Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 22, 2007 issue
The Janirve Foundation has awarded Blue Ridge Forever, a land protection campaign spearheaded by area land conservation organizations, a $300,000 grant over two years to protect drinking water, wildlife habitat, farms and scenic landscapes in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains.
“Janirve Foundation felt that the goal of the Blue Ridge Forever land campaign to protect 50,000 acres by 2010 within the 25-county western North Carolina region is a worthy goal to be supported,” said E. Charles Dyson, Janirve Foundation chair, in a press release. “We are pleased to be participating, and we hope for success in the efforts.”
According to Blue Ridge Forever, developed land has increased 77 percent in Western North Carolina in the last two decades. Without coordinated efforts in conservation, the group said, mountains will lose a predicted 500,000 acres of forests, farms, stream banks and wildlife habitats by 2022—a size almost as large as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Blue Ridge Forever has received grants from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Merck Family Fund, Lyndhurst Foundation, Community Foundation of western North Carolina and Land Trust Alliance. These funds help protect places such as Hickory Nut Gorge State Park, one of the most significant centers of biodiversity in the state. Blue Ridge Forever partners have protected more than half of the new Hickory Nut Gorge State Park, anticipated to be approximately 6,000 acres.
Blue Ridge Forever partners have worked with voluntary private landowners and public agencies to protect more than 150,000 acres of farms, streams, ecosystems and landscapes in western North Carolina. They are pooling more than 30 years of experience, more than 50 full-time staff and 7,000-plus members to raise awareness and financial support.
“As we watch the rise of mountain land values—to $46,400 an acre in the example of one recently purchased Fairview ridgeline property—the need for additional resources for land conservation becomes vastly apparent,” said Phyllis Stiles, Blue Ridge Forever campaign director. “Increased support in land conservation is critical to protecting the qualities that draw so many to this region.”
For more info, click to www.blueridgeforever.info.
Blue Ridge Forever includes local land trusts and national conservation organizations, along with advisory members from The Conservation Fund and the North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.