Shelter Highlights 2009

Making Sure It’s Right
Grandfather Mountain Tweaks Details of Sale to State With N.C. Attorney General’s Office
Published April 16, 2009

On March 31, 2009, North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue authorized the creation of Grandfather Mountain State Park after legislation to create the new park passed both chambers of the 2009 N.C. General Assembly without a dissenting vote.

Perdue’s authorization is slightly misleading to the public, however, as the state has yet to finalize the purchase of the mountain and take over certain management duties.

According to Grandfather Mountain President Crae Morton, the N.C. Attorney General’s office, Conservation Fund Vice-Chair and attorney Mike Leonard and the Morton family are currently collaborating via email to put finishing touches on 12 different documents related to the sale of the mountain to the state, including conservation easements, research permits and the deed itself.

The state technically, said Morton, has until around April 21, 2009, to exercise its option to buy the 2,601-acre undeveloped portion of the private nature park, sometimes called the backcountry, which includes an easement on the remaining 604 acres where Grandfather Mountain Inc. facilities are located.

“There is zero indication [the purchase] won’t happen. There is no deadline that either side has to meet and there is no compelling reason to be hasty at this point,” said Morton. “No one is disagreeing on anything because we have the same goals in mind.” 

If either party chooses, the date of April 21 [2009] can be moved back if more time is needed to tweak document language. Once the state exercises its option to buy, it has another 60 days to close on the deal, said Morton, and pay the $12 million sale price. Currently, Morton expects the check to come sometime in June.

“This is an interesting process,” said Morton. “It’s not a negotiation because [the N.C. Attorney General’s office, Leonard and our family] are all on the same page. We are just deciding how to protect Grandfather Mountain while allowing the attraction area to continue to operate within reasonable limitations.

“This is like a negotiation between us and people not born yet,” continued Morton. “We are asking ourselves, ‘what can we do to restrict future decision makers from messing up while giving them enough wiggle room to accommodate change that we can’t fathom right now?’”

Currently, the N.C. Attorney General’s office, Leonard and the Morton family are discussing controlling future light pollution on the mountain, height restrictions for future construction, building restrictions, parking area limits and a host of other “elements that are common to this sort of easement,” said Morton.

The current and future changes behind the scenes at Grandfather Mountain will hardly affect visitors to the backcountry and attraction.

“Right now it’s business as usual until the deed is signed,” said Morton. “Even after the deed is signed, changes for the average visitor will be very minimal.”

Currently, Grandfather Mountain is not selling annual hiking permits as Morton expects hiking to be free of fees—not safety waivers—once the purchase is final. Grandfather Mountain, however, is still requiring and selling one-day hiking permits for $5 at its front gate. During April Dollar Days, though, residents and college students who live in Mitchell, Avery, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany and Wilkes counties can access the attraction and backcountry trails for $1.

According to Grandfather Mountain Marketing Director Catherine Morton, hikers will have to adhere to a similar type of registration system, sans fees, once the state takes over control of the backcountry. The registration system will remain in place for safety concerns and not as a policing measure, said Catherine Morton.

During the first year of state ownership, Catherine Morton said there will be no appropriations for a Grandfather Mountain State Park Ranger, so the current staff of Grandfather Mountain will continue to patrol the mountain.

Only a small percentage of Grandfather Mountain visitors hike exclusively, said Morton, as most visitors come for the “bears and the bridge.”

“For us, the sale of the backcountry is consequential but most of our thoughts and efforts are going into changing the attraction into a nonprofit,” said Morton. 

The Morton family’s intent is to use funds from the sale to establish a nonprofit entity to continue operating visitor facilities on the 604-acre parcel. The nonprofit entity, according to Jim Morton, will be called the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Association and its board of directors will be comprised of members of the Morton family.

Becoming a nonprofit, said Jim Morton, opens doors for donations, as well as allows its board to go after grants to make improvements to the mountain.

“If we do the job right, we’ll have new resources we’ve never had from donations, grants and tax incentives,” said Morton. “We’ll be able to use those to further our conservation and education missions and perhaps assist in some of the state’s expenses in running the backcountry.

“The whole point of being a nonprofit is the positive potential of running the attraction as a nonprofit,” said Morton, “and we’re chomping at the bit to get it going.”

Scenic Attraction Transitions to Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation 
Published November 5, 2009

At 11:59 p.m. on Halloween night 2009, Grandfather Mountain, Inc. ceased operation of the Western North Carolina travel attraction famous for Mildred the Bear and the Mile High Swinging Bridge. As of 12:00 a.m. on November 1, 2009, the 57-year-old scenic attraction became an arm of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.

