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North Carolina’s Most Memorable Roads Get Protection

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT), along with nine other land trusts, was awarded a $252,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration to help preserve land along 560 miles of North Carolina’s most treasured scenic highways.   The preservation effort will focus on 27 scenic byways – more than half of the scenic byways in the state – in 37 North Carolina counties from the mountains to the coast.

 The land trusts will target the natural, cultural and scenic resources that convey North Carolina’s unique stories and cultural heritage along the highways.  The land protection effort will accompany development of heritage tourism activities, ensuring the protection of some of North Carolina’s most scenic landscapes and the marketability of the byways as tourism corridors. 

 “We live in the most beautiful section of North Carolina which not surprisingly has the largest concentration of Scenic highways in the State,” said Paul Carlson, LTLT’s Executive Director. “Our work towards conserving the rural fabric of our mountain counties is key to maintaining the scenic beauty that we all enjoy as we travel throughout the region.”

 The land trusts will use the funds to identify, map, and prioritize key parcels of land for conservation as well as conduct outreach to landowners, local governments and the public with information about land conservation options.   The land trusts will also create a plan for continued management and protection of the resources.   

 “This project is a great example of partnering between FHWA, NCDOT, local governments and local land trusts to collaboratively identify and plan for the future protection of key properties that contribute to the scenic value of North Carolina's byways,” said John Sullivan, Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. 

  The grant is part of the North Carolina Scenic Byways Land Conservation Initiative funded by the Federal Highway Administration’s National Scenic Byways Program. The National Scenic Byways Program recognizes certain roads as National Scenic Byways, or “All-American Roads,” based on their archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.  The grant is one of 309 projects funded in 45 states across the nation. 

 North Carolina loses more than 100,000 acres of natural lands – the equivalent of an area the size of High Point and Winston-Salem combined – to development each year.  This rapid conversion of land threatens pristine rivers, drinking water, wildlife habitat, working farms and forests, and scenic views across the state.

“Land trusts are an excellent way to protect the future viability of North Carolina's Scenic Byways as increasing population and development continues to affect our landscapes," said Jeff Lackey, state coordinator of the N.C. Department of Transportation Scenic Byways Program.  "This effort will help preserve and promote some of North Carolina's most distinctive roads."

Some of the lands protected through the program will be accessible to the public for hiking, canoeing, birding, and other recreational activities.  Protected land that remains in private ownership will preserve scenic mountain vistas, working farms and forests, and heritage sites that enhance the traveler’s experience on the byways.  These private lands will also add significant value to adjacent natural, recreational and heritage areas like the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains and Uwharrie National Forest. 

 Land trusts participating in the grant already work with landowners to voluntarily protect land in their region. Each of the 10 land trusts will target byways located in their local communities for protection.  The byways targeted in the grant include the Appalachian Medley, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cherohala Skyway, Doc Watson, Drovers Road, Forest Heritage, Indian Lakes, Little Parkway, Mission Crossing, Nantahala, New River Valley, Pisgah Loop, Upper Yadkin Way, Waterfall and the New River Valley in North Carolina’s mountain region; the Birkhead Wilderness Route, Flint Hill Ramble, Grassy Island Crossing, Indian Heritage Trail, Mill Bridge, Pee Dee Valley Drive, Pottery Road, Rolling Kansas, Sandhills Scenic Drive and Uwharrie Scenic Road in the piedmont region; and the Brunswick Town Road, Lafayette’s Tour and Tarheel Trace in North Carolina’s coastal region.

 Land trusts working on the grant include the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, High Country Conservancy, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, The LandTrust for Central North Carolina, The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, Sandhills Area Land Trust, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, and Tar River Land Conservancy.  The Conservation Trust for North Carolina, a service center to 23 local land trusts, is coordinating the project. 

 The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee conserves the waters, forests, farms and heritage of the upper Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River valleys spanning the six counties in North Carolina west of the Balsam Mountains.  LTLT has conserved over 10,000 acres to date, including over 35 miles of Little Tennessee River frontage, four working farms, and many miles of National Forest and National Park boundary.

 LTLT is one of 24 North Carolina land trusts. North Carolina’s land trusts preserve land and water resources to safeguard your way of life.  We work in local communities to ensure that critical lands are protected for clean drinking water, recreation, tourism and working farms.