Cook Creek
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy received some of the funds needed to purchase Cook Creek through a connection facilitated by Appalachia Rising.
The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy successfully purchased a valuable tract of land called Cook Creek. This land adjoins Pisgah National Forest in the Roan Highlands at over 4,000 ft. elevation. SAHC acquiring it filled an unprotected gap between an existing SAHC preserve and land that SAHC will acquire in the next two years. Acquisition buffers these important conserved lands from encroaching development on the slopes of Roan Mountain. The Cook Creek tract was acquired by a conservation buyer on behalf of SAHC in order to further buffer the upper slopes of Roan Mountain from development. The owner plans to donate the full property value to SAHC, leaving SAHC responsible only for transaction costs, which will include purchasing a boundary survey, phase I environmental site assessment, and title work for the property. The Cook Creek tract lies within the Roan Mountain Important Bird Area, the state designated Roan Mountain Massif Natural Area, the Roan Mountain West Forest Matrix Block, and the Grandfather Unaka Priority Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Area. There are records of the Trailing Wolfsbane, Alleghanian Spotted Skunk, and Gray’s Lily. The property lies within a High Priority Wildlands Network Wildlife Corridor and scores as a top priority due to Its climate resilience rank. Protection of this property, which reaches up to 4,300 ft in elevation, ensures that the views from Roan Mountain and the Rhododendron Garden are not impaired by encroaching development on this highly marketable property. Cook Creek, which is a NC Division of Water Resources Trout Water flows through this tract after originating on adjoining protected land. It eventually flows into Little Rock Creek.