Mainspring Conservation Trust has conserved more than 205 acres in the Rainbow Springs area of the county’s western portion, and that land is now part of a larger node of privately conserved property that totals 2,619 acres and abuts the Nantahala National Forest. The newly conserved land — which Mainspring Executive Director Jordan Smith called “one of the most ecologically significant and diverse areas within Mainspring’s entire region” — is owned by the Rainbow Springs Hunting and Fishing Club and was the last unprotected piece of land in the club’s ownership. 

“All of us recognized the importance of the biological diversity of the property and the need to protect this valuable resource for future generations,” said Charlie Owen, one of the partners in the Rainbow Springs Club. “Mainspring has been a great partner in making this possible.”

About 85 percent of the newly conserved property is within the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail and is visible from the Waterfall Byway and surrounding Nantahala National Forest lands. It has abundant aquatic resources and riparian habitat, including more than a mile of Nantahala River frontage. Upstream of the public section of the river that provides recreation opportunities and economic benefit to both Swain and Macon counties, this project further protects these waters that are currently classified as Outstanding Resource Waters by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Located within the property is the Rainbow Springs Marsh, which holds important federal significance. The marsh is part of a bog wetland that is so unique, it’s included the Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge, one of approximately 30 areas in western North Carolina and northeast Tennessee that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife designated in April 2015 as the Firescald Conservation Partnership Area. 

www.mainspringconserves.org.