4 Conservation Success Stories from December
December was a powerful reminder of what you make possible. With your support we closed on six new conservation projects! After surpassing the milestone of over 50,000 total acres protected this summer, you helped us end the year with more than 51,000 acres conserved!
Together we achieved some remarkable milestones in 2025, including buying the Saluda Grade Trail corridor, a major expansion to our Joel Ridge Nature Preserve, and protecting the land for the Fairview Community Forest. Each of these successes reflects your commitment to caring for the places that make our region special.
In December, multiple projects expanded existing protected areas—proof that your impact continues to grow. There will be more stories to come, including news about some wonderful projects near the Green River. For now, we’re going to start with these four—all projects that take something great and make it even better.
Thank you for believing in this work and for being such a vital part of every acre protected!
1. WORX Project Campus in Fairview Community Forest
This summer we bought the land for the Fairview Community Forest—226 acres that will be open to the community, with hiking and biking trails. In December, we bought the land we called the “donut hole” at the center of this former summer camp, which is home to the WORX Project. The WORX Project is a life-changing nonprofit committed to expanding opportunities for local students.
The WORX Project provides outdoor education with a focus on career opportunities, including careers in WNC’s outdoor economy. At the same time, it’s a free summer camp for anyone who wants to come. At the WORX Project, kids who may not have spent a lot of time in the woods can start to feel at home in nature.
In December, we bought 27.5 additional acres to serve as the campus of the WORX Project. In the coming months, we will transfer this land to Camp Grier (the nonprofit that runs the WORX Project), permanently protected with a conservation easement. In all, with your help, we have now protected over 250 acres of this former summer camp!
2. More Conservation Near Green River Game Lands
For years, we have been working with neighbors near Saluda who took a bad situation—a proposed gun range that would have blasted the area with the noise of automatic weapons—and turned it into something very good. They not only found a conservation solution for the proposed shooting range, they protected much more land next to that property.
Tom and Susan McHugh have been a big part of this. Along with their neighbors David Cook and the late Karen Cook, they already provided land that was added to the Green River Game Lands. Together with the gun range property, this created over 250 acres of new public land. In addition, neighbor Alex Harvey donated a conservation easement on 26 acres. Now, the McHughs have generously donated an easement on another 18 acres. With this newest conservation easement, almost 300 acres are now protected forever!
3. Land Next to Youngblood Farms Preserve
In 2018, we worked with landowner Joe Thomas to protect family land that he has loved since boyhood. Thomas generously donated 98 acres on Hightop Mountain in northeast Henderson County. He created the Youngblood Farms Preserve, named in honor of his mother’s family. However, we didn’t have any way to bring people to this preserve, since we didn’t have direct road access.
Now, we have partnered with neighboring landowners to expand this protected area. In December, Vic and Mimi Galef generously transferred 18 acres to Conserving Carolina so that we will now have that road access! This property will allow us to offer guided hikes on part of Youngblood Farms Preserve. And it expands this special protected area. The new Galef Nature Preserve has two headwater streams, rock outcrops that are likely home to rare salamanders, and several kinds of rare wildflowers.
We are grateful for the chance to protect these natural treasures in a rapidly growing area! We were able to seize this opportunity thanks to support from the NC Land and Water Fund and the Stanback family.
4. Addition to a Vast Protected Summer Camp
Over the years, the Schenck family has worked with Conserving Carolina to protect a vast nature preserve where they offer a magical summer camp on the edge of DuPont State Recreational Forest. The Green River Preserve spans some 3,400 acres! This huge expanse of private conservation land enhances our treasured public land in DuPont, expands a vital migration corridor for wildlife, and provides an exceptional experience for children at the camp.
Now, the Schenck family has taken their extraordinary legacy one step further by protecting another tract on the edge of the preserve. In December, they generously donated a conservation easement on an additional 13 acres—so this vast nature preserve continues to grow.
Help Us Protect More Land!
Will you help us protect more of our precious forests, farms, mountains, and rivers—while we still can?
If you are interested in protecting your land, here is some information about Conservation Options for Landowners. We look forward to working with you!
You can also make a huge difference by making a donation to support our work!