVER
Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, High Country Conservancy, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, National Committee for the New River, Pacolet Area Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, The Trust for Public Land
Advisors: The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy - North Carolina Chapter







	COALITION RELEASES CONSERVATION VISION FOR NORTH CAROLINA’S MOUNTAINS Land Trusts Identify 28 Places with Highest Need for Protection Release Date: September 4, 2008 Contacts: Valerie True, Blue Ridge Forever, 828.253.0095 x213 Asheville – The Blue Ridge Forever coalition released their Conservation Vision for Western North Carolina today, highlighting twenty-eight areas in Western North Carolina in urgent need of protection. The Vision is the product of two years of collaboration among all the land conservation organizations serving Western North Carolina as well as some of the region’s and state’s leading conservation thinkers, biological experts, agricultural specialists and cultural researchers. It will help guide the land trusts as they race against time to protect the world’s richest remaining temperate forest. "With population and development growing at unprecedented rates in western North Carolina, land trusts are having to take a broader look at where they invest their limited resources," stated Phyllis Stiles, campaign director for Blue Ridge Forever. "The lands we lose or protect this decade will define the region for generations to come." Each of the focus areas identified met at least three of five extensive selection criteria: National or state significant ecological qualities High quality waters or a significant water supply Connectivity of the landscape – linking protected lands and habitats together Cultural and economic importance, including exceptional scenic views Significant tracts of working forests or farms "Our region contains assemblages of species and habitats found nowhere else in the world," said Carolyn Wells, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Many of the places that support these natural resources do not occur on federal- or state-owned lands, but occur instead on privately owned lands with no form of protection from development. From cool, swift flowing trout waters to habitats for our most imperiled endangered species, without the various forms of protection that the Blue Ridge Forever Coalition is aiming to provide, these places are likely to be lost forever." The focus areas include such iconic places as the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail that truly highlight the economic and cultural importance of land protection. The Blue Ridge Parkway alone stimulates over two billion dollars a year in tourism dollars to the regional economy. "Land trusts provide an important opportunity for the American people to play a significant role in the preservation of public lands such as the Blue Ridge Parkway," stated Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway. "Without their work, important viewsheds could have been lost which would have degraded the overall character of the Parkway." Other focus areas such as the North Fork of the Catawba River, Chattooga Headwaters, New River and the Little Tennessee, may be less known than the Blue Ridge Parkway, but in time of drought the clean water that flows through their valleys is certainly as precious. The headwaters in Western North Carolina furnish drinking water for millions of residents in the southeastern United States. "Land conservation and water quality protection go hand in hand," said Richard Rogers, executive director of the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund. "Both are essential to the sustainability of our natural resources and heritage and to our economy as well." North Carolina leads the nation in farm loss. Focus areas such as Sandy Mush, Spring Creek, Bethel, Valle Crucis and Fairview embody the agricultural heritage that has existed in these mountains for at least 3,000 years. With about 12,000 working farms in the mountains today, agriculture is a vital sector of Western North Carolina’s culture and economy. "We have a moral obligation to our children and their children to protect open space, especially farms and agricultural land," said David Gantt, Buncombe County Commissioner. "Buncombe County is pleased to endorse the efforts of Blue Ridge Forever for their conservation Vision that prioritizes areas that need special protection from over development. We urge each County in our region to consider the Blue Ridge Forever Vision plan before growth and development slams the window shut on preservation of our significant agricultural land permanently." To date, the County has committed over $2 million dollars for the protection of the Sandy Mush farm community. Land trusts only work with willing landowners. Since the beginning of 2006, the coalition of land trusts that make up Blue Ridge Forever have protected over 26,000 acres with the help of 180 private landowners, putting them on track to meet their 50,000-acre goal by 2010. By working together the land trusts have been able to protect more land, more efficiently, but they continue to need private support to leverage public dollars. By taking this strategic approach to land protection, the land trusts hope to work together to have even greater impact. "We urge everyone to get involved with their local land trust and help to protect the special places in Western North Carolina that we all love," stated Stiles. View the Blue Ridge Forever Conservation Vision at www.blueridgeforever.info/conservation_vision.html. Click here to download quotes from Blue Ridge Forever parnters and supporters. # # # Blue Ridge Forever is a collective campaign led by local land trusts and national conservation organizations to engage the public and raise financial resources to safeguard land and water in the Southern Blue Ridge for present and future generations. For more information, see www.blueridgeforever.info. PARTNERS OF BLUE RIDGE FOREVER Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, High Country Conservancy, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, National Committee for the New River, Pacolet Area Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, The Trust for Public Land Advisors: The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy - North Carolina Chapter