Fairview, Chemtronics land conserved for wildlife habitat, climate resiliency

ASHEVILLE – As development continues in Western North Carolina, it’s not just mountaintop views at stake, but also habitat for threatened wildlife and a respite from the threat of climate change.

In two separate deals, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy recently conserved land at the Chemtronics Inc. property in Swannanoa and in Fairview near Hickory Nut Gorge. The move should help protect mountain scenery and water resources - and help forest critters survive in the long term.

The Chemtronics property was a project nearly 20 years in the making, said Michelle Pugliese, the conservancy's land protection director.

“This land has been a long-time priority for conservation. I’m thrilled to see this project finally come to fruition,” she said.

Chemtronics will retain ownership, but will be restricted in what kinds of activities it can do on the land. The total property is 1,065 acres, of which 535 acres is a Superfund site, a contaminated area under cleanup orders by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The “front valley” area of the site was once used to manufacture “explosives, propellants, incapacitating agents, and a variety of specialty chemicals,” according to the EPA. Waste from these products was disposed of on the site’s “back valley” on Old Bee Tree Road.

Manufacturing began in the 1950s under previous owners. Chemtronics took over the property in 1965. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List in 1983 because of contaminated groundwater and soil. All manufacturing activities were discontinued by 1994.

Chemtronics voluntarily donated a conservation easement on 526 acres above and surrounding, but not part of the Superfund site, Pugliese said. The agreement permanently protects the land adjoining Pisgah National Forest, as well as scenic views from the Blue Ridge Parkway, Interstate 40 and U.S. 70.

“This landscape is important to the surrounding Swannanoa community, and we are pleased to be able to permanently protect these ridges,” said Carl Silverstein, the conservancy's executive director. “The conservation easement area provides important wildlife corridors and will create an undeveloped buffer adjoining other protected lands.”

The property's forested, steep slopes rise to more than 3,580 feet in elevation, adjoining a large block of contiguous, protected land in the Black Mountains. That land includes the Asheville Watershed, Pisgah National Forest, Mount Mitchell State Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is less than a mile away.

The property contains a portion of the Audubon Society’s Black and Great Craggy Mountains Important Bird Area, which provides habitat for species including black-throated blue warbler, Blackburnian warbler, Canada warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, winter wren, pine siskin and dark-eyed junco.

Pugliese said extensive site analyses show the land within the conservation easement boundary is not contaminated.

The land will continue to be owned by Chemtronics and will not be open to the public, she said. Southern Appalachian Highlands stewardship staff will monitor the conservation easement area annually, and the property will be managed for forest health, according to a forest management plan.

More land for wildlife, potential hiking trails

In a recent purchase, the conservancy acquired Strawberry Gap, a 155-acre parcel that will protect views from Blue Ridge Pastures, an area the land trust already holds in conservation easement, at the terminus of the Trombatore Trail. The land is on the Buncombe-Henderson border, just north of the Hickory Nut Gorge and Chimney Rock.

The purchase adds to a network of protected land that encompasses Hickory Nut Gap Farm and the Drovers Road Scenic Byway/U.S. 74A.

Neighboring landowner, and state Rep. John Ager, said the gap was once a passageway for people to walk from Buncombe to Henderson counties.

“There are plenty of old chimneys on both sides to give a sense of the community there. We can assume wild strawberries once grew in the full sunshine. While the cabins are gone, the forest has returned and will provide a wonderful setting for hiking in the ever-expanding Hickory Nut Gorge Trail System,” Ager said.

Pugliese said Strawberry Gap has been a high conservation priority for more than a decade due to its location along the blossoming HNG Trail System. Conserving Carolina, a Hendersonville-based land trust, is coordinating this trail system, which will eventually stretch 100 miles, linking public hiking trails from Lake Lure to the Hickory Nut Gorge and Fairview area.

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Hikers can see the newly conserved area from the Trombatore Trail, which has a public access off Bearwallow Mountain Road in Gerton, and joins the southern boundary of Strawberry Gap. Another proposed trail is planned along the eastern ridge line boundary on the way to Ferguson Peak.

The forested property rises to an elevation of 3,800 feet, and includes a portion of the Audubon Society’s Chimney Rock/Hickory Nut Gorge Important Bird Area. Southern Appalachian Highlands plans to manage the forests for diversity and climate resiliency, and perhaps one day as a public hiking trail, Pugliese said.

The property had “access issues” for developers, so the conservancy was able to purchase the land for an “extremely low” $402,000, she said. The adjoining 15-acre Stony Point was purchased for $45,000.

Fred and Alice Stanback and the James G. K. McClure Educational and Development Fund donated funding for the Strawberry Gap purchase. The Stanbacks and a grant from the Conservation Trust for North Carolina covered transaction costs for the Stony Knob purchase.

“If a developer had purchased the land, there could have easily have been a subdivision on top of the mountain, which would have negatively impacted everyone’s view,” Pugliese said.

But even more important is that the rocky, high-elevation area provides habit for rare species, and is a cooler haven for wildlife as the Earth heats up.

“We’re starting to look at climate change resiliency in our criteria for purchasing land,” she said.

“This property ranks above average. It contains habitat that will be able to withstand impacts of climate change in the future. Resiliency is based on the diversity of habitat, as well as slope and hydrologic features. When you get into higher elevation, you’re creating places for species to migrate as the climate warms.”

The Stony Point property will be managed along with the adjoining Strawberry Gap tract for forest health. It contains stands of the rapidly disappearing Carolina hemlock. A portion of Brush Creek flows through the property, which also lies within the Audubon’s Chimney Rock-Hickory Nut Gorge Important Bird Area.

The “bulbous nose” of Stony Point, a well-known landmark, can be seen from U.S. 74A between Fairview and Chimney Rock. But an even more spectacular vantage point awaits on a climb to the top of the bluff, with sweeping views of the Fairview and Cane Creek valleys and the Brush Creek area. Pugliese said Southern Appalachian Highlands might offer guided hikes to the summit in the future.

If you go

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy's annual celebration of conservation successes, Appalachian Spring, is 5-8 p.m. May 31, at The Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Drive, in Asheville.

The event will include live music by Daniel Shearin and friends and barbecue dinner. Advance tickets are $30 SAHC members, $35 non-members, $20 students/AmeriCorps, $10 ages 7-13. Visit www.Appalachian.org.