The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation is a nonprofit corporation established to preserve Grandfather Mountain, operate the nature park in the public interest and participate in educational and research activities. All proceeds from the sale of attraction tickets and souvenirs will be reinvested into the mission of the Foundation, according to Catherine Morton, marketing director of Grandfather Mountain.

“The transition should be seamless,” said Penn Dameron, executive director of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. “The public should not be aware of the change. The employees hopefully will not notice anything but a name change on the company letterhead.”

A life-long friend of Grandfather Mountain and prominent Western North Carolina civic leader, Dameron will direct the new nonprofit. Crae Morton, who has served as president of Grandfather Mountain, Inc. since 2005, will return to an operations position and focus on special projects.

The mission of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation is to care for and present Grandfather Mountain in a manner that inspires good stewardship by others. The organization desires to use partnerships and collaborations to become highly visible in the promotion of environmental responsibility and eco-efficiency.

“Over the years Grandfather Mountain has become synonymous with natural beauty and serenity,” said Dameron. “We hope that it will also become increasingly known as a laboratory for environmental best practices.”

Producing Energy from Trash
Watauga County Edges Closer To Implementing Landfill Gas To Energy Project
Published September 24, 2009, and November 26, 2009

Since 2005, a flare of methane gas has been burning at the Watauga County Landfill as a glowing reminder of the potential energy that could be harvested if the current collection system was hooked into a custom energy converter.

But the flare does not burn in vain—Watauga County, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation (BREMCO) and the ASU Energy Center have been hard at work for the past four years on a Landfill Gas To Energy project that would make use of the energy created from the methane gas collection system at the county’s closed landfill site in Boone.

In September 2009, the project reached a milestone when the Watauga County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to move the project forward by approving $200,000 in funding from the Watauga County Sanitation Department’s Retained Earnings Account. Watauga County Recycling Coordinator Lisa Doty’s initial estimates for the project’s budget totaled $189,020, but by November 2009, Doty presented a new project budget of $165,468.

On November 24, 2009, the commissioners approved contracts with four businesses for implementation of the Landfill Gas To Energy Project. The commissioners unanimously approved contracts with Carlson Environmental Consultants, KSD Enterprises, US Buildings and Tucker Engineering, based on recommendations from Doty. The four companies recently submitted cost proposals for the construction of a gas pipeline, pressure valve, generators, a metal building and concrete pad and switchgear, respectively.

The Project’s Significance
For many years, major metropolitan areas across the state and nation with large closed landfill sites have designed and implemented methane gas to energy projects, primarily because the technology to run such operations was readily available and financially feasible for sites that serve large population masses. That being said, the same technology, although helpful for the large sites, was too expensive and ill designed for small town landfills, such as Watauga County, thus very few methane gas to energy systems were developed.

Thanks to Watauga County, the ASU Energy Center and BREMCO, that status quo will change in 2010. The three partners have been tweaking and developing new and existing technologies for the project for the past four years and now have a plan that is inexpensive and feasible. 

“What’s so exciting for us is that there are numerous small closed landfills across the state but no one’s figured out how to create one of these systems efficiently,” explained Doty. “Once we do this, it could be a model program for many other counties in North Carolina to use if we can make it work.”

Gas To Energy
“We’ve had an active [methane gas] collection system in place since 2005,” explained Doty. Since that time, the collected methane gas—which burns “very clean,” said Doty— has been emitted from the closed landfill site in the form of a flare. The Landfill Gas To Energy project will connect gas lines to that flare, which will then run to two generators and then connect to a switchgear. Currently, the ASU Energy Center is using grant money to design the switchgear for the project. Once the switchgear is designed and installed, it will transfer the energy from the generators into the BREMCO electric grid.

“[Watauga County and the ASU Energy Center] are responsible for getting the energy to the switchgear,” said Doty, “and BREMCO is responsible for getting it to the power lines.”

Doty estimated that the Watauga County closed landfill site contains between 10 and 15 years of methane gas collection left.

“This project will produce enough electricity to run all of the landfill,” she said. The Watauga County Landfill site includes a recycling center and bailing facility, a transfer station, a scale house, administrative offices and a maintenance shop. “And what we don’t use goes back into the grid,” added Doty.

Savings
“On paper this project looks good,” said Doty. “We’ve worked for many years to make this project financially feasible.”

“The system, when operational, will generate savings and revenue in the $85,000 per year range,” said Watauga County Manager Rocky Nelson.
Currently, the Watauga County Sanitation Department pays approximately $36,000 per year in electric charges for all of the buildings at the landfill. The installation of the landfill gas generators will save the county the electric charge fee although it will still have to pay a basic usage fee of approximately $4,200 per year. Revenue from BREMCO to the county for the excess electricity generated—after all energy needed to run the landfill facilities is taken out—is estimated at approximately $85,000 per year. Therefore, the payback for the installation will take 2.5 to three years and, after that time, the excess revenue will be used to offset the operational costs of the Watauga County Sanitation Department.

