0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 14
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
Micheal Gaffney
Conservation and GIS Specialist
A Tale of Two
Ecoregions
PINNACLES SOUTH
RUTHERFORD COUNTY
1,685 ACRES
FCNC’s acquisition of Pinnacle Mountains South is a tale of two
ecoregions. This was apparent the moment Tom Kenney, our
Land Protection Director, and I 昀椀rst set foot on the property.
We began in the Southern Outer Piedmont, the westernmost edge of North Carolina’s
central ecoregion. Here, gentle rolling hills and winding streams have long supported
farmland and settlements; this same landscape stretches east to North Carolina’s
major cities like Raleigh and Charlotte. The portion of the property we visited that
day was slated for a housing development and golf course that would wrap around
two man-made ponds, now reclaimed by nature and providing habitat for an active
beaver population.
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