Public Lands
There are over 1.6 million acres of national forests in Western North Carolina. From its founding, MountainTrue has stayed committed to the protection of our public lands and forests by helping to shape the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest Management Plan and advocating for our national, state, county and city parks.
Forest Management Plan
MountainTrue works to help shape the National Forest Service’s Forest Plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. MountainTrue and its members advocate for conservation and sustainable public access through our participation in coalitions such as the Conservation & Recreation Coalition and the Nantahala-Pisgah Partnership.
Why Does This Matter?
Forest Keeper Volunteers
MountainTrue’s volunteer base of Forest Keepers works to keep WNC forests and public lands protected and healthy. The Forest Keepers’ work begins at the intersection of environmental science and environmental stewardship. This group collaborates with other non-profits in North Carolina to promote active stewardship in protecting, managing and maintaining the forest of Southern Appalachia. Forest Keeper volunteers work in conjunction with North Carolina Forest Service, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Hemlock Restoration Initiative, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the City of Asheville Parks and Recreation Department as the eyes, ears and helping hands of the forest.
The Forest Keepers protect, manage, and maintain the health of our Southern Appalachian forests through volunteer workdays, hosting skills workshops and giving science presentations. Forest Keepers have the opportunity to work within our forests and network with other people in Western North Carolina who are dedicated to forest protection and ecosystem vitality. This dedicated group of volunteers does hands on work through projects like hemlock restoration workdays, Richmond Hill Park non-native invasive removal, Sandy Bottom wetlands restoration, OM Sanctuary restoration and our annual bioblitz. For more information about the Forest Keeper Volunteers and to get involved, contact Bob Gale at bob@mountaintrue.org or Josh Kelly at josh@mountaintrue.org.
Annual Bioblitz
MountainTrue conducts an annual bioblitz every year in an area of our WNC public lands. A bioblitz is a biological inventory of an ecosystem in order to record all the living species within a particular area. MountainTrue staff, scientists, wildlife experts, naturalists and community volunteers gather together and explore a selected area to catalogue living species and learn more about our unique mountain ecosystems.
Our first bioblitz was conducted in 2016 on Bluff Mountain. Read more!
Public Lands News
Public Lands are Priceless, not Worthless
Congress is well on its way to making it easier to privatize our public lands. The House approved a package of rules that sets a zero-dollar value on federally protected lands that are transferred to states. By devaluing federal lands, Congress is paving the way to hand them over to states that cannot afford to manage these lands and will likely seek to raise funds by selling off our national treasures to developers or to mining, fracking and logging industries. Act now to protect America’s public lands!
After The Wildfires: Climate Mitigation and Adapting to the New Normal, at the Collider
On Monday, December 19, MountainTrue’s Public Lands Field Biologist Josh Kelly and Jim Fox of the National Environmental and Modeling Analysis Center at UNC Asheville presented on the topics of climate change, drought and strategies for wildfire management at the collider.
Exploring the Green River Game Lands
On Sunday, November 6, MountainTrue hosted a hike through the Green River Game Lands with 26 participants accompanied by six staff members. We used the opportunity to promote our newly updated trail maps of the Green River Game Lands, which were published by MountainTrue with support from the Perry Rudnick Foundation, Community Foundation of Henderson County, and Polk County Travel and Tourism.
2016 MoutainTrue Awards Recipients Announced
MountainTrue announced the winners of the MountainTrue Awards, which were at the organization’s Fall Gathering held at New Belgium Brewing Company in Asheville on October 26. Award honorees are recognized for their hard work and dedication to protecting our forests, mountains, rivers and streams, and to promoting clean energy and sustainability.
Join us for the MountainTrue Fall Gathering at New Belgium!
Wednesday, October 26, join us at New Belgium Brewery in Asheville for our annual Fall Gathering. Expect great beer, delicious food and some sweet, sweet jams from Asheville’s very own The Midnight Plowboys. With our proud mountain heritage, beautiful mountain vistas, lush forests and rushing streams, Western North Carolina is an amazing and special place to call home. The support of our members has helped us fight for our communities and protect one of the richest environments in the world. Come and help us recognize the hard work of our members and volunteers, and to celebrate our accomplishments over the past year.