Music in the Forest – Protecting Bob Moog’s Big Briar Cove
Musicians around the world know the name Bob Moog and respect his groundbreaking innovations in electronic instruments. However, what they may not know is that a quiet cove outside Asheville, NC provided a setting of respite and inspiration to nourish his uncanny genius.
In December, we accepted a donated conservation easement on 105 acres of Bob Moog’s property in the South Turkey Creek community of Buncombe County. The quiet cove includes the former home and workshop of local music icon Bob Moog. His widow, Ileana Grams-Moog, donated the conservation easement to SAHC to protect forest habitat and clean water resources on the property. Read more
In mid-December, SAHC protected another tract at Hickory Nut Gap. This new conservation easement preserves 62 acres adjacent to the Florence Nature Preserve and close to the Drovers Road Scenic Byway. The property will remain privately owned, with permanent protection against future development.
When we closed on the 357-acre Yellow Mountain Gateway tract in Avery County, we preserved more than unspoiled streams, wildlife habitat, and working lands. We opened a way for future generations to connect with the rich history of Avery County.
n October 2013, SAHC purchased the summit of Blackrock Mountain in the Plott Balsam Mountains of Jackson County, with more than 250 surrounding acres. We plan to hold the property and manage it as a nature preserve until it can eventually be transferred to public ownership as park lands.
This lovely 63-acre cove is located in Madison County, on the ridgeline that is the border with Buncombe County. It lies near other properties that we have protected in a relatively unfragmented corridor between the Black Mountains and the Tennessee line.
At the end of 2012, we succeeded in purchasing an incredible property that had topped our conservation priority ‘wish list’ for the past four decades — the 601-acre Grassy Ridge tract, crown jewel of the Roan Highlands. Thanks to tenacious landowner outreach, good timing, extraordinary support from private philanthropists, and critical conservation partnerships, we were able to ring in the New Year with a triumph truly worth celebrating. The Grassy Ridge tract forms a breathtaking corridor that connects public lands along one of the highest elevation ridges in the Southern Appalachians.
We love the tranquil drive through Fairview along the Drover’s Road Scenic Byway. At the crest of Hickory Nut Gap, the sight of Sherrill’s Inn overlooking this scenic route recalls the 1800s, when the Flying Cloud stagecoach carried mail and passengers from Rutherfordton to Asheville, and herd drovers stopped here to rest before journeying on through the gorge.
There’s something alluring about a ghost town in the middle of the forest, where stone chimneys and building remnants hearken back to more vibrant days. You can almost imagine that the stones in fallen walls whisper stories about the families who once lived here.
In early December, we closed on three adjoining projects in the lush Fairview valley, securing 28 acres of prime farming bottom land for agricultural use in the future. The parcels lie alongside the Drovers’ Road Scenic Byway, below a twisting ascent up the Hickory Nut Gap. Together, these projects help ensure the protection of the scenic quality of this rural landscape, as well as the availability of rare prime soils for present and future farmers.