In addition, by designing and installing a heat exchange system to utilize the waste heat from the generators to heat the new maintenance shop, the county could save approximately $5,000 in propane costs per year as well, said Doty.

Don’t Throw It Away!
Habitat ReStore Opens Reclamation Center at Landfill
Published August 13, 2009

In July 2009, Watauga County Habitat for Humanity unveiled a new permanent structure at the entrance to the Watauga County Landfill that serves as a reclamation center for goods that can be recycled rather than thrown away. The new center is the latest advancement in a project that began in December 2007 and, to date, has saved more than 58 tons of material that would otherwise be salvaged.

“This is a very important service because our landfill doesn’t receive materials anymore—it’s all shipped to Johnson City, [Tenn.]. It’s kind of like a go-between station because we can’t sustain anymore landfilling in Watauga County,” said Tony Caito, executive director of Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. “It’s even more important that we, in comparison to other surrounding counties, recycle as much as possible.”

The newly constructed building, which is roughly 8-by-12 feet, was built with the Habitat ReStore philosophy of using recycled materials that would have otherwise been landfilled. More than 50 percent of the building materials used include recycled windows, doors, roofing and siding.

Staff of the Watauga County Landfill leveled a pad for the building, and Grace Lutheran Church Troutman Family Foundation funded the project.

Since the opening of the Habitat ReStore Reclamation Center two years ago, more than 58 tons of material have been salvaged and kept out of the landfill. Contractors and homeowners are welcome to drop off appliances, furniture, lumber, hardware, plumbing, electrical, flooring, tools and household items with the Habitat ReStore Reclamation Center staff, for a tax write-off, saving the cost of the landfill fee and keeping waste out of the landfill. These items are refurbished and sold to the public at deeply discounted prices, benefiting the mission of Watauga County Habitat for Humanity in providing affordable housing for local families in need.

The center features an attendant on duty that helps sort items that can be recyeled. If an attendant is not on duty, materials are not allowed to be left at the center. 

“[This program] is part of closing a loop and reusing stuff that would have otherwise gone in [the Watauga County Landfill],” said Lisa Doty, Watauga County recycling director, who is charged with reducing the amount of waste collected at the landfill while increasing the amount of recycled goods produced in the region. “This fits into my plan perfectly. [The program] has got a great environmental component to it as well, in addition to supporting the ReStore.”

The Habitat ReStore Reclamation Center is open Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is located at 2447 Old Highway 421 South in the old Norris Furniture building and is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For donation, customer and volunteering questions, call 828-268-9696.

DwellBox Matures
High Country Green Boxes Nears Completion on Three Major ISBU Home Projects
Published August 27, 2009

In 2008, High Country Press introduced readers to High Country Green Boxes’ DwellBox, the first permanent inter-modal steel building unit (ISBU) residential home in North Carolina. The brainchild of local entrepreneurs and partners Casey Pond, Ethan Anderson and Jeffrey Scott—collectively known as High Country Green Boxes LLC—the DwellBox certainly struck a nerve in the national and international communities. By mid-2009, more than 750,000 interested people had clicked to the website, even though the partners had not conducted any marketing. The partners are now fielding inquiries in Oregon, California, Maui and even in Senegal. They also completed work in 2009 on three major projects that will elevate the idea and design of the sustainable and energy-efficient DwellBox.

Second Residential DwellBox Ready for Occupancy
In September 2009, Katy June Abrams moved into the second residential DwellBox ever built. Abrams’ DwellBox, which is located off Niley Cook Road in Boone, is one of 10 current ISBU home projects in the nation and represents a giant leap in aesthetics in regard to building with ISBUs.  

Although built with five wind- and water-resistant ISBUs and a concrete foundation, the home provides a contemporary look and feel; when you look at the exterior or walk inside, it does not feel at all like you are walking into large metal boxes stacked on top of each other. Measuring in at 1,600 square feet, the home took about 90 days to complete at a cost of roughly $100 per square foot.

Abrams first became interested in the DwellBox idea after reading articles in construction magazines that theorized its implementation. After researching the idea for a few years, Abrams hooked up with Pond, Anderson and Scott and, with the partners, drew up plans for a custom DwellBox.

“I thought this was the neatest idea,” said Abrams. “I always wanted to do it. I like that it looks different and that it’s got a funky, environmental type of thing going for it. I already want to build another one.”

Abrams spent extra money on paint and finish work on the interior and exterior of the home to help achieve the contemporary look, which is also helped by uniquely placed windows, an open floor plan and IKEA kitchen features. The home features a combination of cell foam and bat insulation and includes three super-efficient mini-split air conditioning systems that require no ductwork. The three-bedroom home features recycled cork flooring, windows from the Habitat ReStore and locally cut three-inch oak slabs for the staircases.

