land purchase

Mainspring and OSI Save More than 4,400 Acres Across the Snowbird, Unicoi and Cheoah Mountain Ranges

June 2, 2026

Snowbird Effort Yields Wealth of Benefits for Recreation, Wildlife, and Clean Water

CHEROKEE, GRAHAM, AND SWAIN COUNTIES, N.C. (June 1, 2026) – Open Space Institute (OSI) and Mainspring Conservation Trust (Mainspring) have announced the conservation of more than 4,400 acres across the Snowbird, Unicoi and Cheoah mountain ranges. The multi-year project comprises a patchwork of 17 parcels connecting more than 1.65 million acres of ecologically rich public lands in a region of national conservation significance.

Long regarded by the State of North Carolina and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as a top conservation priority, this assemblage forms crucial connections among protected landscapes that stretch across three states. With shared boundaries, connected trails and viewshed impacts, this conservation project enhances protections for the Snowbird Wilderness Study Area, the Cherohala Skyway, and the Appalachian Trail.

Mainspring Executive Director Jeremy Hyatt said the effort has been years in the making. “These properties were among the most significant remaining private lands in the Southern Blue Ridge,” he said. “After nearly a decade of effort, securing them together is a big win for clean water, wildlife, and mountain heritage. We’re grateful to our partners at OSI and the many funders who helped make it possible.”

“The rugged and beautiful Snowbird project perfectly demonstrates ‘how’ and ‘why’ OSI is showing up in the southern Appalachian region,” said Dr. Maria Whitehead, OSI’s Senior Vice President of Land. “The project protects critical natural resources while providing exceptional new recreational opportunities and could only have been accomplished with savvy partners and dedicated funders. We are extraordinarily grateful to Mainspring, the Wildlife Resource Commission, USFS and our funding partners because this landscape deserves nothing less than our best efforts!”

The Snowbird properties had been increasingly threatened by encroaching development. OSI and Mainspring completed the $23.3 million acquisition in early 2026, and will transfer the properties to the State of North Carolina and the USFS between 2026 and 2029. The properties will not be open to the public until transferred and prepared for public use, but once under state and federal ownership and management, traditional recreational uses like hunting and fishing will be preserved.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), which manages more than two million acres across the state, commended Mainspring and OSI on the project. “The protection of the Snowbird properties is a remarkable achievement that strengthens the entire region of conserved lands,” said Tom Berry, Chairman of the Land Acquisition and Property Committee for NCWRC. “We commend the Open Space Institute and Mainspring Conservation Trust for their leadership and for laying the groundwork for expanded wildlife-associated recreation opportunities. Through the stewardship of the Commission, these lands will be opened to everyday people to enjoy hunting, fishing, birdwatching, and a wide range of outdoor activities, ensuring they remain a vital part of North Carolina’s outdoor heritage for generations to come.”

The Snowbird properties feature prominent ridgetops, healthy forests, open meadows and more than 17 miles of headwater streams that provide habitat for a diversity of flora and fauna. This landscape supports state- and federally endangered bat species, several threatened plant types, and species of conservation concern, including the Golden-winged Warbler. Abundant trout streams and high-quality waters protect aquatic habitat and provide clean drinking water for downstream communities, as several tracts lie within municipal water-supply watersheds.

As part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the landscape contains some of the most biologically diverse forested regions in North America, home to thousands of native wildlife species and more than 100 tree species, including stunning eastern hemlock specimens. This region supports a vast corridor of intact wildlife habitat—the large, unfragmented blocks of land that are essential for species to migrate, thrive, and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather and changing weather patterns. According to OSI’s analysis, the area holds the highest rank possible for greenhouse gas emission absorption and storage: the landscape’s varied forest types and high-quality soils are a carbon stronghold, in addition to protecting wildlife food and water sources. Under the state’s management and stewardship, the properties will continue to perform these vital functions, providing cleaner air and supporting healthy ecosystems.

Support for the Snowbird conservation project came from the USFS Forest Legacy Program, Fred and Alice Stanback, Brad and Shelli Stanback, Knobloch Family Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Acres for America Program, Mike Leonard, The Nature Conservancy, Ron Thurman, Appalachia Rising, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, OSI’s Appalachian Landscapes Program, NC Land and Water Fund, and the Foundation for the Carolinas.

Under Cover – A Mainspring Project

January 7, 2026

Tucked just a mile outside the heart of Andrews, North Carolina, a 30-foot veil of water tumbles down a mossy cliff into the trout-rich waters of Britton Creek. Cover Falls isn’t marked on roadside signs or mapped in glossy guidebooks, but it’s a place locals know about — and it’s worth venturing off the beaten path to find.

