Mainspring Conservation Trust

Stewards of the Southern Blue Ridge

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Family Hopes to Conserve Their Popular Swain County Farm

March 14, 2022

When Afton Roberts was ten years old, her father, Jeff Darnell, caught her writing a check to Mainspring Conservation Trust (then the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee). “I just love land trusts, Daddy,” was what she told him. 

Twenty years later, Afton, along with her brother, Nate, is leading the conservation effort to protect her family’s 68-acre working farm.

The Darnells began leasing the Swain County property along the Tuckasegee River bottomlands in 1982. At the time, the farm had grown wild, and many locals told Jeff he would never grow a good crop on the rough land. But an Israelian classmate of his at the University of Tennessee had introduced Jeff to drip irrigation, a technique designed to slowly place water directly into the root zone through a network of tubes, minimizing evaporation and saving water.

Today, the property Darnell Farms uses to grow a variety of foods is one of the most productive fields in western North Carolina. Jeff’s children, Nate Darnell and Afton Roberts, have expanded the business to include agritourism, bringing visitors to the farm for pick-your-own events, music entertainment, and food truck offerings. 

Credit: Sarah Whitener

“Our family is passionate about Appalachian agriculture and are continually implementing forward-thinking steps to highlight the importance of farming in this region,” says Roberts. “You cannot save farming without farmland. My brother, Nate, and I want our children, our future grandchildren, and every other child to have a place they can come to and still see the same preservation, even one hundred years from now.”

And the conservation couldn’t happen at a better time. Compared to agricultural statistics from 1930, Swain County had almost 78,000 acres of land in farms; by 2017, that number had dropped to 10,131 acres. “Across the nation, farmland is disappearing at a rapid pace, increasing dependency on global supply chains and threatening local food security,” says Mainspring Executive Director Jordan Smith. “We are thrilled the Darnells understand this threat and wanted to act, protecting this vital agricultural landscape.”  

The farm also sits adjacent to Kituwah Mound, considered by all three of the federally recognized Cherokee tribes as the place of origin for the Cherokee people. In 1996, the Cherokee purchased the 307 acres next to Darnell Farm and was acquired into trust in 2021 by the Sneed administration. Smith says the Darnell Farm was also once part of the Cherokee Mother Town, which makes it even more special to conserve. “Cherokee farmers once again farm the land around Kituwah Mound,” he explains. “Conserving the Darnell Farm ensures another significant portion of Kituwah will continue to provide food for generations to come, just as it has for thousands of years.”

The conservation effort is partially funded through a grant from the North Carolina Agricultural Development & Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and a major donation from Brad Stanback and Shelli Lodge-Stanback. Sara Posey-Davis, land conservation manager for Mainspring, says the land trust is still raising funds for a portion of the project. “We currently have funds to pay for 75% of the easement value,” she says. “We’ve got to raise another $30,000 for transaction costs but hope to raise enough money to be able to pay the Darnells for the full value of the easement.” Posey-Davis adds that this project is worth caring about. “The prime farmland, proximity to water, and the deep history of cultural heritage make this such a special project,” she says. “Conserving it reaches every aspect of Mainspring’s mission to save ‘the best of the rest.’”

To support the conservation efforts of this farm, visit www.mainspringconserves.org to donate.

Filed Under: News, Press Room Tagged With: conservation, Cultural Heritage, farmland, land conservation, Swain County, water

Prominent Cherokee County Farm Conserved

March 2, 2022

Brothers Ed and Keith Wood have conserved more than 250 acres of their Cherokee County family farm, passing the halfway point to conserving 400 acres of working farmland in the Valley River valley.

The Wood family has been farming the land that sits along the Nantahala Scenic Byway since the early 1900s. “The land has been a farm as long as I have been around,” says Ed. “Keith and I have made a living from it pretty much all our adult lives, and our father and grandfather before that.”

