This news item expired on Thursday, January 13, 2022 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
We are excited to announce that the Charles and Sandra Fortune Farm Easement closed on Dec. 21, 2020. This easement protected 46.1 acres in the Broad River Community and is adjacent to the 80.8 acres that the Fortune’s had already conserved with Buncombe Soil and Water in 2012. The Broad River valley is a traditional farming community, and it is one of the Fortune family’s dream to protect it so that it will remain a farming community. A perpetual conservation easement to keep this farm intact is immensely valuable. The conservation values protected by a conservation easement include the natural capacity of the property and its soils to support healthy agricultural uses, a variety of forest types, open space, diverse plant habitat, high-quality water, scenic pasture, and forest. The farm is mostly forest and this large, intact family farm boasts a rich diversity of native plant species. Thank you Charles and Sandra for being such passionate land stewards and conservationists, you have truly made a lasting difference in Buncombe County by preserving your family farm.
If you want to learn more about Buncombe’s Farmland Preservation Conservation easement program, please contact Ariel Zijp at ariel.zijp@buncombecounty.org or 828-250-4794