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By Emma Castleberry<\/p>\n
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) has acquired 130 acres in Catawba County along the Jacob Fork River in the Catawba River Basin. The land, which was purchased with funding from a private conservationist, will eventually be transferred to North Carolina State Parks for the development of the Wilderness Gateway State Trail.<\/p>\n
For more than 230 years, this property has belonged to a single family. Michele Kling is a descendant of John Jacob Weaver, who bought the land in 1786 at an astonishing price of 70 pounds for 226 acres. Kling has been visiting the property since she was a little girl. \u201cWe would go exploring,\u201d she says, describing how she and her brother would dip their feet in the ice cold water of the river, collect eggs from the chickens and milk the cow. \u201cWe lived in Miami,\u201d she says, \u201cso it was a treat for us to be out in the country and go barefoot and have to wash our feet because of the red clay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the family\u2019s ancestors were subsistence farmers, potters and weavers who worked off the land, which contains a scenic half-mile of shoreline along the Jacob Fork River, a source of drinking water for the town of Newton downstream. \u201cThe river frontage is gorgeous,\u201d Kling says. \u201cYou could just sit there for hours and listen to the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
A biologist contracted by FCNC discovered more than 200 species of plants on the property. In the river, there was also documented occurrence of the Seagreen Darter, a freshwater fish rated \u201cSignificantly Rare\u201d by the NC Natural Heritage Program. \u201cWe always knew it was a neat place,\u201d Kling says. \u201cIt\u2019s really neat when a third party says it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kling inherited the property along with her brother, sister and cousin, also descendents of John Jacob Weaver. \u201cWe sold it to the Conservancy so it would never be developed, so the land will still be ours to enjoy,\u201d she says. \u201cWe look forward to still hiking hiking the property and going to the river. I\u2019m hoping it won\u2019t be too long before there are trails we can enjoy and use to be with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recently passed state funding package that included $3 million for the development of the Wilderness Gateway State Trail means that Kling\u2019s dream of walking the property soon might be realized. \u201cWith this available funding, it\u2019s possible that NC State Parks will be able to provide passive recreation access to the public in the project area in the near-term,\u201d says Andrew Kota, executive director of FCNC. \u201cFCNC anticipates conveying ownership of this property to NC State Parks in 2022 or 2023. At that time, the state will own approximately 310 acres of adjoining land along the Jacob Fork River at the project location.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more, visit FoothillsConservancy.org<\/a> or Trails.nc.gov\/state-trails\/wilderness-gateway-state-trail<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) has acquired 130 acres in Catawba County along the Jacob Fork River in the Catawba River Basin. For more than 230 years, this property has belonged to a single family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":49592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","category-outdoors"],"yoast_head":"\n