Client Case Study: Little Pisgah Mountain Conservation Easement

In late 2011, Fusco Land Planning & Design worked with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) and the landowner(s) to protect 474 acres, consisting of 6 land tracts atop Little Pisgah Mountain in southern Buncombe County. The effort resulted in the protection of a highly visible mountain ridge along the Eastern Continental Divide.

This project was a complex process due to the number of tracts and each owners’ desire to maintain buildable homesites on their respective tracts. We were able to work with the family and the land trust to carefully identify future building sites that not only complement the larger landscape, but also maintain the conservation values of the property (which include water resources, wildlife corridors and the viewshed). The properties contain high-elevation pastures, significant rock outcroppings, and prime forest land rising to an elevation of 4400’, which is visible from Chimney Rock State Park as well as Downtown Asheville.

In addition, the protection of this land adds this property to a collection of protected lands totaling over 1500 acres in the Little Pisgah area.

Fusco Land Planning & Design, PLLC is proud to have worked with landowners and SAHC to come up with this innovative solution for land protection and development.