Conservation plan coming for Jackson
The conservation plan will aim to protect some of Jackson County’s most precious natural resources, such as Schoolhouse Falls. File photo
Jackson County is embarking on a conservation plan with goal of protecting certain tracts of land.
“Jackson County is, from a natural resources perspective, a phenomenal county,” said Owen Carson, senior ecologist at Equinox Environmental in a presentation to commissioners Feb. 4.
“I would say it’s probably one of the premier counties in Western North Carolina and maybe across the state in terms of its biodiversity and its significance.”
According to Carson, the purpose of the conservation plan is to assess conservation priorities in the six townships that comprise the district to generate policy recommendations to protect their rural and scenic character and balance the conservation of their important elements with the development of the region.
“I also acknowledge that Jackson County has a wealth of farmland, forest land, rivers, streams, valleys, beautiful vistas, all of these things that we all hold near and dear to our hearts. They help make Jackson County what it is, and we think that they should be celebrated, and I hope that all of you do too,” said Carson. “There is a lot here that is worth protecting and that is what this conservation plan effort is about.”
District four is the largest in Jackson County. At 170,000 acres, it is bigger than the rest of the districts added together, which total just about 125,000 acres. It contains Cashiers, Hamburg, Canada, Mountain, River and Caney Fork townships.
Related Items
Holly Williams comes to Highlands
Rock, jam at Lazy Hiker
Protesters rally against Trump: Attendees angered by Musk’s influence, Democrats’ inaction
Upcoming readings at City Lights
Equinox Environmental is the lead coordinator for the conservation plan project. The company has previously done work in Jackson County, perhaps most recently the planning for the revamped Bridge Park Project.
The project is funded collaboratively with the county commission funding about half of the $167,500 total. The Tourism Development Authority and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina also contributed funds.
“A lot of people came together to help make this project happen,” said Carson. “We’re thankful for that.”
A vision for the conservation plan has already been developed by the steering committee and says that the plan will be “an authoritative blueprint to make responsible land use decisions that conserve and enhance the biodiverse mountainous landscape — forests, streams, rivers, farms, wetlands, and wildlife — in the face of ever-increasing development pressure and climate challenges. Implementing the strategies and best practices in this plan allows for a balance between development and land conservation that sustains our unique ecology, rural character and heritage for generations to come.”
The steering committee has also outlined a number of goals for the project. Among those are protecting natural and agricultural resources by conserving and sustaining ecologically sensitive areas, farms, working lands, landscape integrity and natural vistas; promoting economic growth for farmers and the community by prioritizing farmland preservation; protecting the natural and beneficial functions of watersheds; advancing resilient development and open space strategies to adapt to future climate impacts; and empowering communities and educating people to be stewards of the land and to embrace Southern Appalachian natural and cultural heritage.
“A lot of our community members represent a diverse set of groups, and what you see here in these goals reflects several intense working group sessions to kind of distill what the purpose of the goals of this plan will be,” said Carson. “So this was a collaborative effort leading to these goals.”
The scope of the project was finalized at the end of September.
District four is the largest in Jackson County. At 170,000 acres, it is bigger than the rest of the districts added together, which total just about 125,000 acres. File photo
“We began steering committee meetings in October of last year,” said Carson. “And at the same time we have project download sessions where we’re gathering information from project partners, we have kick off visiting meetings, we acquire data, we conduct desktop analysis to make maps and other assessments, we’ve looked at county ordinances, done case studies and are continuing to work on a suitability assessment for conservation and development which is basically a mapping model that helps identify areas more suited for conservation or more suitable for development.”
While the steering committee helps to guide the project process, it will also work with and garner input from stakeholders like local officials, businesses, land trusts, farmers, developers, real estate agents and the general public within district four.
“As we move through the process, we will engage the public, we will gather that information, assess it and ultimately the final document will be a blend of information we collected at the front end, analyses, public engagement and recommendations,” said Carson.
Near the end of the project the team will be distilling information into recommendations and developing the final conservation plan document to be submitted for review.
A lawyer with a firm in Catawba has agreed to review the ordinance recommendations and case studies pro bono for the project to ensure legality.
Commissioner Jenny Hooper asked whether the ordinance recommendations will apply to people who own land in Jackson County.
“The purpose of this plan is not to generate legal ordinances to apply to the community,” said Carson. “It’s to generate recommendations for you and for county planning to make informed decisions on conservation and land development moving forward. Our role is not to generate legal ordinance or code.”
Part of the review of local ordinances will include a review of communities with similar conservation plans within the region and beyond.
“We’re pulling little bits of information from these examples that we feel have done a good job protecting their character in making these conservation-based plans,” said Carson. “But also, we’re considering looking at communities of a similar size completely outside of this region because there are dynamics that exist in those communities that are emulated here, and we didn’t want to restrict our geographic focus just to the southern Appalachian communities. We think it’s important to consider how other communities have experienced growth and change.”
In addition to meetings with the stakeholder groups, general public meetings will take place in both March and July.
