Permanently protects 10-acre property along Thunderhole Creek

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina permanently protects 10-acre property along Thunderhole Creek in Caldwell County

MORGANTON, N.C. — Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) announces the permanent protection of 10 acres of privately-owned land along Thunderhole Creek and the Johns River in an ongoing effort to expand conservation in the Johns River watershed. 

The project was made possible because of the conservation ethic of landowner Gregory Tant, and was funded by conservationists Brad and Shelli Stanback. 

"This 10-acre conservation easement lies at the confluence of the Johns River and Thunderhole Creek, nestled in the Globe valley beneath the Blue Ridge Escarpment and surrounded by Pisgah National Forest. The conservation easement held by FCNC will forever protect these two significant water resources, as well as the habitat they provide for wildlife,” said Michael Gaffney, Conservation and GIS Specialist at FCNC. “It's a place of extraordinary beauty,” Gaffney continued, “and we're very grateful to have formed a partnership with the current landowner to help protect and steward the land in perpetuity.”

This project advances the efforts of FCNC to permanently protect the headwaters of the Catawba River and the viewshed of forested landscape seen from Blowing Rock and surrounding areas, building on its recent acquisition of a 326-acre tract in Blowing Rock that contains the source of the Johns River.  

"From the Thunderhole Creek conservation easement property, you can see all the way up to the 326-acre Johns River Headwaters property in Blowing Rock that FCNC recently protected,” said Gaffney. “These two projects are directly connected by the Johns River, and they showcase a continuing effort by FCNC to protect lands around this important surface water," he added.

Past conservation projects in the Johns River watershed include FCNC’s acquisition of 118 acres of land surrounded by Pisgah National Forest containing Burntfield Branch and a segment of the Johns River, and assisting the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission with the purchase of the Johns River Game Land, over 4,000 acres of state-owned land administered for public recreation.

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina is a nationally accredited regional land trust that inspires conservation in Western North Carolina by permanently protecting land and water for the benefit of people and all living things. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Foothills Conservancy has conserved more than 70,000 acres in its eight-county service area: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell and Rutherford, in three major river basins: the Broad, Catawba and Yadkin. Information about Foothills Conservancy, including ways to support its work, can be found online at www.foothillsconservancy.org or by calling 828-437-9930.

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