2016

Protecting the Whippoorwill Dairy Farm on Paddy’s Creek was a unique partnership between the conservancy and Fonta Flora Brewery. Foothills Conservancy purchased 40 acres that border Paddy’s Creek, and later donated to Lake James State Park. Fonta Flora Brewery purchased 8 acres of the former dairy farm along Highway 126, which included most of the old barns and structures, to expand and create a farmhouse brewery.

Also this year, the conservancy acquired the Bear Den property, 208 forested acres along 1.6 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in McDowell County. The acquisition was made possible by gifts from private donors, a grant from Conservation Trust of North Carolina (CTNC), and by taking out a loan from CTNC’s Mountain Revolving Loan Fund. The loan fund enables land trusts to respond quickly when critical conservation properties become available for purchase.

A 93-acre parcel at the base of the South Mountains, containing the headwaters of Cane Creek was acquired by the conservancy with a private contribution. The property has significant historical value–the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail passes directly through the middle of the property. The site is also situated within the boundary of the Cane Creek Battlefield, a 1780 skirmish between the Patrons referred to as the Overmountain Men, and British Loyalists during the revolutionary war.