Asheville ECO-GREEN Real Estate

For many years, I've been keeping a  "Good-Eye" out for  clients who are conservation real estate land buyers and investors. 

 Traditionally, landowners relocating and building in Western North Carolina  have enjoyed the highlands and the many gifts of living here.

But since 1975, we have found it more and more challenging to find large acreages in the mountains. These days, partly because a good deal  of the land is steep and rugged terrain, and too because  eco-friendly developers know that it is mighty expensive and even imprudent to prepare such land for development, land values have appreciated significantly. (Map courtesy of Blue Ridge Forever.)  

As a Land Specialist still attempting to keep that  ‘good-eye" out for my conservation real estate buyers,  I note with interest the steep slope ordinances recently approved. I recognize how neighbors, who watch carefully and voice opinions at city council meetings, are taking action to protect farmlands, land containing rare, unique species and ecosystems.I observe what is happening with our awesome and beautiful viewsheds.

Recently, Phyllis Stiles of Blue Ridge Forever  stated, "With population and development growing at unprecedented rates in Western North Carolina, land trusts are having to take a broader look at where they invest their limited resources. The lands we lose or protect this decade will define the region for generations to come."  

So what are the folks at Blue Ridge Forever, that coalition of 13 land conservation groups  all about? They are energizing the effort to save much of the mountain lands that possess these special features:

     1.    significant ecological qualities
    2.    high quality waters or significant water supply
    3.    connectivity of the landscape - linking protected lands and habitats together
    4.    cultural and economic importance, including exceptional scenic views
    5.    significant tracts of working forests or farms

In a report entitled a Conservation Vision for Western North Carolina,  land conservation organizations, leading conservation thinkers, biological experts, agricultural specialists and cultural researchers hope  to communicate with land trusts as they decide where to commit resources.

 As a real estate professional involved in conservation real estate, I am delighted to be a small part of this. I get to represent places like Three Creeks Eco-Community and Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community. Both of these conservation neighborhoodswere developed by private eco-developers. Each purchased over 200 acres of land and then surveyed off about 1/10 of the acreage on which to place an ecovillage and/or building sites. I also have the "feel-good" knowledge that in some small way, I am helping 

•1.       to preserve access to fresh, locally grown food
•2.       to protect crucial water resources
•3.       to safeguard the precious views and landscape
•4.       to ensure that the resources and beauty are around for the next generation.

Here are links and  (shown above) a numbered and labeled map from Blue Ridge Forever that locate some of the sustainable areas at risk  

If you are an eco-frienldy person, you may also appreciate the following:   

13 Top-Notch RESOURCES:  Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust Boone, NC, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy Hendersonville, NC, Conservation Trust for North Carolina Raleigh, NC, Foothills Conservancy of North CarolinaMorganton, NC, High Country Conservancy Boone, NC, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust Highlands, NC,  Land Trust for the Little Tennessee Franklin, NC, National Committee for the New River West Jefferson, NC,  Pacolet Area ConservancyTryon, NC, Southern Appalachian Highlands ConservancyAsheville, NC, The Conservation Fund Chapel Hill, NC, The North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy Saluda, NC, Trust for Public LandCarolinas Field Office - Charlotte, NC

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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............and always remember that " poets are soldiers that liberate words from the steadfast possession of definition." -Eli Khamarov  .......  We are in a sustainable  world, so grab hold of your Muse... dream that world... and make it happen!. .........................    .............

Keeping a  "Good-Eye" Out for  Conservation Real Estate Land Buyers. The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved

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