The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System
2013 Land Acquisition Campaign
The Highlands Nature Sanctuary (shown below in green) has been pieced back together from over 50 pieces of land along the Rocky Fork Creek corridor between Paint Creek and Rocky Fork State Parks (shown in purple). This year's land campaign will add 115 acres of land on the western side of the preserve.
Zoomed in map of the western side of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary. The Arc's
existing properties are shown in light green, with the Phase I properties in red,
and the Phase II property in yellow.
This Year's Campaign
PHASE ONE—PART ONE
God’s Country II/Skeen Road Cabin
Size: 1.75 acres
Sale Price with Closing Fees: $47,000
House Demolition Expense: $8,000
Current Status: in contract awaiting funds
In 2009, the Arc first began our fund-raising drive for God’s Country I, the pastoral 85 acres on the banks of the upper Rocky Fork Creek. That campaign’s successful completion in 2010 firmly nailed down the western-most terminus of our ten mile long dream. God’s Country I brought the Sanctuary’s boundaries all the way to the foot of the historic McCoppin Mill dam, as well as the larger Rocky Fork Lake dam lying directly behind it.
Perhaps you remember reading our descriptions of this special place in earlier publications. The water flowing over both dams creates a dynamic stretch of water we like to call the Duck Sanctuary. Here, ducks and mergansers congregate in the open water during migration and in the coldest weeks of the winter, and bald eagles and osprey are frequent sightings. In the spring, prothonotary warblers sing their clear bright songs along the water’s edge, blue herons and kingfishers hunt for fish, and colonies of cliff swallows hang from their clever mud nests beneath the Rocky Fork bridge.
Many years ago, a small corner piece facing the road was subdivided from the larger property, with a cabin used as a home site. In later years, the cabin had fallen into disrepair, but it was the Arc's hope that a Land Steward would be found to repair the house and watch over the property. This was not to be, but the Arc of Appalachia has decided to go ahead with purchasing this lovely property anyway. The house has been demolished, and another non-profit is kindly holding the land for the Arc until the necessary funds for purchase can be raised.
This small piece of land will complete a long stretch of protected roadside, and provides an excellent parking area for the new trails that are planned for the area.
The Rocky Fork Creek showing Ravenwood on the left, and
the unprotected Ravens Crossing on the right.
PHASE ONE—PART TWO
Ravens Crossing
Size: 16 acres (2 tracts)
Sale Price with Closing Fees: $49,000
Old Trailer Removal Expense: $4000
Current Status: in contract awaiting funds
Like the Skeen Road Cabin property, this tale also begins with a property previously purchased by the Arc in the immediate region. In 2003, the Arc acquired Ravenwood, which included a two story farmhouse that was built by the Beaver family in the 1800’s, strategically placed to overlook the family-owned enterprise on the Rocky Fork Creek, Beaver Mill.
Although the mill dam still survives to this day, the grist mill itself is long gone, and the deep gorge downstream from the dam is well on its way to being re-wilded. The Beaver family home, now known as Ravenwood Lodge, is fully remodeled and is furnished with original Beaver family antiques. Over the years it has ably served the Arc as quarters for group gatherings and education classes.
Just behind Ravenwood Lodge lies the almost forgotten gorge of Sanctuary West. If you were to walk beyond Ravenwood’s shade trees, across the lawn and through a deceptively narrow border of forest, you would be stopped abruptly by an abyss. Before you would be a deep ravine, plummeting down to the winding river below, the high valley walls casting the glittering sinews of the Rocky Fork in blue shadow.
A trail beginning from the bluffs would beckon you to follow its switch-backs down to the water; passing small grottos, rock outcrops and surface boulders quite over-canopied with mosses, liverworts and walking ferns. It would not be uncommon en route to hear wood ducks crying overhead and cerulean and yellow-throated warblers singing from the sycamores. In spring, you would wade through fields of ephemeral woodland wildflowers.
But literally HALF of the magic of the scenery is on the other side of the creek, currently in private hands. Perhaps you can imagine our excitement, then, to learn that a property providing this scenic unprotected backdrop was up for sale. It was only a matter of a few weeks following our discovery that we signed the contract to purchase it.
PHASE TWO
Maude’s Cedar Narrows
Size: 97 acres (3 tracts)
Sale Price with Closing Fees: $293,000
Demolition Expense: $12,000
Trash Clean-up: $5000
Current Status: in contract awaiting funds
Maude’s Cedar Narrows is a gorgeous tract of land lying adjacent to both God’s Country I and God’s Country II. It runs down a long stretch of the upper Rocky Fork Creek and contains the entire lower stretch of Franklin Branch. Before its confluence with Rocky Fork Creek, Franklin Branch carves out a stunning steep-walled dolomite canyon dotted with small grottos and beautiful rock formations. It also boasts the largest waterfalls in the entire Sanctuary region.
We await the successful completion of Skeen Road Cabin and Ravens Crossing before focusing our fund-raising attentions on Maude’s Cedar Narrows. If all goes well, we will be sharing more information with you on this property in the future.
How can you help?
The Arc of Appalachia is a private non-profit. That means we are funded entirely by donations and grants. It is by your contributions and the many contributions of people like you that we are able to save these important properties, and year after year expand the Arc's preserve land. We are so grateful for your support!