NC State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP)

LTLT and nine other land trusts that comprise the Blue Ridge Forever coalition are sharing a $125,000 grant from The Conservation Fund, a national land conservation organization.  This grant helps the land trusts educate the public about North Carolina's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) and how it plays into land protection projects in the mountains. 

Between August and December 2008, LTLT has conserved two large tracts with high NC SWAP values - 714 acres in Cherokee County and 906 acres in Graham County.  Also in December 2008, LTLT was entrusted with a conservation easement on a 250 acre tract including 3/4 miles of Nantahala River frontage.  In addition LTLT has integrated information regarding SWAP in activities such as canoe trips on the Little Tennessee River and in media stories on the above mentioned land protection projects.

In order to restore key habitat on NC SWAP identified areas in the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River Basins, LTLT has become the only land trust member of the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network (SBRFLN). LTLT is developing an inter-agency project to establish a SBRFLN demonstration site on LTLT/USFS lands in the lower Yellow Creek Valley.

LTLT has also retained a consultant to develop a SWAP prioritization model for private parcels in the six NC counties west of the Balsam Mountains that LTLT serves. The map products and parcel database will also be used to help guide LTLT’s land protection planning in these six counties.