Balsam Mountains Focus Area
Chestnut Mountain Water, habitat, and outdoor recreation View of Chestnut Mountain, photo by Adams Wood
It’s a unique habitat and clean water conservation project paired with exciting potential for outdoor recreation! We have purchased 448 acres at Chestnut Mountain near the Town of Canton, permanently protecting sources of clean water and forested habitat in an important wildlife corridor. We plan to give the conserved property to the Town of Canton, after we finish raising funds that are needed to re-pay a bridge loan we took out to buy the property. This will create the possibility for easily accessible outdoor recreation just off US Hwy 19/23 and Interstate 40. “This property is dynamic, with a mosaic of habitat types – which is really good for wildlife – and different settings for people to enjoy various types of experiences on the land,” says Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter. “The property starts at 2,360 feet elevation at Hwy 19/23 and then rises to 3,400 feet at the peak of Chestnut Mountain. At the higher elevations, forested ridgelines and coves situated in an important wildlife corridor provide
exceptional habitat for plants and animals. It contains pockets of gentle mature hardwood forest with laurel and rhododendron, forested slopes facing a variety of directions, and an open field and early successional edge area beneficial for birds. The amount of wildlife activity on the tract is truly impressive!” Chestnut Mountain sits in a significant wildlife corridor identified by The Wildlands Network as important for animal movement and habitat. Its protection will conserve habitat for large mammals such as bear and deer, as well as smaller mammals and numerous bird, reptile and amphibian species.
Hanni Muerdter on site visit, photo by Adams Wood
10 | View from the Highlands Fall 2020
“As a land trust, it is our role to try to look 10-20 years out to predict how expanding development will impact significant
| Land Protection Updates
wildlife movement areas, water resources, and to try to secure spaces to allow people to enjoy getting out into the forest,” continues Muerdter. “This property is one of the remaining larger undeveloped tracts in an important area for conservation, and we are extremely excited the landowner wanted to sell the tract for a conservation outcome. This project presents inspiring potential for a public park — a vision of recreation and conservation working together.” The NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) awarded $1.2 million toward the purchase of the property. The project protects several miles of tributaries to Hominy Creek which hosts a population of brown trout. According to Walter Clark, Executive Director of CWMTF, “the project not only protects wildlife and creates a valuable recreational resource, it also protects important
