Karen Chávez

kchavez@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE – As the uber-popular Appalachian Trail continues to morph and grow and attract more users and admirers, protecting the land that hugs the footpath and winds into its view is more important than ever, conservationists say.

And now one of the more popular access points to the trail in Mitchell County has a little more elbow room in permanent preservation.

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, a land trust based in Asheville, recently purchased 76 acres a half-mile from Carvers Gap, a popular spot for hikers accessing the Appalachian Trail and grassy balds of the Highlands of Roan. SAHC acquired the tract to preserve it and protect scenic views from multiple vantage points along the AT.

"It's very important. As you cross Round Bald on the AT, you see the tract, and it's something that's been on our priority list for many years," said Morgan Sommerville, southern regional director of the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy. "The AT crosses a grassy bald there that with a 'Sound of Music'-like environment, with very little vegetation to obscure your view into eastern Tennessee and as far as Grandfather Mountain and Mount Mitchell. We're hoping the U.S. Forest Service will purchase the tract from the SAHC using Land and Water Conservation funds."

"This tract has been a priority for SAHC for over 40 years, and we are thrilled to be able to conserve it," said Carl Silverstein, SAHC's executive director. "It was the last privately owned tract before you get to Carvers Gap, and because of its location and frontage on N.C. 261, it was at high risk for development. We are so pleased that the landowners chose to sell to SAHC so that the land — and hiking experiences along the AT — will be preserved for the future."

During the summer of 2013, more than 3,500 people visited the grassy balds in the Roan by accessing the trail via Carvers Gap. The recently protected, bowl-shaped property is highly visible from the AT at Jane Bald and lies about 900 feet south of the Trail at Engine Gap, surrounded by Pisgah National Forest.

The conservation purchase comes at a time when the Appalachian Trail is bigger than ever, Sommerville said. The AT, which is part of the National Park Service, now is officially 2,189 miles long, he said. It passes over and through the Appalachian Mountains, passing through 14 states from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail grew by a few miles this past year because of a big chunk of new trail on the south side of Roan High Knob, in between Tennessee and North Carolina.

About 300 miles of the AT lie solely in North Carolina or along the N.C.-Tenn. state line, passing through Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge mountains of Western North Carolina. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the trail, estimates about one in four people who attempt a "thru-hike" of the entire trail successfully complete it, but some 3 million people hike a portion of the AT each year.

"Protecting this highly visible property supports the ecotourism that brings so many people to the communities surrounding the Appalachian Trail in the Roan," Silverstein said.

The tract is part of the Roan Mountain Massif Natural Area, which contains one of the most "outstanding clusters of rare species and natural communities in the Southern Appalachians," he said. The natural features include globally significant resources, protected by federal, state and private partners throughout the region.

The land also lies within the Audubon Society's Roan Mountain Important Bird Area. Clean headwater sources and trout streams also run through the tract. Carvers Gap Creek, classified as Trout Waters and High Quality Waters by the NC Division of Water Quality, originates on the property and flows along its western boundary.

Portions of the tract have also been historically farmed, used for raising Black Angus cattle and, more recently, Christmas trees. After those trees are harvested for sale, there are no plans to continue having Christmas trees farmed on the tract, said SAHC communications director. There are plans for guided hikes, she said.

SAHC bought the tract using a combination of gifts and loans from private philanthropists. A portion of the transaction costs were supported by grants from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. SAHC is actively working to raise funds to pay off the loan it took out in order to purchase the tract, Silverstein said.

Joe DeLoach, former SAHC trustee and president, said the tract is nearly priceless in its conservation significance.

"This tract was one of the closest private lands to the Appalachian Trail in the Roan Highlands, in clear view between Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge," DeLoach said.

"Development would have not only been a visual intrusion, with its proximity it could have resulted in the sounds of civilization reaching the ridge crest. Protection of this longtime conservation priority ensures that the user will continue to experience mountain scenery and countryside views along one of the most heavily used sections of the AT."