“The DwellBox looks thousands of times better than I pictured in my head,” said Abrams. “I pictured it as great already, but it has far surpassed my expectations.”

FOREST Lab at Caldwell Community College
In 2009, High Country Green Boxes LLC entered into a partnership with Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute (CCC&TI) to create the FOREST (Finding Opportunities in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies) Lab. The lab is a 40-foot ISBU container placed on a chassis and attached to a truck. Inside the ISBU container will be multiple renewable technology stations where students can learn hands-on about how to install and de-install the technologies, training them to enter the green economy.

“What we have found is that there are not enough trades people available that know how to work on these containers,” said Pond, who added that the lab will train students who could be future employees of High Country Green Boxes LLC. “Possible employment opportunities could come out of this.”

The lab will educate students on green building, building science principles and practices, photovoltaics, solar water and space heating, small wind technologies, high performance HVAC, locally sourced products and services and healthy, recycled and sustainable materials.

“We start the official design process next week, so it will be done in November [2009] and integrated into the curriculum in January [2010],” said Pond. 

CCC&TI’s Institute for Sustainable Business and High Country Green Boxes LLC applied for and received a North Carolina Green Business Fund grant to fund the project. Once completed, the lab will move between community colleges in the state to communicate a message of sustainability and illustrate how to participate.

DwellBox Portable Studio
Last year, High Country Green Boxes LLC completed an 8-by-20-foot ISBU container that is a DwellBox portable studio. The studio served as a green room for the Music on the Mountaintop music festival at the Boone Fairgrounds and the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival at Horn in the West.

The studio represents most of what is possible in an ISBU container structure. With about a $7,000 price tag, the structure features 16 power outlets, a basic wall system that can be customized with sheetrock or interior siding, windows, a sliding glass door, a collapsible metal awning and solar lighting.

“We made it a handyman opportunity,” said Pond.

The structure was outfitted inside Clemens Welding & Machine Shop, located off Niley Cook Road in Boone.

“The purpose of this DwellBox was to develop a production process inside a shop and incorporate different aspects, such as windows, doors, power and framing,” said Pond. “We’ve collaborated with Clemens to test various methods of production.”

On the Horizon
High Country Green Boxes LLC is doing its best to keep up with the popularity of its ISBU home line. Aside from fielding multiple emails daily from interested investors from around the world, High Country Green Boxes LLC was recently approached by an equity investment group and was a player in a few architectural design studios, one of which was held in Atlanta.

“We’re still in the first round of decisions of what to do next, but we’re submitting bids all the time,” said Pond.

One of those bids is for a transitional homeless housing project in Denver, Colo. A group of Denver investors asked High Country Green Boxes LLC to design a 40-foot ISBU housing unit to use in a transitional homeless housing development. Once that development is complete, the investors hope to expand the project to benefit service industry professionals in Vail, Colo. and Aspen, Colo., where the workers have difficulty finding affordable housing among the affluent population.

“They want something affordable and efficient, and that’s what we can provide,” said Pond.

High Country Green Boxes LLC is also in talks with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide ISBU structures for disaster relief situations. According to Pond, FEMA is interested in the DwellBox line because the structures can be customized, feature renewable technologies and can be shipped all over the country.

Pond and his partners are concerned that there are not enough economic incentives offered in Watauga County for projects such as the DwellBox. That, coupled with Boone’s distance from ISBU shipping lanes and the expense associated with transporting an ISBU up the mountain, is making it hard for High Country Green Boxes LLC to capitalize on its hyper-popularity across the country, said Pond. In addition, Pond said, the company has yet to have a “true” sale of a DwellBox—so far, the projects have been custom and financed through personal loans, meaning a comparable value for a DwellBox has not been established. The good news is that Highland Union Bank agreed to provide lending for the ISBU residential homes, and Pond and his partners began building the third DwellBox off Highway 105 Extension in fall 2009. 

For more information, click to www.dwellbox.com  or www.dwellbox.com/dwellblog.  

Green to the Extreme
Local Contractor Builds Home Meeting Strictest Green Standards
Published October 29, 2009

In November 2009, David King, proprietor of Constructive Solutions, finished a home that is built to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum criteria.

LEED Platinum is “the most detailed and strict green certification in the country,” King said, adding that platinum denotes the highest standard—above gold, silver and certified—and translates into fulfilling the highest percentage of the requirements.

The certification takes into account such factors as erosion control, native species, considerations about square footage, lighting and electricity usage, energy consumption as a whole and more, King said.

The house is also Energy Star certified.

“Energy Star is the base requirement of LEED,” King explained. “If you can’t get Energy Star, you’re not even considered for LEED.”

Energy Star certification takes consideration of the use of energy-efficient appliances and the structure and the tightness of the house, which includes insulation and weatherization—limiting airflow from outside, King said.

“I’m trying to be a contractor above and beyond green certification,” King said. “There are a variety of green certifications to get yourself certified.”

While some contractors opt for enrolling in a two-hour class to become ‘certified,’ King and his employees have spent hundreds of hours in classes to become comprehensive home performance experts, he said.

King’s company is HERS (Home Energy Rating System) certified and nationally certified building performance analysts, certified through the BPI (Building Performance Institute), located in New York.

The HERS certification, allowing the company to offer Energy Star rating, was an eight- to 10-day class, and the BPI required seven days of class plus two to three days in the field, where participants learned to use tests to prove the efficiency of the building and how to accurately predict the energy usage of a building per month, King said.

The company is “one of about two groups in the county that offer these services,” King said of its ability to give Energy Star ratings. “We can take the contractor or homeowner from the design stages all the way to implementation.”

In the future, King said, “We see ourselves…being the foremost resource for other contractors.”

King will also be a LEED certified professional once the house is completed, he said. “Those are all nationally recognized certifications,” he added.

A Model Home
The model home, located at 207 Eastbrook Drive, near downtown Boone, demonstrates that the company is capable of meeting the strictest code in existence for green building.

“Lots of builders claim they’re green, [but] we’re building green—not just placing a green ribbon on a regular house,” he said. “We wanted to prove we could build the strictest [code-meeting], tightest building.”

Adrian Tate of Green Man Studios and King designed the four-bedroom 3.5-bath house, which includes a mother-in-law suite and a two-car garage. The house offers design flexibility that could be adjusted depending on the desires of the family that bought the house, King said, explaining that on the lower level, a wall could be taken out to reveal a door connecting the mother-in-law suite with the other side of the level—or the wall could remain.

The outside walls of the house, King said, are built out of insulated concrete forms—two walls of rigid foam with concrete poured in between the layers. These walls are 100 percent airtight, soundproof and bulletproof, he added.

King’s parents, Wayne and Carol King, have been directly involved with the model home. Wayne worked as the electrical contractor for the project and Carol chose the color scheme for the house and also contributed artwork, such as a tile mirror in the main-floor bathroom.

All interior staircases and some woodwork in the house are made from a red oak tree that formerly existed on the property.

“We harvested red oak, cherry and birch on this property,” King said, adding that utilizing the trees taken down on the property for the house to be built is “something we’ve been doing as contractors for a while now. People like to feel good about the tree they just killed.”

The house’s metal roofs and concrete exterior, which are “super-low maintenance [and] should last forever,” earned extra points for the LEED certification because of their longevity and durability, King said.

Beyond energy-efficient measures, LEED certification also takes into account how the building affects the environment, how it affects the neighborhood, its proximity to public transportation, ensuring that no formaldehyde is in any of the products and other factors, King said.

“I have to keep track of every pound of garbage that leaves this site,” he said. “My job is to recycle as much as possible. Woodchips and sawdust end up getting put back on the property.”

The house features a rainwater catchment—an underground tank that stores rainwater, which can then be used for outdoor purposes such as watering plants. The tank simply overflows if filled with water that goes unused, slowing down the erosion on the property, which would be greater if runoff from the house hit the ground directly, King said.

Another environmentally friendly feature of the home is gray water recycling. Boxes under the three bathroom sinks filter and store water used for handwashing or brushing teeth, and that water then fills up the toilet.

“You’re flushing water that has already been used once,” King explained.

The house features bamboo floors throughout, plenty of natural light allowed into every room, a computer program monitoring the energy usage per room—which potential owners could reference as often as desired for their benefit—and solar panels on the roof that heat water used in the home on sunny days. For cloudy days, a backup water-heating system is in place, King said.

The building is oriented to face due east and west, and windows on the south side have an overhang that allows the light in during the summer, without the heat from direct sunlight, King said. In the winter, because the sun is lower on the horizon, he said, the sun’s rays are able to penetrate the windows to provide both light and some warmth for the home.

An air HRV (Heating Recovery Ventilator) draws in air from outside every 1.5 hours but changes the temperature and humidity of air before sending it into the house, King said.

“It’s fresh, clean air, but it’s not dirty or wet,” he said. “It’s a good house for people with allergies or asthma over and above a standard home.”

Company goals for Constructive Solutions, which has been in existence for seven years, include continuing to utilize green construction practices and performing analyses of existing buildings in the form of energy audits, King said.

King gives the owners a report detailing what they can do to improve efficiency after the audits, he added.

King also works with W.A.M.Y. (Watauga, Avery, Mitchell and Yancey) Community Action to provide weatherization assistance to community members who cannot afford it. The service is provided at no cost to the customer; King is compensated by federal stimulus money.

This work is “helping on a grand scale to [decrease] the energy consumption of the community [and] get us less connected with the foreign oil and coal industries.”

King encourages people to call and schedule a time to take a tour of the house, he said.

To set up a time to tour the model home, call 828-719-9255.

For more information about LEED, click to www.usgbc.org.

Mission: Make Watauga County Top Recreation Destination in East
Meet Eric Woolridge, WCTDA Senior Outdoor Recreation Planner
Published August 6, 2009

Eric Woolridge, AICP, was hired in the middle of March 2009 as the senior outdoor recreation planner for the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA), and he has already begun the groundwork for increasing outdoor recreation opportunities in the Boone area.

“Our goal is to be one of the top recreation destinations in the East, at least,” Woolridge said.

He is responsible for creating a recreation plan for the WCTDA for the upcoming years that will lay out the necessary improvements to create more outdoor recreation infrastructure in the area.

Improvements will include more mountain biking trails, securing more areas for rock climbing and creating paddle trail access points for the Watauga and New rivers, he said, “with the goal of providing locals and visitors [with] access areas and preventing some issues like trespassing [by creating] legitimate places to get in and out [of the rivers].”

The many types of increased outdoor recreation opportunities will benefit both visitors and locals.

Woolridge plans to “tie all this together through signage and information,” he said. Collaborating with Watauga County Parks & Recreation, he plans on creating a design manual so that all outdoor recreation areas, from county parks to paddle trail access points to rock climbing areas, will have the same look and feel—including standardized signs and picnic tables.

“Right now, I’m trying to bring together experienced architects and experienced landscape architects to create some of these designs,” he said. “The hard part is land acquisition. With the state budget like it is, lots of resources that have been there in the past are dried up at the moment.”

Most TDAs are structured with two primary focuses—one on marketing and branding and one on capital investment, Woolridge said.

The goal of marketing and branding an area is to bring in more travel and tourism, and the capital investment side creates more infrastructure, to “develop physically things you can market to bring more travel and tourism,” he said.

The WCTDA is a six-member board appointed by the county commissioners, he said.

“At the end of the day, we’re doing economic development, and the type of economic development we’re engaged in increases the quality of life for residents that live here as well,” Woolridge said.

Watauga County and the surrounding area has a lot of assets and resources, but “not necessarily a good system in place,” he said. “What I’m doing is product development…I’m creating something for the marketing arm to market.”

His job involves establishing the priorities—determining where the TDA should put its financial resources—as well as creating more outdoor recreation, bringing in more money for projects, establishing close relations to user groups and writing grants.

“One thing I’m really doing right now is talking to a lot of user groups,” Woolridge said, adding that these groups include avid fly-fishers, mountain bikers and climbers, and he discusses the challenges, goals and opportunities of those activities with them.

“These user groups are helping me create plan framework, the skeleton of the plan,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of excited users that I’ve been in contact with that have been helping me to understand how we can improve access [and] where the big gaps are in terms of local outdoor recreation.”

From his explorations of the area, Woolridge has begun to identify where the opportunities are, he said.

“There are some great opportunities for…projects out there, [and] there are a handful of small ways we can really improve outdoor recreation,” he said, adding that he’ll bring some of these ideas to the public in late fall or early winter.

Woolridge graduated in 2001 with a degree in community and regional planning from ASU’s geography and planning department. He has lived in Boone since 1997, but for five years, he commuted to Lenoir to work in Caldwell County in long-range planning, development and land use.

His current title of senior outdoor recreation planner came about because his former job title was “senior planner,” he said.

Woolridge did “conservation and subdivision kind of work, then got into community asset planning and place-based economic development,” he said. “Both are models that use existing resources [that you] can’t outsource [and] can only be found in this area, this community.”

In Caldwell County, he did a number of greenway projects and community parks, working with landowners, conservation organizations, land trusts, conservation easements and trail easements, he said.

Negotiating with developers, he created public trails in private communities and has also been doing environmental mapping work for eight years with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other systems.

Woolridge did some work for the WCTDA as an independent contractor, such as helping them secure grant money and doing some planning work, prior to his current job.

A mountain biking and disc golf fan, Woolridge is also a strong proponent for ultimate Frisbee. He has played the game for 12 years with a variety of teams across the state and started the Boone Ultimate Alliance, a community-based organization that promotes the game.

He also is an advocate for greenways and multi-use trails.

“I enjoy the Virginia Creeper Trail, [and] I took my daughter to the New River Trail in Virginia,” he said, adding that those are rails to trails—former railroad lines converted into trails.

“We don’t really have those opportunities here,” he said, adding that it is a more challenging task here because constructing a trail requires working with property owners who are willing to participate in that kind of project.

