Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust

Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust (HCLT) and The Open Space Institute (OSI) today announced the protection of the nearly 1,000-acre Trout Creek property in Jackson County. With the acquisition, OSI and HCLT have secured one of the largest remaining intact forested tracts in the Headwaters District — an extraordinary southern Appalachian landscape of mountains, streams, and wildlife habitat.

This is a landmark effort to safeguard critical headwaters and habitat in one of Jackson County’s largest remaining intact forested landscapes

Purchased for $4 million and located within one of the fastest-growing parts of western North Carolina, the sensitive natural resources on the property will now be protected and stewarded for environmental health and passive recreation. Before HCLT and OSI’s intervention, the property had been slated for subdivision with initial development phases including over 170 homes, golf courses and a man-made lake.

“The southern Appalachians are one of North America’s most important strongholds of biological diversity,” said Maria Whitehead, Ph.D., OSI’s Senior Vice President of Land. “Conservation of this property supports rare and threatened native species while creating a unique new recreational asset, which will be planned in collaboration with the community. We were thrilled to build on our growing partnership with Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust to conserve land in this incredible region.”

Lance Hardin, HCLT Executive Director, said the project will forever protect wild and ecologically significant lands.

“We are immensely grateful to OSI and our remarkable community partners who have supported this acquisition. Preserving these landscapes continues a 100-year legacy of conservation across the Plateau, proving how much we can achieve when organizations and local supporters come together with a clear, ambitious goal,” he said.

The property contains and borders more than five miles of streams and riparian corridors associated with Trout Creek, Little Trout Creek, and Bell Conley Branch. By keeping the lands around these water bodies undeveloped and unimpeded, they will maintain their natural functions—filtering and recharging cold-water headwaters flowing into the Little Tennessee River basin, upholding good water quality for downstream communities, and supporting habitat for a plethora of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, including the southern Appalachian brook trout—the region’s only true native trout species and regarded as “significantly rare” by the State of North Carolina.

Rising from roughly 2,800 to almost 4,000 feet in elevation, the property encompasses a remarkable diversity of habitats, including montane oak-hickory forests, rich cove forests, rocky cliffs, grassy open outcrops and pristine mountain streams. This broad elevation gradient offers vital connected habitat for plants and wildlife as they adapt and migrate in the face of warming temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and other pressures. The tract also borders and partially encompasses the High Top and Lizzie Mountain Natural Area, recognized by the state’s Natural Heritage Program for its conservation value.

OSI and HCLT expect to hold the property for several years before transferring to a long-term conservation steward. During their ownership period, the land will remain closed to public access. OSI and HCLT anticipate that passive recreational activities such as hiking, camping, and mountain biking will be permitted when the property is ultimately opened to the public.

The Trout Creek project builds on growing partnerships between OSI and local land trusts including HCLT and Mainspring Conservation Trust, which have produced the successful conservation of the 104-acre Peregrine property near Whiteside Mountain in 2025 and the 4,300-acre Snowbird Mountain Property in Cherokee and Graham Counties. Together, the organizations are protecting some of the area’s most important landscapes with the goals of strengthening habitat connectivity, protecting water resources, expanding public access to nature, and ensuring that future generations can benefit from western NC’s spectacular scenic beauty and natural heritage.

Philanthropic partners played a critical role in making the effort possible, including foundational funding for acquisition due diligence costs provided by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC). Tara Scholtz, CFWNC’s Vice President, said, “Protecting a 1,000-acre parcel like Trout Creek requires partnership, and CFWNC funding for due diligence costs is a piece of the puzzle. HCLT’s knowledge of the area’s conservation needs and opportunities and OSI’s transactional and financing expertise anchored this complex project. The acquisition permanently protects biodiversity and rare habitat and provides opportunities for outdoor recreation. It also complements the 2025 Jackson County Headwaters District Conservation Plan focused on safeguarding water resources, directing growth away from sensitive lands, promoting stewardship and the outdoor economy, and balancing growth with conservation. We are honored to play a part.”

In addition to funding from CFWNC, the project was supported by the Green South Foundation, Brad and Shelli Stanback through the Foundation for the Carolinas, Knobloch Family Foundation, and many individual donors.

– Submitted: Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust