Greensboro News & Record - 4/12/16 ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — These 31,000 acres are no piles of rocks and dirt.
Instead, they include a century-old working apple orchard with access to a trail dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Open balds of the Highlands of Roan are a part of the collection of properties, too. The tract's 2,273 acres offer sweeping views of North Carolina and Tennessee. A section of the Appalachian Trail crosses the land.
Ten western North Carolina land trusts that make up the Blue Ridge Forever coalition have spent five years stringing together 280 conservation deals to keep development off those 31,000 acres, land worth at least $25 million.
Blue Ridge Forever formed in 2005 in light of the rapid development happening across the mountains, said Jess Laggis, director of the Blue Ridge Forever collaboration. The land conservation organizations formed a five-year plan to pool resources, skills and knowledge to protect land from development through conservation easements and land purchases.
A conservation easement is a voluntary contract between a land owner and an organization that forever extinguishes development rights, Laggis said. The holder of the easement is charged with monitoring the land and enforcing the terms of the easement. ...
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