Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina

Thank you to our friends and neighbors who joined us for a reception at The Blowing Rock! It was a wonderful evening celebrating the protection of the Johns River Headwaters in Blowing Rock, NC!!

Learn more about this property here: https://www.foothillsconservancy.org/news2/fcnc-permanently-protects-johns-river-headwaters-in-blowing-rock

Cinnabar Chanterelle, Turkey Tail, and Cauliflower Mushrooms, Oh My!

A hike in our beautiful Oak Hill Community Park and Forest this weekend uncovered some incredible finds. Can you identify any of these fungi?

As with any edible foraging, do not eat unless you are knowledgable, experienced, and 100% confident of what you have found. And always leave some for others to find (and nature to continue to spore into fruition)!

Trail Crew Thursdays wants you! Tomorrow at Oak Hill Community Park and Forest from 10am - 1PM, join volunteers and learn about sustainable trails and how to maintain them.

No experience necessary; just bring your awesome self!

Signup Here: https://bit.ly/TrailCrewThursdays

Thank you Singletracks.com for writing this article about the work we are doing here in Burke County to protect and create public access to land and build trails that connects people to nature! We hope more people are inspired to get outside and ride or hike the trails at Oak Hill.

We're almost finished building the next 4 miles of trails at Oak Hill and we can't wait to share that with everyone. Keep an eye out for the ribbon cutting event in a few weeks!

If you are inspired to support our organization and the work we are doing, now is a great time to make a donation because we are in the middle of our Summer Appeal fundraising match which means your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $55,000 now thru August 31st. More info at foothillsconservancy.org 🌱

Instead of another housing development, Morganton, NC, now boasts close-to-town MTB trails The new Oak Hills Community Park and Forest in Morganton, NC, now protects 656 acres of pristine land and is home to a brand-new mountain bike trail system.

Can you guess what these are?

If you guessed Hazelnut, you’d be right! Not just any hazelnut, this is Corylus cornuta, or the Beaked Hazelnut, which gets its name from the husk that’s shaped like a beak.

According to the NC State Extension (link below), it grows natively in the Piedmont and mountain areas of NC. And yes, it is edible!

For more info, check out: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/corylus-cornuta/

Green and serene...

Summer months are very busy for our Stewardship Team as they are out monitoring properties. They have to monitor at least one easement per day to keep up with the 130+ easements we are responsible for monitoring.

This photo was taken on our Bear Den Preserve which is 208 acres, owned by FCNC, and protected by a NC Land and Water Fund conservation easement. It's located at the Bear Den Overlook and Bear Den Campground along the Parkway in McDowell County.

We hope that you can get out this weekend and find your serene spot!

Congrats to Burke River Trail for opening a new trail today! FCNC’s Trails Program Director was there to support this exciting day.

So many organizations are working towards building more trails in Burke county. We love this community filled with passionate people working hard to creating access for more people to get outside!!

ACTION SHOT! Check out the Thursday Trail Crew clearing the trails at Oak Hill Park. These dedicated volunteers work hard every week to keep our trails in top shape for everyone to enjoy.

Want to join the fun and make a difference? We meet every Thursday, and we'd love to have you on board! Please sign up on our website to volunteer.

https://www.foothillsconservancy.org/volunteer

Foothills Conservancy land trust has been a veritable beehive of activity lately.

The conservancy broke ground Thursday morning on a 5-mile addition to the public mountain bike trail at Catawba Meadows Park in Morganton.

Meanwhile, the Oak Hill Community Park and Forest is growing like a w**d, thanks to infusion of cash.

The mountain bike trail should be completed in August or September. It’s mostly finished, but still needs a couple of creek crossings installed, according to Foothills Executive Director Andrew Kota.

Numerous City of Morganton department heads and elected officials turned out for the ribbon cutting on the trail, which will be the state’s westernmost destination for NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) racing.

“This project was long in the making and we’re so excited,” said Morganton Mayor Ronnie Thompson. “It’s a great day for Morganton and Burke County.”

Read more about the latest projects from the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina in The Paper!

https://ecs.page.link/PRTvN

We are so thankful for this year’s Summer interns! Jordyn (supporting Community Engagement), Jacob and Jake (supporting Land Stewardship) have been working hard for the last few weeks diving into various projects, assisting with easement monitoring, and running volunteer events. We love our interns!

If you’re interested in an internship with us, get in touch with us! It’s a competitive opportunity, but as our current and past interns will tell you, very rewarding.

📣 New Trails in Burke County coming soon! Today is the official groundbreaking for a mountain bike park located at Catawba Meadows Park, north of downtown Morganton. Big shout out to our partners who helped make this happen: Morganton Parks and Recreation, Overmountain Cycles, Black Diamond Trail Designs and the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League. Special shoutout to the Burke County Chamber of Commerce for helping us with this ground breaking!

The new bike park will have over five miles of new trails consisting of beginner, intermediate and advanced sections, which will provide users of varying skill sets with the opportunity to train, develop their skills, and enjoy the trails. Trail construction is underway and the anticipated public opening will be in October 2024.

As a reminder, we are in the middle of our Summer Appeal Challenge Match which means your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar (up to $55,000) from now until August 31st! Help us meet our fundraising goal so we can continue to build more trails for our community!

https://www.foothillsconservancy.org/donate

Can I BE any more of a wildlife habitat? It turns out, Yes!

Joey from the 90's sitcom Friends may not have been able to get certified in wearing all of his friend Chandler's clothes, but our office yard in Morganton IS able to be certified as a wildlife habitat.

Thanks to Brittany and two student interns from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, our office yard in Morganton has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat.

Want to enjoy and learn more about the habitat? Come visit our wildlife habitat during our business hours of 8am - 5PM and experience the wondrous, natural beauty!

Just don't wear as many clothes as Joey was, or you may get overheated.

Trails like these don’t make themselves! We recently broke ground on 4 new miles of intermediate trails at our very own Oak Hill Community Park & Forest in Morganton NC. We plan to have the trails ready for you to explore by August. Stay tuned for the ribbon cutting details!

PSA - These trails are actively being built at Oak Hill. For your safety, please stay on the already established trails.
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Happy Trails!⁠

Did you hear the good news? Our community engagement manager, Brittany, received her certification as an Environmental Educator by the Environment Education of NC. This certification required over 200 hours of training, 30 hours of teaching, and a partnership project completion that took years to complete. ⁠
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Go Brittany, Go! You’re an inspiration and we are so grateful you are part of the team!⁠

In case you missed it in our email newsletter, back in May, we purchased a 61-acre tract of land that has a portion of the Kitsuma trail on it (the super steep switchback part of the trail, iykyk). This parcel is the last part of the trail that was previously privately owned. This famous mountain biking trail is now permanently protected!

🚨 PSA 🚨 Attention, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts! Please be advised that the HIKING TRAIL at Oak Hill Park will be closed to the public tomorrow, Tuesday, July 16.

Our Stewardship team and a work crew will be on-site working alongside the trail. For your safety, we ask that you do not attempt to use the hiking trail during this time.

However, the multi-use trail will remain open for both biking and hiking, so you can still enjoy the beauty of Oak Hill Park! Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Today, Foothills Conservancy of NC and Catawba Riverkeeper paddled the Bridgewater section of the Catawba River with Duke Energy. This was part of their annual sub-aquatic vegetation survey to monitor invasive plants. It was a fun & educational day on the river! 🌿🌊🛶

Is it a stick or a bug?! 🐛🌴

Our Stewardship Team observed this Walking Stick Insect (Diapheromera femorata) hanging out on one of our boundary sign at our Mineral Springs Mountain Preserve in Burke county. This is a rare sighting and we have only encountered them a handful of times in over a decade of monitoring easements!

Help us protect unique creatures like this by supporting our Summer Appeal Fundraising Challenge Match! From now until August 31st, your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar (up to $55,000). Your support ensures the preservation of unique plant and wildlife habitats in all the places we work hard to protect: from our nature preserves and watersheds to working farms and public parks!

foothillsconservancy.org/donate

The days are long, the sun is bright, and all the flowers are in bloom which means it's time for our annual Summer Appeal! The team has been working hard on getting the letters ready to be mailed out to you.

