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COMMON GROUND VOL. 11 NO . 4 MAY /DUNE 2000
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<br /> Fund Secures Option to Link Parks in Carolinas
<br /> Rio Grande, from page 1 El Ohio—The Fund recently acquired 2,905
<br /> Channel was built . The lower Rio Grande is acres of reclaimed strip mine lands in Noble
<br /> one of the most biologically diverse areas in County, Ohio, to benefit the state ' s wildlife,
<br /> the U. S . It hosts more than half the bird spe- hunters and outdoor recreationists . Mined
<br /> cies found in the lower 48 states . over two decades by Union Carbide and
<br /> M North Carolina—The Fund has acquired B &N Coal Co . , the land has been restored by In the past decade,
<br /> an option to buy more than 1 ,400 acres of B &N into a productive and scenic mosaic of the Fund helped
<br /> ridgeline on the Kings Mountain Range that meadows and hardwood forests . They sup- Ohio 's wildlife
<br /> provides the final link to connect three parks port populations of turkey, ruffed grouse, ,
<br /> in the Carolinas . The Fund expects to convey whitetail deer and other species native to the division add more
<br /> the land this fall to the state of North Caro- rolling Appalachian foothills of southeast than 45, 000 acres
<br /> lina, which will add it to the Crowder Moun- Ohio . John Turner, the Fund ' s president, will to its wildlife "
<br /> tain State Park near Charlotte . Besides pro- dedicate the property to the state on May 2 .
<br /> tecting a ridgeline visible from I-85 and In the past decade, the Fund helped the state management areas ,
<br /> nearby towns, the acquisition will allow for wildlife division add more than 45,000 acres nearly doubling
<br /> the creation of a 45-mile trail system linking to its wildlife management areas, nearly dou- its holdZngS .
<br /> the North Carolina park with Kings Moun- bling its holdings .
<br /> taro State Park and Kings Mountain National 0 Michigan—Two fruit farms in northwest
<br /> Military Park in South Carolina . Michigan totaling 776 acres have been pre-
<br /> M Colorado—The Fund worked with the Na- served in separate projects involving the
<br /> tional Park Service and the Bureau of Land Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy,
<br /> Management to protect 4,577 acres in and the state Department of Natural Resources
<br /> near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Na- and the Fund . In the first project, the conser-
<br /> tional Park, the nation' on for a family cor
<br /> s 55th and newest. vancy paid $1 .42 millipo-
<br /> Last year, Congress expanded its boundaries ration that owned the 551 -acre Fruithaven
<br /> and elevated it to a national park thanks to Orchards in Benzie County near Lake Michi-
<br /> the leadership of Sen. Ben Nighthorse gan. The tract, which will remain open space,
<br /> Campbell (R-Colo . ) and Rep . Scott McInnis had been slated to become a hotel-condo-golf
<br /> (R-Colo . ) . The Fund bought a conservation resort that would have radically changed the
<br /> easement on 2,200 acres of highly visible rural character of the area . The Fund secured
<br /> property at the canyon' s south rim, keeping an option on the farm' s development rights
<br /> a local family on their ranch. On the north and transferred it to the state . The state DNR
<br /> rim, the Fund bought 2,377 acres, providing then bought the rights for $756,580 . The con-
<br /> habitat for the Gunnison sage grouse, a spe- servancy, which has resold 97 acres of the The tract, which
<br /> cies under consideration for listing as endan- restricted agricultural parcels for $200,000, will remain open
<br /> gered . As one of the nation' s newest gateway intends to sell all but 165 acres of the farm's space, had been
<br /> communities, Montrose County is. grappling forest, which will become a nature preserve .
<br /> with planning and land protection issues that The second project, in which the Old Mission slated to become a
<br /> accompany having a national park next door. Land Conservancy participated, protected hotel -condo -golf
<br /> The Fund plans to work with the Valley the 225-acre Harbor Ridge farm next to a 140- resort that would
<br /> Land Conservancy to preserve the natural acre nature preserve near Grand Traverse
<br /> values and rural character of the surround- Bay. The state contributed $850, 000 and the have radically
<br /> ing ranchlands . Grand Traverse conservancy $710,000 to buy changed the rural
<br /> 03 Vermont—The North American Wetlands the development rights, which the Fund had character of the
<br /> Conservation Council has awarded a $1 mil- obtained . Preservation of the farm is part of a
<br /> lion grant to the Fund to transfer 5,400 acres $3 million campaign to protect the area be
<br /> area .
<br /> of high-value wetlands in Essex County to tween Pyatt Lake and Grand Traverse Bay .
<br /> the state . The transaction completes the pro- ® Washington—The Fund recently protected
<br /> tection of 133,000 acres in Vermont that the a 25-acre inholding in North Cascades Na-
<br /> Fund purchased from Champion Interns- tional Park that had been the focus of a
<br /> tional last summer . The 5,400-acre tract ad- seven-year debate over whether to create a
<br /> joins 16,500 acres of wetlands that the Rich- 13-condo development on the site . The hill-
<br /> ard King Mellon Foundation purchased and side parcel, which fronts Lake Chelan in cen-
<br /> donated to Vermont last year . The two areas tral Washington, is mostly forested with
<br /> comprise the new West Mountain Wildlife stands of older-growth Douglas fir . The Fund
<br /> Management Area, which offers public ac- transferred the land, valued at $ 1 million, to
<br /> cess for hunting, fishing and other recreation. the National Park Service in April.
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