Yellow Creek

In August 2008, LTLT purchased over 900 acres encompassing the lower end of Yellow Creek Valley in Graham County.  This was the largest, remaining unprotected tract west of the Smokies in North Carolina and is located along the Cheoah River less than 3 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 5 miles from the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.  The land includes over 12 miles of stream frontage, 4.5 miles of National Forest boundary and an extraordinary array of wetland, forestland, rivercane, and open field habitats.

Given the property’s long land use history, LTLT recognizes the Yellow Creek project as a major restoration initiative.  In preparation for this purchase, LTLT conducted botanical, forest, and invasive-exotic plant inventories of the property as well as research on the Native American history in Yellow Creek.   

While protecting water quality, bottomland habitat and agricultural soils are primary goals of the project, LTLT also plans to initiate upland forest restoration on the tract through the use of prescribed burning in partnership with the US Forest Service.  The Land Trust is also considering the sale of a limited number of home sites near existing roads in order to boost the Graham County tax base and to strengthen LTLT’s capacity to acquire other at risk parcels of land in the future.

The purchase of the tract, from the Aluminum Company of America, was made possible thanks to generous gifts from two conservation philanthropists - Fred and Alice Stanback as well as Bill and Nancy Stanback.