Protected Land

101 acres – Boone Gap Forest
Alexander County, Taylorsville, NC

In 2025, FCF purchased 101 acres of Boone Gap Forest, which is classified as an Exceptional Southeastern deciduous forest community dominated by old-growth Chestnut oak, Montane oak and hickory trees. Natural seeps and springs on the property are the source waters of the Lower Little River, a tributary of the Catawba River, which serves as the drinking water source for the City of Charlotte. This parcel in the Brushy Mountains, a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains, abuts other lands protected under conservation easements. Its elevations range from 1700 to 2100 feet above sea level. An open portion of the ridge of this parcel, called Boone Gap, was discovered by Daniel Boone in the 1700s, and allowed passage through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Kentucky.

65 Acres – Stone Mountain – The Nettle Patch
Wise County, Norton, VA

Bordered by Jefferson National Forest on two sides and with a mountain creek running along the property boundary, this mountain property includes a mature oak-hickory forest at an elevation of 2,300 ft. It is included in the Virginia Natural Land Network as a critical core for ecological process flow and wildlife movement between other critical conservation lands. It is also mapped as a Very High quality Ecological Core (C2), as having Outstanding (5) forest conservation values, and as a critical conservation property by Conserve Virginia.