“I think multi-use trails really impact a lot of people. Those trails can really connect urban areas to rural neighborhoods and communities.”

Multi-use trails are utilized by both young and old, rich and poor, moms with strollers and inline skaters, he added.

For more information, call Eric Woolridge at 828-266-1345 or email eric@ExploreBooneArea.com.

If You Build It, the Tourists Will Come
Watauga County TDA Announces Rocky Knob Recreation Park in Boone
Published October 15, 2009

Since its inception almost four years ago, the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA) has embraced a simple yet comprehensive mission—establish Watauga County as one of the premier outdoor recreation destinations in the country. Whereas the area is known for its top-tier golf courses, WCTDA Chair Rob Holton, Executive Director Wright Tilley and Senior Outdoor Recreation Planner Eric Woolridge believe that hiking and biking are just as important to tourism in Watauga County as golf and tennis promotions are to other destinations.

To that end, the WCTDA is announcing the purchase of 45 acres off Highway 421 East beside the Watauga County Landfill that, once meshed with a 130-acre adjoining tract already owned by the county, will become the 175-acre Rocky Knob Park—an outdoor recreation center offering a network of mountain biking and hiking trails, picnic areas and green space that Holton, Tilley and Woolridge believe will attract all ages of visitors to the High Country.  

“The long-range goal [of the WCTDA] is within five years to have the High Country and Boone area as one of the top 10 locations in the country for outdoor recreation,” said Holton. “We want to create a wide variety of outdoor activities, which is our strength because we have so many available already. With the proper infrastructure, we can provide that reputation.

“What the TDA is trying to do—which is Eric’s job—is identify outdoor activities, then identify existing infrastructure and then identify the gaps,” Holton continued. “We are asking, ‘What can we do to fill these gaps and attract those with an outdoor lifestyle to our area?’”

Filling the Gaps
One of the identified gaps is mountain biking. Without a mountain biking course in close proximity, Boone loses tourism—‘heads in the beds,’ as hoteliers say—to Wilkesboro, which features multiple mountain bike trail networks surrounding W. Kerr Scott Reservoir. 

“We’ve been losing people from [Watauga County] to other counties for their mountain biking facilities,” explained Woolridge.

“And that’s constantly a drag,” added Mike Boone, owner of Magic Cycles and founding board member of the nonprofit, Boone Area Cyclists, which will work on grants to help design and create the new mountain bike trails at Rocky Knob Park.

“Visitors come to our area from all over and have this expectation [that Boone has mountain biking trails] and when they find out [about the facilities in Wilkesboro] it hurts us, hurts our brand,” added Woolridge.

Woolridge wants all ages and skill levels to feel comfortable on the trails that will be created at the new park. In the long range, Woolridge would like to see two or more mountain biking/hiking/picnic facilities established in Boone so that Wilkesboro’s biking and hiking trails become only ancillary in comparison. The hope is that outdoor recreation enthusiasts will choose Boone as a home base because of the amount of outdoor activities available and only think of opportunities in towns outside of the High Country as possible day trips—the WCTDA wants these visitors heads to be in our hotels’ beds. 

“We want Boone to be the center of their vacation,” said Holton.

“This is important. Mountain biking trips are now replacing golf trips for the new generations,” added Boone.

Location, Location, Location
One of the first duties Woolridge took on when he accepted his position in March 2009 was to determine what recreational assets and opportunities currently existed in Watauga County. One of those assets was a large piece of land—somewhere between 125 and 131 acres—owned by the county and located beside the landfill. The land is undeveloped, partly because the Watauga County Economic Development Commission deemed it unfit for industrial use and partly because of right-of-way issues.

Having established the idea for an outdoor recreation facility with the WCTDA and realizing that the land would have limited potential outside of establishing such a facility, Woolridge pushed hard to clear up access issues to the plot of land—he even looked at reengineering Landfill Road. In the end, though, having visitors drive through a landfill—no matter how aesthetically pleasing it might be—did not seem like a good idea for a tourism initiative.

As fate would have it, heirs to Anne Darnell’s estate—a 45-acre tract located between the 130 acres owned by the county and Highway 421—were trying to sell off their ancestors’ property and presented the possibility to the WCTDA. On October 5, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners approved a purchase offer from the WCTDA for the Darnell property for $909,000. The WCTDA is currently under contract for the property and will use a percentage of its occupancy tax revenues, in addition to funds from its capital reserve, to consummate the sale. According to Holton, the WCTDA has “ran lean” since it was created 3.5 years ago so that it could finance a boost to the county’s tourism infrastructure through creating a recreation destination facility, such as Rocky Knob Park.   