Here, where the spray of the falls keeps the rocks damp year-round, rare wildflowers flourish. Wildlife moves freely between this property and the 30,000 acres of adjoining U.S. Forest Service land in the Snowbird Mountains. Beneath the surface, the cold, clean waters of Britton Creek shelter native brook trout and the endemic Valley River Crayfish, a species found nowhere else in the world.

But the natural beauty of Cover Falls is only part of its story. The creek and the falls are named for Lillian Brittain Cover, an Andrews native and political pioneer who, just four years after women gained the right to vote, became a delegate to the 1924 Democratic Convention. She later broke barriers as the first woman to serve on North Carolina’s State Stream Commission, championing clean water and conservation decades before it was commonplace. The property also borders more than 2,200 feet of Tatham Gap Road, a segment of the Trail of Tears.

Despite its many cultural and ecological values, this remarkable place recently came close to being lost. The previous owner had purchased the tract with plans for residential development, and with its proximity to downtown Andrews and other residences nearby, the threat of construction loomed large. Negotiations to protect the land came down to the wire, then intensified when another buyer made a higher offer. Although the owner preferred to conserve the land, they made it clear that if Mainspring’s deal fell through, the property would be developed.

Happily, however, through support from some generous anonymous donors and other partners, the land is now permanently protected from private development under Mainspring’s ownership, to eventually be protected in perpetuity by a North Carolina Land and Water Fund conservation easement.

The Cover Falls property will ultimately become Mainspring’s newest public preserve, complete with safe, well-marked trails, educational signage and an access area that honors both the area’s ecology and history. Visitors will soon be able to follow a loop trail dedicated to Lillian Brittain Cover, learn her story and experience the same natural wonders she once knew and fought to protect.

“This project reflects one of Mainspring’s core commitments — conserving special places in ways that connect people to the land,” says Graham Garrett, Mainspring land conservation associate. “While there is sometimes a perception that land trusts ‘lock away’ land, Cover Falls is a great example of how conservation can create lasting public benefits. When my boys and I play at the base of the falls and feel the spray on our faces, I take pleasure in knowing that one day they may do the very same thing with their children.”

Conservation Partners Collaborate to Save Remaining Inholding in Panthertown Valley

October 8, 2025

Thanks to a collaboration among local conservation partners, Mainspring Conservation Trust has acquired a critical 94-acre inholding within Panthertown Valley, and is now on track to be permanently protected.

One of western North Carolina’s most cherished natural areas, Panthertown is often called the “Yosemite of the East.” The 6,300 acres stretch along the Eastern Continental Divide, offering more than 25 miles of trails that wind through granite domes, mountain bogs, trout streams, and waterfalls.

When the U.S. Forest Service acquired Panthertown Valley and the surrounding Roy Taylor Memorial Forest in the 1980s, one parcel—now known as the Slickens Creek tract—remained privately owned. Surrounded entirely by national forest, the property includes more than 2,800 feet of wild trout waters and provides critical early successional habitat for species such as Golden-winged Warblers and Ruffed Grouse. The tract also lies within the Blue Ridge Parkway viewshed and links two popular trails: the Rattlesnake Knob and Turkey Knob trails.

Conserving this inholding has been a shared goal of Mainspring, Friends of Panthertown, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, and the U.S. Forest Service for decades. The opportunity finally arrived when the longtime owners’ heirs prepared to sell. Thanks to support from a private donor and Atira Conservation, Mainspring was able to move quickly to secure the land before it could be lost to private development.

“Protecting the Slickens Creek property is about more than conserving acreage—it’s about completing the vision for Panthertown Valley,” said Sophie Vaszquez, Land Conservation Associate at Mainspring Conservation Trust. “This project connects trails, protects rare habitats, and ensures that this wild landscape will remain unspoiled for generations to come.”

Generous donors to the partnering organizations, including the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, have helped us raise $100,000 of the $150,000 needed to remove unsafe structures, create a new trail connection to the Panthertown network, and support the long-term stewardship of the site’s sensitive habitats. If you’d like to help with the remaining $50,000 needed, visit here and apply your donation to “Panthertown Land Purchase” in the drop-down menu.

The Slickens Creek acquisition builds on other conservation projects with the land trust and Panthertown. In 2017, Mainspring purchased a 15.9-acre tract at the Salt Rock Gap trailhead—transforming a pinch point into a welcoming public entrance before transferring it to the Forest Service.

As the final unconserved piece of this significant landscape, this latest Mainspring project links ecological protection with recreation and beauty. It’s the culmination of decades of persistence and partnership, and a great example that when preparation meets opportunity, this region wins.

Click here to support this conservation project.