9 More Acres Protected – Adjoining Great Smoky Mountains National Park
In Fall 2025, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased a 9-acre tract surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and another SAHC-owned preserve – neatly filling a gap in the protected landscape. The acquisition solidifies conservation of a ridgeline on the eastern edge of the national park near the Cataloochee Valley.
Water sources on the property drain into Stevens Creek, a tributary of the Pigeon River.
Completing the Puzzle
“We are thrilled to finally complete this piece of the puzzle,” says Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter. “SAHC purchased the adjoining 13-acre tract in 2021, and we have been waiting for the opportunity to close this unprotected ‘hole’ on the Cataloochee Ridge.”
SAHC will own and manage the recently protected 9-acre tract and adjoining 13-acre tract together as a nature preserve; in the future, the land could become part of the national park.
The Asbury Trail skirts the edge of SAHC’s adjoining preserve, passing just to the west of the recently conserved land.
Land Conservation Benefits Wildlife Movement
Very close to these properties, SAHC owns another 147-acre tract in the Stevens Creek watershed – purchased in 2017. This nearby Stevens Creek property provides wildlife habitat for a variety of species, with forest cover and an open area that has been managed by our partners at NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) to improve the quality of habitat. In 2024, SAHC hosted a virtual Lunch and Learn with guest speaker Justin McVey of NCWRC, highlighting their land management work to benefit elk and other wildlife.
“The acquisition of the Stevens Creek tracts along the boundary with Great Smoky Mountains National Park by SAHC is significant in terms of broadening the protection of wildlife habitat and corridors immediately adjacent to the Park,” says Kevin Fitzgerald, SAHC Board Trustee and former Deputy Superintendent at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “When the Park completed its General Management Plan in 1981, it was decided that construction of a new 5-mile entrance road from I-40 at Fines Creek to Hoglen Gap, just east of Cataloochee Valley, would never take place in the future. SAHC’s Stevens Creek tracts, including this recent 9-acre purchase, add to the existing 500 acres that were originally acquired by the State of NC and donated to the park for an entrance road. Now, those lands serve as an important wildlife corridor for the movement of numerous species headed north and south between Cataloochee and I-40, as well as important habitat for the ever growing elk population in that area.”
Continuing a Conservation Legacy
Just south of Stevens Creek, at Cove Creek Gap and the Cataloochee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, landowner Kay Hultquist had worked with SAHC to permanently protect her family’s 65-acre tract through a conservation easement. The conservation easement project closed in 2000, preserving wildlife habitat, scenic views, and 2,000 linear feet of stream. Kay and Charles Hultquist’s children – Kathy Overholser (husband Jim), Chip Hultquist (wife Teri), and Joe Hultquist – carried on the conservation legacy of their parents, honoring their love of the mountains and continuing to help preserve these important natural spaces. The Overholser and Hultquist families made it possible for SAHC to purchase and conserve 10 acres adjoining the national park at Cove Creek Gap in 2020.
SAHC’s recent purchase of the 9 acres at Stevens Creek continues our conservation work in the area while also continuing the conservation legacy of the Hultquist/Overholser families. We are deeply grateful for generous gifts from the Overholser and Hultquist families, who made this conservation purchase possible. Kathy Overholser passed away in April of this year (2025), and conservation of the land honors her memory.
“When Kathy passed away, our world lost a champion of conservation,” adds Hanni. “Kathy’s love for the mountains was generational, inherited from her mother, Kay, whose adventurous spirit and passion for nature helped shape her family’s legacy of conservation.”
In an interview in 2021, Kathy reflected that it was important to the family to stay involved in SAHC and conservation in general. Her husband Jim added, “It’s important to preserve the land. When Kathy’s parents purchased the property, there was no development in the area at the time. Now, the whole of WNC has a tremendous amount of second homes and development. It’s important to support organizations like SAHC that are involved in land protection and species protection.”
We are so grateful to the Overholser and Hultquist families for their continued support and engagement in conservation!
Tom Ward
