0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 19
“Our goal is to be an exemplary
land steward. It’s for the health
and longevity of the resources
that are protected, so that
these resources are thriving.”
Andrew Kota
Executive Director
It is an immense privilege to work on the Hickorynut
A property of this magnitude also requires adjusting
Mountain conservation project: a collection of peaks
our view of conservation impact. The project connects
and knobs nearly the size of Manhattan Island itself.
to 64,000 acres of already-conserved land to the east,
Hickorynut Mountain is the last landscape of this
augmenting a corridor from the South Mountains
size in Western North Carolina under single, private
State Park to Pisgah National Forest. The property
ownership. FCNC has not undertaken a project of this
itself harbors 26 natural community types; 454
scale since its founding 30 years ago, when the Rollins
plant species, 38 of which are rare plant species in
Tract was protected.
North Carolina; 112 wildlife species, including 11 rare
This project means many things.
animals such as the endemic crevice salamander
and lampshade weaver spider; and two federally
Initially, it has required adjusting our approach to
listed endangered bats: Indiana and Northern long-
understanding the site. Although I usually enjoy
eared. Hickorynut Mountain contains over 149 miles
walking a potential property, our 昀椀rst visit made it
of streams and tributaries in the Broad and Catawba
clear that hiking the area would take an unsustainable
River Basins, which supply public drinking water
amount of time. Our 昀椀rst drive—on ATVs from the
to millions of people in North Carolina and South
public road to the 3,220 feet peak—took over an hour
Carolina, including Charlotte.
along steep dirt roads, through dense mountain
forests and across streams. Despite many visits since,
including a day hike to the summit, I have still seen
only a fraction of the property.
As forested and undeveloped spaces of this size
become increasingly rare, it is crucial to protect them
while we still can. I used to wonder, walking around
Central Park, what it would have looked like had the
Scale also means leveraging many partners: the
entire island remained forested, without millions of tons
North Carolina State Parks and North Carolina Wildlife
of concrete. With Hickorynut Mountain, I am grateful no
Resources Commission, who will eventually own and
one will ever have to wonder the same thing.
steward the property; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
due to the property’s proximity to the Mountain Bogs
National Wildlife Refuge; and connecting with countless
funding partners as we raise the necessary resources.
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