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Local land trusts report several closings and a new community forest in Buncombe County
Summary
Representatives reported recent completions and acquisitions: Bull Creek Preserve at Warren Wilson College (Berea Pasture/Berea Dam Pasture, 191 acres), Snowball Mountain Phase II (64 acres, fee simple in Buncombe County), and the Fairview Community Forest (former Camp Woodson, 226 acres closed; additional interior campus purchase pending).
Multiple land trust representatives updated the Buncombe County Land Conservation Advisory Board on recent closings and acquisitions, including a fee‑simple purchase creating the Fairview Community Forest and two additional completed acquisitions.
SHC reported two recent closings: the Berea Pasture (also described as Berea Dam Pasture), now part of the Bull Creek Preserve at Warren Wilson College (191 acres), and Snowball Mountain Phase II, a 64‑acre fee‑simple purchase in Buncombe County. Staff asked Michelle and others to summarize the parcels' locations and adjacency to previously protected tracts. Michelle described Snowball Mountain Phase II as adjacent to a tract the organization purchased years earlier and to the Reams Creek Bowl property previously supported by the board.
Another presenter reported that Conserving Carolina closed on 226 acres at the former Camp Woodson to create the Fairview Community Forest. That acquisition wraps around an interior campus where a partner organization, Camp Greer, operates a vocational education program; the presenter said a second purchase (the interior campus currently held by a Presbyterian organization) is planned for fiscal 2025 to complete public access and programming connections. Conserving Carolina said three miles of trails are already built in cooperation with Camp Greer and that parking and additional site work are ongoing; the forest is not yet open to the public.
Separately, county staff reported that seven farmland easement projects were approved by the county commissioners and that closings are expected later in the month. Staff said contractors helped with Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) work related to Hurricane Helene and that some program activity delayed by storm recovery is resuming.
Board members commended the trust staff and landowners for the work and asked staff to circulate links to drone footage and site materials; staff said they would follow up with site‑visit scheduling and additional documentation.