“It’s great—it’s like we really bought 175 acres, instead of just 45,” said Woolridge, who is also excited that the park will be visible from Highway 421 coming into Boone and feature direct access from the scenic byway, sans a trip up Landfill Road. “Now, we’re protecting the viewshed on scenic byway Highway 421 coming into Boone.”

Rocky Knob Park
“Rocky Knob Park” is still the working name of the new facility, according to Woolridge. The name is in reference to Rocky Knob, which acts as a backdrop to the tract of land.

Tilley said the WCTDA hopes to close on the sale by December and then enter into a planning phase that includes public involvement. Once the sale is final, Watauga County will own and operate the park and land. 

The planning phase in 2010 will include input from a new nonprofit, Boone Area Cyclists, who recently established an interim board of directors and will begin a membership drive later in the year. The nonprofit is open to all cyclists—whether leisure, road, mountain or commuter bikers—and interested parties can email booneareacyclists@gmail.com to receive more information. 

According to preliminary plans, Rocky Knob Park will feature a rest room area, picnic tables, green space and a large network of mountain biking and hiking trails. Woolridge also recently met with Todd Patoprsty of High Country Disc Golf Club to explore the possibility of creating a disc golf course at the park, but that is still a hypothetical until more information is received. 

Woolridge hopes to hire a professional mountain bike trail builder and a landscape architect to construct the corridors for the trails by June 2010, and then have teams of volunteers finish the job. Boone Area Cyclists have already promised volunteers for the project. The WCTDA wants the trails to appeal to riders of varying abilities.  

“There’s definitely enough land out there to accommodate everyone’s needs,” said Boone.

“We want a family on vacation to use this place,” explained Woolridge.

“But we also want the serious cyclists to come and stay in the Boone area,” Tilley added. “We want it to be multi-use.”

For more information on the WCTDA, click to www.exploreboonearea.com.

A Park Proliferates
Elk Knob State Park Expands Thanks To High Country Conservancy And Local Residents
Published February 26, 2009

To the north, views of The Peak, Three-Top Mountain, Mount Jefferson, Big Knob, Roan Mountain and Hope Mountain come into commanding focus from its 5,520-foot peak. To the south, views of Grandfather Mountain, Grandmother Mountain, Mount Mitchell, Rich Mountain, Howard’s Knob and Hawk’s Bill dot the horizon, flanked by Bald Mountain to the east and Snake Mountain to the west.

For a lover of High Country vistas, it doesn’t get much better than the views available from the peak of Elk Knob, the centerpiece of one of the state’s newest state parks, Elk Knob State Park.

Established in 2003 to preserve the natural state of the second highest peak in Watauga County, Elk Knob State Park expanded its acreage in 2008 thanks to the diligent efforts of High Country Conservancy (HCC) and the willingness and foresight of the residents of the Meat Camp and Pottertown communities.

In 2008, under the leadership of Land Protection Director Eric Hiegl, HCC protected 703 acres of land in Watauga, Avery and Ashe counties through 15 separate projects. Four of those projects added a combined 62 acres to Elk Knob State Park. While not a large amount of land, the projects protected strategic in-holdings and key tracts, adding valuable access points and scenic protection, according to Hiegl.

The Hammons, Lewis, Hahn and Potter families each worked with HCC in 2008 to integrate their respective family lands into the state park. HCC secured a loan from The Conservation Trust for North Carolina to purchase the Potter property. The loan was paid back in the first quarter of 2009, according to Hiegl. The other three properties were purchased directly by the state and are under management by the state park.

“The residents of Pottertown and Meat Camp have been very helpful throughout this process, and we want to thank them for coming to the park first,” said Hiegl. “This project has been supported by the community because they want to keep this mountain as it is.”

Elk Knob State Park now comprises more than 1,800 acres in Watauga County.

At the beginning of the decade, Elk Knob was under threat of being developed for summer homes. Soon after, a group of concerned citizens, led by the Nature Conservancy and landowners, teamed together to purchase Elk Knob and deed it to the State of North Carolina as a nature preserve, and later a state park. Elk Knob is an amphibolite peak and is home to the headwaters of the North Fork of the New River, as well as Meat Camp Creek. Like many peaks in the High Country, Elk Knob is home to a wide variety of rare plant species. 

Recreational facilities are somewhat limited at Elk Knob State Park, but Park Superintendent Larry Trivette and a dedicated group of volunteers have completed 1.5 miles of the Elk Knob Summit Trail, which will eventually span 2.3 miles. Currently, hikers can access the peak on an old logging road that begins at the same point as the Elk Knob Summit Trail. Picnic tables are now available throughout the park, but camping is not allowed.

For more information on Elk Knob State Park, click to www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/elkn/main.php.

For more information on HCC, click to www.highcountryconservancy.org or call 828-264-2511.

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