Foothills Conservancy is dedicated to working together with you and others to preserve and protect the places we all love across the eastern Blue Ridge Mountains and Foothills, including watersheds, environmentally significant habitats and forests and farm lands for this and future generations. Read more »
What is WAC-HNG?
Hickory Nut Gorge, home of
Chimney Rock State Park & Catawba Falls: Part of the Foothills Conservancy Legacy
Story by FRANCES FIGART
It’s that time of year when getting outdoors becomes second nature. But with all the amazing places to hike in
We suggest you start off with some of the public lands made accessible by your local land trusts.
Foothills Conservancy serves eight counties: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell and Rutherford. “Our land trust is a little different in that we have done so much work on public lands,” says Susie Hamrick Jones, executive director, “and it’s because we have evolved in response to the landscapes in our regional footprint.”
Box Creek Wilderness Ranked Among the Rarest of the Rare
Endangered species inhabit its woodlands and over 50 miles of pristine streams flow freely through its forests.
Among North Carolina’s 2,400 Significant Natural Heritage Areas (SNHAs), the privately-owned 5,800-acre Box Creek Wilderness on the Rutherford-McDowell county line is now ranked among the rarest of the rare.
Recent rankings announced by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (NCDENR) Natural Heritage Program, place the Box Creek Wilderness in the top 1 percent of the state’s SNHAs – at 24th.
The ranking is based on the collective value index, which sums all the different rare species and communities weighted by their rarity.
Burr urges Congress to increase conservation efforts
BY J. REYNOLDS HUTCHINS
MORGANTON — U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) joined Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) on Tuesday to introduce new legislation on the Senate floor urging their fellow congressmen to dedicate consistent and reliable funds to land and water conservation efforts nationwide.
The bill, cosponsored by five other congressmen, would amend the current Land and Water Conservation Fund, or LWCF Act of 1965.