Summer Appeal has officially kicked off which means that your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar. We have until the end of August to meet our match goal of $55,000.

Keep an eye out in your mail boxes and we'll be sharing more information online about our very generous match donors and the impact your support has in our 8-county service area!

🌞 Summer has never looked so good! 🌻
Join FCNC each week for an action-packed season of giving back and adventure. Whether you're ready to roll on a fun-filled bike ride or lend a helping hand during our volunteer workdays, there's something for everyone. Don't miss out on the ultimate summer experience - see you there! 💚🚲

This past Saturday was blast riding bikes with eight new friends! We hosted our first group ride in collaboration with Overmountain Cycles at our very own Oak Hill Community Park & Forest. Everyone had a great time and we can't wait for the next ride!

If you're interested, sign up for our next session on July 20th here:
https://www.foothillsconservancy.org/communityevents/ecocycle-summer-series-32gj5-x4wca

We give access to our fleet of bikes and safety equipment for a chance to try mountain biking for the first time in a safe and fun environment. Bikes are limited so please sign-up sooner than later if you are interested.

Watch out everyone! There's a new resident at Oak Hill Park! 🐍 Morgan the very friendly rock snake lives near the bridge on the hiking loop. There's rocks and supplies to decorate them! We invite you to help Morgan the Rock Snake grow!

This fun project was made possible by .little.explorers

The moment you've all been waiting for.... Flavors of the Foothills photos! Please enjoy looking through this album of photos from our annual Flavors of the Foothills. This was the best year yet and we couldn't have done it without the support of the entire FCNC Staff, FCNC Board of Directors, our very generous sponsors, all the chefs, and everyone who purchased a ticket. Big thanks to all of you for making this the best Flavors of the Foothills yet!

In celebration of , FCNC is announcing its partnership with Overmountain Cycles to launch a community bike program.

We will offer free mountain bike rides at Oak Hill Community Park and Forest, including providing bikes and all of the necessary equipment, with a focus on introducing people to the recreational activity while providing environmental education experiences.

FCNC will provide mountain bikes of various sizes, as well as helmets, gloves and water bottles, while Overmountain Cycles staff will offer a basic cycling overview and safety instruction, ensure equipment fits correctly, and help guide riders on the trail system.

The first ride is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2024, from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Please register for the event, sign-up is available on FCNC’s website. Space is limited!

https://www.foothillsconservancy.org/communityevents

Today was an incredibly special day for the Grandfather District of Pisgah National Forest. As a partner of the USFS, we hosted the ribbon cutting of the Grand Reopening of Catawba Falls alongside our partners , US Forest Service - North Carolina, and .

Our organization played an important role in the trailhead that exists today.
Back in 2007, FCNC secured and protected the 23-acre tract of land from a private land owner that would ultimately be the trail head for Catawba Falls. In 2010, FCNC conveyed the 23-acre tract, along with 65 adjoining acres of conservancy owned land to the U.S. Forest Service, ensuring public access to Catawba Falls in perpetuity.

We are honored to take part in the special ribbon cutting today with elected officials from across the Great Trails State.

You can experience the safer and improved Catawba Falls tomorrow, May 31, at the public opening of the falls trailhead. Free shuttle service from the Town of Old Fort will be provided on Friday May 31st and June 1st as part of Old Fort’s weekend festivities and celebration.

Photo #1 - FCNC Team Cutting the Ribbon w/ our founding Executive Director, Susie Hammrick-Jones.
Photo #2 - Photo of the crowd gathered around the trail head for the ribbon cutting
Photo #3 - photo credit: Blue Ridge Traveler. Partners, including FCNC Executive Director, Andrew Kota, for the official ribbon cutting of Catawba Falls

We’re so proud of our community engagement manager, Brittany, for becoming a certified environmental educators!

Educator Spotlight: Brittany Watkins Brittany Watkins with the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina recently completed her Environmental Education Certification. Brittany is ...