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The beauty of the Highlands of Roan is unmatched in the Southern Appalachians. The region that straddles North Carolina and Tennessee has some of the highest concentrations of mountaintop grassy balds in the world, and each summer, the flanks of the massif glow red with the flowers of flaming azaleas and Catawba rhododendrons. The Appalachian Trail winds through the soft folds of the mountains, which serve as home to gray fox, northern flying squirrels, saw whet owls, and myriad migratory birds traveling through on their annual passage.
These are the landscapes we love, yet of the Roan’s 30,000 acres, more than 12,000 acres remain vulnerable to development. OSI has been working with the Southern Appalachians Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) to focus attention to the region, and in October 2006, provided SAHC with a loan to help protect the Powdermill tract. The 434-acre parcel is identified by North Carolina’s state wildlife action plan (SWAP) as critical for wildlife conservation.
Approaching land conservation using SWAP information is smart in such a biologically rich area. SAHC, a nonprofit group based in Asheville, just received $20,000 grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society to undertake a comprehensive mapping project that will create an accessible and secure GIS-based toolkit for the globally significant Roan Mountain massif.
Incorporating natural heritage and geological data with existing property ownership information showing private and protected lands, the maps will overlay SWAP-designated priority areas, watersheds, and other conservation elements such as Audubon’s Important Bird Areas. Integrating all this information across Avery and Mitchell Counties in North Carolina and Carter County in Tennessee, the GIS system will become a blueprint to better conservation in an area like no other on earth, yet distressingly common in its vulnerability to development.
“Maps are worth a thousand words,” said Marc Hunt, OSI’s credit director and Southern Appalachian field coordinator. “The hope is that this project can be leveraged to bring more attention to the Roan. This is how amplification works.”
“We’re moving out of the dark ages,” said Jay Leutze, SAHC board member, referring to maps the group currently uses, riddled with stick pins, marked with highlighting and plastered with post-it notes. “These maps will bring together existing data sets in a way that hasn’t been done before. It’s a whole new way to look at the Highlands, and the State of North Carolina is in a great situation for conservation funding right now.”
State wildlife action plans have helped to identify the most valuable habitat--stepping boldly beyond individual species protection in need of protection. Uniting around these SWAPs, groups such as OSI, SAHC and The Nature Conservancy are collaborating to make the best use of public and private funding sources and zeroing in on protecting the best of the best in terms of wildlife habitat.
“The partnerships we’re forming are stronger than ever,” added Leutze. “This is science-based land conservation that is protecting our natural heritage.”
See a gallery of photographs of the Region here. Support OSI’s work in the Southern Appalachians. | 
