Written by Ryan Hanchett of The Franklin Press

William Shakespeare famously penned the line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Those words, spoken by Juliet Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet,” certainly apply to a local nonprofit organization that completed the process of an identity change this week.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee is now officially Mainspring Conservation Trust.

Whether the new name suits the tongue the same way as the old will be seen in coming years, but as executive director Sharon Taylor noted during the name unveiling ceremony on Saturday, the name change has been a lengthy and difficult process, and the new name is one that the organization feels can carry it into the future.

While the future of Mainspring is exciting to think about, it is important to give a nod to all of the people who helped build the foundation for success. Former executive director Paul Carlson and several of the original board members were in attendance to give their blessings to the new name.

Forming a successful non-profit is no easy task, and it took blood, sweat and tears to get the land trust off the ground. That effort will always be part of the organization, no matter what name hangs above the door.

The history of the LTLT is a menagerie of accomplishments as the group has strived to protect not only the Little Tennessee River and its tributaries but also waterways connected to the Tuckasegee and Hiwassee rivers as well. For 19 years the staff at LTLT has worked to develop relationships with landowners and to keep a watchful eye on Western North Carolina’s water.

From protecting the 4,600-acre Needmore Tract, which now serves as a North Carolina state game land, to preserving the Rickman Store and other historic buildings in Cowee’s West Mill historic district, the efforts of the trust have affected countless Macon County residents.

Even if the organization has not directly touched their life, Maconians can all agree that one of the most valuable assets that Western North Carolina possesses is the natural beauty that envelops the region.

The staff at Mainspring Conservation Trust will continue to be good stewards of the land, and a name change is not going to change that mission.

Taylor noted that Mainspring will continue its educational efforts, which reach approximately 3,000 students each year. Biomonitoring and citizen science programs will also continue and potentially expand. The organization will continue to stretch its wings in the seven westernmost counties dealing with landowners who wish to preserve their land for future generations.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee may no longer exist in an official capacity, but the legacy of the LTLT will run through the veins of Mainspring Conservation Trust forever. The organization is a prominent rose in Western North Carolina and it smells as sweet as ever.

The collaboration between LTLT and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is among the land trust-tribal relationships featured in the Land Trust Alliance‘s latest issue of Saving Land. The article highlights the one of the first projects that brought LTLT and the Tribe together to collaborate—the conservation and return to tribal ownership of Cowee Mound.

Click on the image below to view the full PDF.

From The Sylva Herald, July 13, 2015:

By Nick Breedlove, The Sylva Herald

About a mile up Bo Cove Road in Speedwell community sits a 104-acre tract, now protected from future development.

Joan Byrd and George Rector’s land is filled with streams and cascades, red foxes, rabbits and hills speckled with mica, all under a canopy of trees; they want to make sure it stays that way for future generations.

The Cullowhee couple recently donated a conservation easement to the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee. Development rights for their land are now held by LTLT in perpetuity. It’s not their first easement – In 2006 they donated a 40-acre neighboring tract.

The new 104-acre easement connects the Nantahala National Forest to the original 40-acre easement, creating a corridor of protected land. The newly conserved tract includes a portion of Bryson Branch.

Without children, it stands as one legacy she and her husband can leave behind, Byrd said.

Donating the easement means lessening their own property values, a hit they’re willing to take to ensure the land remains undeveloped.

They think of it as a savings account.

“You set something aside for the future,” Rector said.

The legally binding restrictions will be passed on to future property owners and will keep the Byrd/Rector holdings in mostly agricultural uses. While the easement would allow one house of a certain square footage to be built as well as a barn and other small farm buildings such as a woodshed or poultry house, it ensures that the land will not be subdivided or used for a high-density residential or commercial development.

When Byrd came to Jackson County in 1971, she owned one acre – a parcel size that left her unbuffered from potential development around her.

“I felt so vulnerable and couldn’t afford to buy land,” she said.

Just before she married Rector in 1983, she bought a 20-acre tract and then purchased another 26 acres. Eventually they acquired the four parcels they have now for a total of 145 acres. Nestled in the middle is their house, a good-sized garden and a ceramics studio that was once their home before they built their current dwelling.

T.B. Bumgarner owned much of the land in Bo Cove, which was named after Bowman Bumgarner, Byrd said.

“There’s nobody really of that generation living who knows the history of the land anymore,” she said. “It just means a lot to us to think that this is really not going to be changed. That’s a legacy to us and it really matters.”

The conservation easement, despite being a donation, costs quite a bit, but Byrd and Rector say the felt the cost worthwhile to protect their piece of heaven. LTLT also helped defray the cost of conservation with a grant it obtained from the Conservation Trust of North Carolina.  “This land gives us so much of what we need – it heats our house with wood, provides water, along with the food we grow,” Rector said. “There’s a sense we feel our flesh and bones are derived from this land from the water and food.”

Byrd retired last year from Western Carolina University after teaching ceramics for almost five decades; Rector taught ceramics at WCU for almost 20 years.

LTLT’s Land Protection Manager John Culclasure was particularly pleased to work on this project.
“This project conserves more than a mile and a half of forested streams whose cool waters are important for fish and other aquatic life. The diversity of forest community types is important for wildlife, and the adjacency to the national forest ensures critters have room to roam,” Culclasure said. “George and Joan have made a tremendous contribution to conservation in Jackson County.”

LTLT is a regional nonprofit dedicated to conserving the land and waters in the six far-western counties in North Carolina and northern Rabun County, Ga.