0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 17
2025 Impact Report / Celebrating 30 Years
The land itself is rich and rugged. Nearly two miles
The Power of
Partnership
GILLESPIE GAP
MCDOWELL COUNTY
of high-quality trout waters—Conley Branch, Lonon
Branch, and Martin Branch—昀氀ow from the property
into the North Fork Catawba River and ultimately
834 ACRES
This past fall, FCNC celebrated a major conservation
win in partnership with the Open Space Institute
(OSI): the permanent protection of 834 acres along
into Lake James. Its forest ecosystems include 135
acres of montane oak-hickory, as well as several
pockets of acidic cove forest habitat that support a
remarkable variety of rare 昀氀ora, earning recognition
as signi昀椀cant natural areas by the North Carolina
the Blue Ridge escarpment known as Gillespie Gap.
Natural Heritage Program.
This remarkable stretch of Western North Carolina’s
By conserving a once-threatened tract that had been
landscape is now safeguarded forever, and a new
managed primarily for timber, FCNC and OSI have
gateway to the outdoors will take shape in the years
ensured that clean water, thriving forests, and vital
to come.
wildlife habitat remain intact.
Gillespie Gap occupies a strategic place on the map.
The work, however, is not 昀椀nished. FCNC and OSI
The property borders Pisgah National Forest, including
will continue collaborating with state and federal
a previously landlocked 242-acre section of the
agencies to secure a permanent public steward
Grandfather Ranger District. Thanks to this purchase,
so the land can be managed as part of the Pisgah
these once-inaccessible public lands can one day
Management Plan. With thoughtful planning and
welcome hikers, hunters, and nature lovers who have
community support, Gillespie Gap will become a
never had the chance to explore them.
place where people can connect to the mountains,
Located just a mile below the Blue Ridge Parkway, this
learn from the land, and see 昀椀rsthand what
site also protects the sweeping views seen from the
conservation makes possible.
popular Loops Overlook, ensuring that generations of
This project was made possible through the
travelers can continue to admire this iconic mountain
generosity of the Green South Foundation, Brad and
landscape and its unique natural phenomenon,
Shelli Stanback, and Chip and Martha Whit昀椀eld.
known as fogfall.
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