The Conservation Trust for North Carolina announced today (March 22nd, 2006) that it has purchased 12.14 acres adjoining the Blue Ridge Parkway NC near Little Switzerland NC in Mitchell County NC. The property is located approximately two miles from the Little Switzerland NC post office at milepost 332 and 333 of the Blue Ridge Parkway NC.
The Conservation Trust Fund purchased the property using its own funds and a generous contribution from Fred and Alice Stanback of Salisbury. The Conservation Trust Fund plans to donate the property to the National Park Service for inclusion in the Parkway’s boundary.
“We are grateful to the Conservation Trust of North Carolina for the acquisition of the property,” said Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway. “This was another important property in the Little Switzerland NC area that was extremely vulnerable to development.
Jann Godwin, owner of Timberline Properties, Inc. and Grace Greenlee, a Realtor with Timberline, facilitated the sale of the property. They expressed the following sentiment about the sale: “We at Timberline are delighted to again be able to be involved in a sale that results in the conservation of not only a beautiful section of our mountain but a historic one as well."
“In conserving this property the Conservation Trust for North Carolina not only protects the view from the Parkway, but it also preserves a portion of the old Over the Mountain Men Trail and in so doing preserves a portion of our areas history. We are grateful to the Fant family for allowing us to handle the sale of the property and for their foresight in approving a sale to such a worthwhile cause. We are assured by the Fant family that Margaret Leach, who purchased the property in the 1930’s and passed it down to her nieces and nephews, would have approved of both the sale and the causes supported by the Conservation Trust of North Carolina.”
CTNC & TIMBERLINE PROPERTIES HOST PARKWAY TOUR
The Conservation Trust of North Carolina held a Parkway tour and fund-raising reception Sunday, June 11,2006, for individuals interested in preserving the cherished landscape of the Blue Ridge Parkway Jann Godwin, Owner of Timberline Properties, generously hosted the reception at the Switzerland Inn.
One example of the types of properties guests saw on the tour was a 25-acre tract that adjoins the Parkway for approximately 2,000 feet at milepost 335, located less than a mile from the Little Switzerland post office. The Conservation Trust protected the property in October 2005 with generous help from Fred and Alice Stanback and the Cannon Foundation, after learning the property was being bid on by a developer. The property will be donated to the National Park Service for inclusion in the Parkway’s boundaries.
The tour also showcased a vulnerable and highly visible 1,680-acre tract that the organization is currently working on raising public and private funds to preserve with a conservation agreement. The Conservation Trust needs the help of its supporters to secure this property; one of the last large undeveloped tracts available in this area.
Excerpts from the The Mitchell News Journal newspaper, Wednesday, March 22, 2006, and Conserve Carolina newsletter, Summer 2006
(Below - Clockwise from top left: 1 - CTNC Staff Edward Norvell & Rusty Painter; Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway; Sheila Gasperson, Blue Ridge Parkway Realty Specialist; 2 - Linda & Bill Swayne; Representative Phillip Frye & June Frye; 3 - Phil Francis; Fred & Alice Stanback; 4 - Grace Greenlee, Jann Godwin, and Penny McFee of Timberline Properties. )