Last Updated on October 21, 2026 6:30 pm
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) has added 372 acres to its Roan High Preserve in Mitchell County, permanently protecting land on the southern flank of the Roan Massif.
The conservancy acquired the land in September in three separate tracts: Feeding Ridge, Cook Creek and Chestnut Ridge. The tracts border Pisgah National Forest and other SAHC-protected land. With the addition, the Roan High Preserve now totals 1,449 contiguous, permanently protected acres. The undeveloped land is highly visible from the Appalachian Trail and surrounding communities.
“Conservation of these three tracts secures important missing ‘puzzle pieces’ in SAHC’s Roan High Preserve,” said Roan Stewardship Director Marquette Crockett. “This preserve now forms one large, unbroken, permanently protected section of forest in the very heart of the Roan Massif, stretching up to the spruce-fir ecozone and preserving exceptional high order stream corridors.”
Habitat and views
The preserve protects high-elevation hardwood and spruce-fir forests. SAHC says the conifer forests support rare species including the Carolina northern flying squirrel, Saw-whet Owl and Red Crossbill, while the hardwood forests support neotropical birds such as the Canada Warbler and Veery. Several designations overlay or adjoin the tracts, including the Audubon Society’s Roan Mountain Important Bird Area and the state-designated Roan Mountain Massif Natural Area.
Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese said the Feeding Ridge tract had been a longtime top priority for SAHC, going back at least to the 1990s. The new additions protect elevations reaching 5,400 feet that are visible from the Appalachian Trail. Visitors to the Rhododendron Gardens on Roan Mountain will be able to enjoy an unblemished view of the mile-long ridgeline on Feeding Ridge forever, she said.
Headwaters and tributaries of Little Rock Creek, a main tributary of the Nolichucky River, flow through the land, including the main branch of Cook Creek, a trout stream. SAHC says the protection will also help safeguard water quality downstream.
Helene restoration
A 2025 grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative is funding habitat restoration across the preserve, including the new tracts. Crockett said Tropical Storm Helene hit the Roan Highlands hard, and SAHC estimates more than one-third of the forests on the Roan High Preserve suffered severe blowdowns. The work includes clearing soil roads for emergency access and wildfire response, reducing fire risk in blowdown areas, treating invasive plants, planting red spruce and using automated recording units to study how birds respond to the storm.
How it was funded
SAHC credited conservation-minded philanthropic leaders, an Appalachia Rising grant through Re:wild, and SAHC members for making the purchase possible. The conservancy, which says it reached 100,000 acres protected this year, is also running a donor match of up to $100,000 for new donors and increased annual gifts.
More information is available at appalachian.org.
