Protecting Rogers Cove

Rogers Cove - Picturesque Farmland

Rogers Cove in the Crabtree Community.

Photo by Johnny Davison

Hugged by mountains and tucked away in the scenic Crabtree community of Haywood County, Rogers Cove contains beautiful rolling pastures and forested hills that stir the imagination. We have permanently protected 385 acres of productive, scenic farmland in this cove through agricultural conservation easements.

“The Rogers family has farmed this land for at least four generations and wanted to see it stay farmland forever,” says Farmland Protection Director Jess Laggis.

Highly visible from scenic drives along Crabtree Mountain Road and Upper Crabtree Road, as well as from hikes on Crabtree Bald, conserved land in this picturesque cove is made up of multiple adjoining tracts owned by members

The Rogers farm is a NC Century Farm.

Photo by Johnny Davison

of the Rogers family. The family has farmed this cove for over 150 years. Designated a NC Century Farm, the Rogers Cove properties include a mixture of high elevation cattle grazing pasture and prime agricultural bottomlands.

“Rogers Cove makes time travel possible,” adds Jess. “Walking through Rogers Cove feels like a step back in time, but in it, I also see the future. I know that in 10 years, or even 50, when I look back at the farmland protection work SAHC has accomplished, Rogers Cove will always be vibrant.”

Family members Edwin & Lucene (Cenie) Rogers, Mark & Laura Rogers, and Terry & Fran Rogers worked together with us to protect their adjoining properties. Sadly, Edwin passed away in 2017, before he saw completion of this effort; we are deeply grateful that the family was able to continue working with SAHC to permanently protect the land.

Edwin Rogers, who was designated a River Friendly Farmer by the Haywood County Soil & Water Conservation District, farmed in Rogers Cove his whole life. Edwin and his son Mark worked closely together to keep the farm in excellent condition by installing stream-side fencing and water tanks and using rotational grazing practices. Terry Rogers also installed best management practices on his farm to protect water quality of streams in the Pigeon River watershed. The Pigeon River Fund, a grant program administered by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, provided support for this project.

Conservation easements now protect 385 acres of productive farmland.

Photo by Johnny Davison

Terry – who has been president of the Haywood County Farm Bureau, Treasurer of the Haywood County Cattlemen’s Association, and president of the WNC Beef Cattle Commission – has also farmed in Rogers Cove his whole life. Terry inherited the property from his parents Cassius McCracken Rogers and Pauline Noland Rogers who worked the land all their lives. His mother was the granddaughter of famed community doctor and banker Rachel Eleanor Ferguson Noland, a pioneering woman who traded livestock, farmed, and worked in her loomhouse to make a living for her family. Eleanor served as a community doctor, taking her little black satchel with her when neighbors asked her to come and "doctor" their sick. She also served as a community banker, loaning money out to neighbors so they could buy a farm, build a house, or pay their bills, collecting a little interest in return. Most of these folks had no collateral, so could not qualify for a formal loan from an established bank. Eleanor enabled many families to have their own home.

We are grateful to all of our members, the Rogers family, The Pigeon River Fund, Brad and Shelli Stanback, and the NC Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for protecting this historically important, thriving farm.

Mark Rogers

Landowner Perspective: Mark Rogers

Three basic things prompted our family to preserve this farmland. Foremost, the belief that protecting farmland is important for future generations. Also there is the sentimental factor for protecting property that has been in the family for a long time. And last, just the aesthetics’ of farm land vs. a subdivision.

This land today is a summation of all that my ancestors have invested into it over the past 4+ generations. This land is still used as it was with my early ancestors, and I would hate to see that change to another use that would not complement and build on what’s already gone into it. I am also sensitive to farmland reduction in the past 100 years and how that can effect food sustainability.

I truly relished the lifestyle offered by growing up on a farm and having relatives and good neighbors all around. As children we were free to roam. When I was 4 yrs old I remember deciding to run away from home. It was a sunny winter morning where the overnight frost was just melting as I trudged through the woods to the ridgeline between our house and my grandparents. I walked down to a barn where my uncle was sacking up silage and when I told him I was running away. He told me to go say goodbye to my grandmother before I left. When I walked up to her house and told her, all she said was to have a sausage biscuit before I left. Somehow, I forgot that I was running away.

I want my actions to continue to be a good steward of this property in the same fashion my ancestors did.

Site visit in Rogers Cove (L to R): Alison Davidson (Pigeon River Fund committee member), Laura Rogers (Landowner), Jess Laggis (SAHC), Tara Scholtz (CFWNC), and Dyatt Smathers (Pigeon River Fund committee member).

Partner Perspective: The Pigeon River Fund

“One focus of the Pigeon River Watershed Plan is reducing development density on steep mountain slopes,” says Tara Scholtz, Senior Program Officer with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC).

“Reducing development density means fewer roads, house sites, driveways, and other structures and infrastructure that negatively affect the watershed. Reducing density also reduces the number and size of impervious surfaces in the watershed and the associated stormwater runoff. Farmland conservation is one of the plan’s specific strategies for reducing development density, but transactions to conserve farmland often take time. The Pigeon River Fund was pleased to assist SAHC in protecting hundreds of acres of Rogers Cove agricultural land that would otherwise undoubtedly be a target for future development.”