Partners Continue Service Project Successes

This fall, SAHC continued two great volunteer management partnerships on the Roan. Asheville Green Opportunities and AmeriCorps Project conserve came out for two separate management days, restoring grassy bald habitat on the western slope of Round Bald. It is always rewarding to bring young volunteers to a beautiful place they have not been before, especially when their work can build a sense of connection to the land. It affords us the chance to look at the Roan and its vistas with new eyes and underlines the importance of SAHC’s protection efforts.

Volunteers used hand tools to remove isolated clumps of woody plants that are encroaching on the grassy bald. Without regular management, blackberry, rhododendron, blueberry, spruce, and fir trees will gradually expand outward into the grassy bald community, a process called natural or ecological succession.

Support from the National Forest Foundation, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and Constellation Energy allows SAHC to recruit volunteers and organize these work days. As always, resource protection is only possible through partnerships. We are thankful we can continue this important work and share our management efforts with volunteers that may now visit and protect the Roan for years to come.