Community comes through: Conserving Carolina meets goal to purchase 192 acres in Polk Co.

Staff reports
·3 min read

After asking the community for support for needed funds, Conserving Carolina announced it has met the goal and purchased 192 acres in Polk County for a new nature preserve. The planned preserve, called Cedar Cliffs at Twin Bridges, will connect two existing Conserving Carolina preserves — Melrose Falls and Norman Wilder Forest.

This is one of the views along a trail in the Cedar Cliffs at Twin Bridges property in Polk County that Conserving Carolina recently purchased for conservation.
This is one of the views along a trail in the Cedar Cliffs at Twin Bridges property in Polk County that Conserving Carolina recently purchased for conservation.

The land also borders the proposed Saluda Grade Trail. Part of the land is located just across U.S. 176 from the North Pacolet River, with headwater streams that flow into the river.

According to a news release, the property has been a top conservation priority for many years and the land trust had attempted to acquire it in the past, without success. An opportunity arose early this year to buy the land — but only if Conserving Carolina could raise $100,000 in donations quickly, the release said. Just days after Conserving Carolina announced this need, local donors met the fundraising goal and kept on giving.

The total price for the land purchase was $840,000, according to Conserving Carolina.

This map shows the Cedar Cliffs property recently purchased by Conserving Carolina.
This map shows the Cedar Cliffs property recently purchased by Conserving Carolina.

“This level of generosity really speaks to how much people already treasure the protected lands in the North Pacolet River Gorge," Conserving Carolina Executive Director Kieran Roe said in the release. "If you’ve seen the wildflowers in Melrose Falls, or walked the trails in Norman Wilder Forest, or you’re looking forward to the Saluda Grade Trail, then you can understand what a momentous opportunity this is for conservation.”

According to the release funding came from Fred and Alice Stanback, the Polk County Community Foundation Bradley Fund, the Upstate Land Conservation Fund and numerous gifts from other local donors. Conserving Carolina has also applied for a key grant from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund.

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The Cedar Cliffs property includes two separate sections, one on either side of Conserving Carolina’s Melrose Falls Preserve (also called Twin Bridges). The northern section includes 162 forested acres on Buck Mountain, with rare plants, rich biodiversity, and eight headwater streams. This section also touches Conserving Carolina’s Norman Wilder Forest, home to popular hiking trails, the release said.

The southern section of Cedar Cliffs includes 30 acres with a long boundary along the proposed Saluda Grade Trail. This means that a section of the rail trail could have nature preserves on both sides — Melrose Falls and Cedar Cliffs. Cedar Cliffs also offers a potential access point for the Saluda Grade Trail.

The Cedar Cliffs preserve will add to two growing conservation corridors, one running east-west along the North Pacolet River, with the other running north-south across mountains to link two vast protected areas, the Green River Game Lands and Mountain Bridge Wilderness.

“This is such a special part of the mountains, with so much beauty and biodiversity,” Roe said. “By protecting another wonderful nature preserve here, we’re moving toward a landscape-level vision for conservation.”

Conserving Carolina is a local land trust that has helped protect almost 49,000 acres, including farmland, forests, rivers, wetlands, parks and trails. More information is available at conservingcarolina.org.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Conserving Carolina: Community raises funds for Polk Co. land purchase