Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina announced the permanent protection of three conservation easements transferred from Duke Energy, totaling 130 acres of permanent stream protection buffer along the Catawba River and its tributaries below the dams at Lake James.

These properties will help protect water quality in the upper section of the Catawba River Basin, and will be added to Foothills Conservancy’s vast portfolio of permanently protected lands around Lake James.

In 2006, Duke Energy, Foothills Conservancy and 68 other stakeholders signed the Comprehensive Relicensing Agreement (CRA) – a landmark document providing the region’s vision for conservation initiatives needed to protect the Catawba River and lake system for a 50-year planning horizon.

The conservation easements were fully funded by Duke Energy. In the future, ownership of the easement areas and the surrounding land will be transferred to the State of North Carolina, with Foothills Conservancy holding and stewarding the permanent conservation easements. These lands are also the future site of a co-location section of the Fonta Flora State Trail and Overmountain Victory State and National Historic Trail.

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina is a nationally accredited regional land trust that inspires conservation in Western North Carolina by permanently protecting land and water in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell, and Rutherford Counties.

[News release from Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina]