A recently conserved piece of land in Macon County, NC includes a federally significant marsh, a scenic view and a portion of the Nantahala River.

Mainspring Conservation Trust has conserved more than 205 acres in the Rainbow Springs area of the county’s western portion, and that land is now part of a larger node of privately conserved property that totals 2,619 acres and abuts the Nantahala National Forest.

The newly conserved land — which Mainspring Executive Director Jordan Smith called “one of the most ecologically significant and diverse areas within Mainspring’s entire region” — is owned by the Rainbow Springs Hunting and Fishing Club and was the last unprotected piece of land in the club’s ownership.

About 85 percent of the newly conserved property is within the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail and is visible from the Waterfall Byway and surrounding Nantahala National Forest lands. It has abundant aquatic resources and riparian habitat, including more than a mile of Nantahala River frontage. This project further protects these waters that are currently classified as Outstanding Resource Waters by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

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When locals speak of Sandy Mush, it’s often in the same breath with words like “sacred land,” “pure,” and “paradise.”

So protecting this bucolic expanse of farmland amid North Carolina’s Newfound Mountains of northwestern Buncombe County has been a life’s work for many who live in or who just love the area.

The Ellis family recently worked with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy to protect 88 acres of their land in Boyd Cove with a conservation easement that ensures plant and animal habitat and water sources will remain forever undisturbed and free from development.

The cove is covered in montane oak-hickory and rich cove forests ranging in elevation from 2,920 to 3,840 feet, is splashed with seeps and springs and more than 5,580 feet of streams that feed Long Branch, a tributary to Sandy Mush Creek, which is a direct tributary of the French Broad River.

Long Branch and Sandy Mush creeks are classified as protected trout waters for their ability to sustain year-round trout populations.

Protecting the land through a conservation easement – which allows the landowners to maintain ownership but restricts development – will help prevent sedimentation and other types of pollution from entering the French Broad River watershed, and will protect habitat for wildlife, including rare and endangered species, said Michelle Pugliese, SAHC’s land protection director.

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  A highly prized 50-acre slice of forest will remain forever untouched as it officially becomes part of the Nantahala National Forest.

The relatively small Fires Creek parcel on the Cherokee-Clay county line of the 500,000-acre forest was the object of a contentious, decade-long battle among the private landowners, the U.S. Forest Service and forest visitors who wanted to see a wilderness-like setting remain in its natural state.

Everyone involved seemed to walk away satisfied Nov. 20, 2017 when the nonprofit Mainspring Conservation Trust closed on the property to keep Fires Creek forever preserved in conservation.

The outright purchase of the land, which contains no structures, was a welcome holiday gift for the land trust and the many forest users including hikers, hunters and anglers who are still seeking solitude in nature.

“Fires Creek is designated as an Outstanding Resource Water, the highest designation available in North Carolina,” said Sharon Taylor, Mainspring executive director.

The Nantahala National Forest is a sweeping swath of forest that covers some of the most rugged, remote, scenic country in the mountains of Western North Carolina. It is home to several wilderness areas, including Ellicott Rock, Southern Nantahala and Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock.

The forest is crisscrossed with trails, streams, lakes, wildlife corridors, waterfalls, precious plants and wildlife, all of it undeveloped except for campgrounds and hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails.

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The Pacific Crest Trail at Stevens Pass is a gateway to some of the most spectacular wilderness in the North Cascades. The Stevens Pass trailhead is also an important PCT access point for millions of people in the Greater Seattle region. Just to the south lies the spectacular Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and to the north are the equally magnificent Henry M. Jackson and Glacier Peak wilderness areas.

In early 2015, the property’s private owner, who had been seeking to sell the land, stated their intention to place a fence across the trail and close the PCT to public access through the parcel. Recognizing the potentially disastrous impact of a trail closure and the threat that development of the property would pose, the Pacific Crest Trail Association, working alongside the U.S. Forest Service, secured an option agreement to purchase the property.

This forgotten easement could have severed the Pacific Crest Trail, which extends from Mexico to Canada along the crests of several mountain ranges, including the Cascades in Washington. Most of the trail weaves through public lands, but about 10 percent of it is owned privately.

The trail was designated as a National Scenic Trail in 1968 and officially declared finished in 1993. Hikers often travel the length of the route in the summer, but it is also popular with day hikers and other recreational users.

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The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has purchased 324 acres of land it called “one of our top conservation priorities.”

The acreage is in Carter County on the northern slope of Hump Mountain west of Banner Elk, N.C. Total purchase price was $1,621,120.

“Our purchasing this tract ensures that future generations of hikers will be able to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the Appalachian Trail on Hump Mountain,” said SAHC executive director Carl Silverstein.

The land comes within 500 feet of the AT, and purchasing it will ensure hikers will continue to get 360-degree views of the mountain grasslands.

An SAHC news release stated that the organization has expressed an interest in the land, owned by Oscar Julian, since 1967. It was joined in the effort to purchase it by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the US Forest Service.

The property adjoins Cherokee National Forest and Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area. The SAHC intends to own the property until funds are available for it to be transferred to the Cherokee National Forest, according to the release.

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As president of the nonprofit Friends of Panthertown, Margaret Carton has worked for years to protect her beloved Panthertown Valley in Jackson County.

As the “feet on the ground,” the group has worked since 2005 to maintain trails, install steps around waterfalls to create safe footing, and give educational programs.

With a deal underway with Mainspring Conservation Trust and the U.S. Forest Service, the friends group will get to care for a bigger chunk of Panthertown.

If fundraising is successful, the Mainspring land trust is set to purchase a 16-acre, privately owned parcel known as the Hipp property, at the west entrance to Panthertown Valley. The valley comprises 6,295 acres of recreation area in the Nantahala National Forest. The parcel is a prime piece of real estate.

The 16-acre property contains a knoll that looks into the rugged and rolling hills of the protected Panthertown Valley, which is open to hiking, mountain biking, fishing, camping and horseback riding.

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