The conservation project was made possible through funding from the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, which offers compensation to farmers who choose to not develop their land. Mainspring Conservation Trust facilitated the process, which took an unusually long time. “Typically, these projects only take one to two years to complete,” Sara Posey-Davis, land conservation manager at Mainspring, says. “But Ed and Keith had a complex legal history on their farm with the highway, an unused rail line and the airport all adjacent to their land. We definitely had some ups and downs through the process, but I’m so grateful they stuck with us to preserve their farm.”

Visible from Nantahala National Forest lands in the Snowbird and Valley River Mountains, the property includes more than two miles of named and unnamed streams that are part of the Valley River Watershed. Additionally, more than 81% of the soil is considered Prime Farmland soil. “The farm is highly productive compared to other farms in the state — or even the country for that matter,” Keith Wood says. “It just makes sense for this farm to remain in food production for future generations. It’s hard to eat a building or asphalt.”

Mainspring expects to conserve the other 150 acres later this year. “As development pressures rise and demands on farmers grow, the need to protect working farmlands intensifies,” says Posey-Davis. “This century-old farm in the mountains will continue to produce outstanding crops for generations to come, and that’s something to be proud of.”

For more information about the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund grants to preserve farmland, contact Posey-Davis at Mainspring Conservation Trust via their website: www.mainspringconserves.org.

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Filed Under: News, Press Room Tagged With: Cherokee County, conservation, Cultural Heritage, farmland, land conservation

Mainspring Conserves Historic Cherokee Town

July 13, 2020

Mainspring Conservation Trust recently acquired 40 acres in Macon County that holds considerable cultural heritage significance.

The property, just north of Franklin and south of the Little Tennessee River, is viewable from Scenic Hwy 28 and includes Watauga Mound and a portion of historic Watauga Town. One of the ancient Cherokee Middle Towns, Watauga Mound is located between Nikwasi (3 miles upstream in modern Franklin) and Cowee (4 miles downstream).

Richard Sneed, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, said the site is an important part of Cherokee heritage and the heritage of North America. “For a thousand years – all over these mountains and surrounding areas – there were many platform mounds with great Cherokee townhouses on their summits,” Sneed said. “These monumental structures were the center of the community, in the same way that today’s Council House is the center of the community.” 

 “The Watauga Mound is a very important cultural site in the Cherokee heartland of western North Carolina,” says Dr. Ben Steere, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Western Carolina University and director of the Cherokee Studies program. “Archaeological and historical research indicate that Cherokee and their ancestors have lived near this site for thousands of years.” Steere adds that naturalist William Bartram writes about Watauga from his visit through western North Carolina in 1775. “He described an impressive council house rising above nearby houses and gardens. Bartram was warmly received by a town leader and his sons, and was treated to a meal of venison and corn cakes before traveling to Cowee Town.”

The effort to conserve the property involved two acquisitions, since property ownership split right through the mound. The first acquisition came through a real estate listing, while the second landowners, after hearing of the conservation project, chose to sell their portion of the mound as well. “We are extremely fortunate that the families involved in the purchase were interested in protecting the mound for conservation,” says Mainspring Executive Director Jordan Smith. “I am grateful that the landowners were willing to work with Mainspring throughout the year-long process as we put all of the pieces together to purchase the two properties. This level farmland with exceptional views was pretty prime for development and I am proud this special place is now protected forever.”

Chief Sneed says the need to protect these mounds is as important as ever. “Many of the mounds in the Cherokee heartland have been decimated over the last century by intentional destruction, development, and agriculture, making the preservation of sites like the Watauga mound of critical importance,” Sneed stated. “Through the efforts of many people – including volunteers, Western Carolina University faculty, and Mainspring Conservation Trust – the Watauga mound is preserved. We are grateful that this important legacy is being preserved into perpetuity.”

Mainspring Conservation Trust is a regional nonprofit that works to conserve the most important forests, farms, waters and cultural heritage places in the six western-most counties of North Carolina and northern Rabun County, Georgia. Learn more at mainspringconserves.org.

Filed Under: News, Press Room Tagged With: Cherokee mound, Cultural Heritage, farmland, land conservation, Macon County

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