land conservation

Efforts to Restore the Oconaluftee River Advances

November 21, 2022

November 21, 2022 – A regionally and nationally significant river restoration project is moving forward on the Oconaluftee River, where a coalition of federal, state, tribal, nonprofit and private partners is working together to remove the Ela Dam in Whittier, North Carolina.

The most recent action is the signing between Mainspring Conservation Trust and Northbrook Carolina Hydro II of an Asset Purchase Option and Sale Agreement. The agreement provides Mainspring, or its assign, the option to acquire the entire impoundment structure, lands and property for nominal value, if it determines dam removal is feasible given available funding and conditioned on receipt of approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other reviewing agencies.

The coalition, which includes the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the US Fish and Wildlife Service, American Rivers, Mainspring, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, among others, was initially spearheaded by EBCI Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joey Owle. Owle had approached Northbrook, Ela Dam’s owner, about removing the dam following the company’s remediation efforts after an accidental sediment release in October 2021 that affected the downstream reach of the Oconaluftee River.

“The tribe has always had an interest in restoring connectivity to our waterbodies, and the Ela Dam has disconnected our river and aquatic relatives for nearly 100 years,” said Owle as he recounted the impetus of this historic project. “When I began this position in 2017, removing Ela Dam was one of the first ideas I pitched to my staff and leadership. The accidental sediment release coincided with an unprecedented funding opportunity from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). That, coupled with determined parties all around ready to pursue the idea of reconnecting 188 square miles of the watershed through a social and environmental justice lens, was perfect timing. I am grateful that Chuck Ahlrichs (of Northbrook) took my call in December 2021, and with a team of exceptional partners, we were able to come together to create an opportunity from the ground up.”

From that first call from EBCI, Northbrook was ready to come to the table with the partners. Nearly 100 years ago, the dam was constructed to support rural electrification but now, the social, economic, and environmental values of reestablishing a free-flowing Oconaluftee River vastly outweigh the one megawatt of output it generates. Northbrook also wanted to improve relations with organizations and agencies that work to protect and improve the nation’s rivers.

“Removing a dam is the fastest way to bring a river back to life,” said Erin McCombs, Southeast Conservation Director with American Rivers. “This project is one of the most exciting river restoration efforts in the U.S., with tremendous benefits including improved water quality, habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife, and cultural reconnection.”

According to American Rivers, 56 dams have been removed in North Carolina to restore river health. If this project is successful, it may serve as a template for how dam owners can work cooperatively with American Rivers and other partners to decommission dams when the value of a free-flowing river outweighs a dam’s power generation.

Mainspring Executive Director Jordan Smith says the EBCI-led coalition meetings have resulted in each partner bringing their organization’s best to the table to find a creative path forward.

“As a land trust, we are used to owning assets,” he said. “American Rivers brings their expertise in managing dam removals while the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and US Fish and Wildlife Service have supported the initiative from day one, identifying and providing funding and prioritizing this project within their offices. And without the leadership from the EBCI and Northbrook’s willingness to essentially contribute the property to the effort, we absolutely could not move forward. This is truly a team effort.”

Removal of the dam will open 549 river miles of the Oconaluftee River and its tributaries; streams across the entire Qualla boundary and parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be connected once again to the lower Oconaluftee and Tuckasegee Rivers. Additionally, culturally important fish species will have access to spawning areas in upstream Tribal waters after being disconnected from them for nearly a century.

Mainspring’s and Northbrook’s signing of the Asset Purchase Option and Sale Agreement allows the coalition to continue its work on the next phase of project planning. With funding from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, American Rivers is leading the design and engineering studies for dam removal while the coalition moves forward with planning and regulatory approval processes. Mainspring’s purchase option will expire in April 2023.

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.

“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.

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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