0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 5
2005
Lake James State Park
1998
Rollins Tract
permanently protected
Over 23,000 acres protected
in the South Mountains! This
included the establishment
of the South Mountains
Game Land and a major
expansion of South
Mountains State Park.
Early 1990’s
South Mountains Coalition
was established
Working with public and private
partners, Foothills Conservancy
raised over $25 million to protect
nearly 9,000 acres around Lake
James and the Linville Gorge
Wilderness. This effort expanded
Lake James State Park by almost
3,000 acres and 30 miles of
shoreline, and created new state
game lands and additions to
Pisgah National Forest.
A grassroots coalition formed in 1995
to protect the South Mountains as
development threatened the 17,829-acre
Rollins Tract and the 5,285-acre Morganton
Watershed. Incorporating as a nonpro昀椀t
in December 1995, the group worked to
secure an unprecedented $16 million to
save these landmark properties.
1997
2000
South Mountains Coalition
incorporated as Foothills
Conservancy of North
Carolina (FCNC) and
of昀椀cially became a land
trust with an eight county
service area.
1998
South Mountains State Park
With FCNC acquisition assistance
over the last 30 years, South
Mountains State Park has become
the largest park in the NC State
Park system, at over 20,000 acres!
FCNC’s 1st Agricultural
Conservation Easement—
Bovender Farm
Over 300 acres of the Bovender Family
Farm, originally part of a land grant from
the King of England, is now permanently
protected by a conservation easement.
