News Release | What's New - The Cliffs Communities

January 7, 2010

Contact:
Phyllis Stiles, Blue Ridge Forever, 828.253.0095 x212
Jen Welch, The Cliffs Communities, 864.371.3006 (o), 864.238.3799 (c)

DEVELOPER HELPS PROTECT PARKWAY LAND
The Cliffs Communities and Parkland Trust Make $10,000 Gift to Land Trust Coalition

Asheville - The Cliffs Communities, through their philanthropic entity Parkland Trust, recently donated $10,000 to help protect land along the Blue Ridge Parkway in honor of the Parkway’s 75th anniversary. The donation was made to the Blue Ridge Forever coalition of ten mountain land trusts, which included the Parkway as a priority focus area in its Conservation Vision for Western North Carolina and its five-year campaign to protect 50,000 acres in the region by the end of 2010.

“This is quite literally our backyard, and we have a responsibility to protect this magnificent land. We want to play an active role in ensuring that some of the most special places in our region remain untouched, so that future generations can share the same views and experiences as we do,” explains Jim Anthony, founder and president of The Cliffs Communities. “We are truly excited to be partnering with local land trusts to protect the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a local treasure that brings national attention and millions of families from around the nation to Western North Carolina each year.”

Since the Blue Ridge Forever coalition campaign for 50,000 acres began in 2006, the coalition of land trusts have protected 19 parcels adjoining or in view of the Parkway, amounting to 4,257 acres at a cost of over $20 million.

The coalition chose to use the gift to help finance the Conservation Trust for North Carolina’s (CTNC) Roaring Fork Headwaters project on the border of Surry and Alleghany counties. In addition to its proximity to the Parkway, the property contains headwaters of the Fisher River that feeds the drinking water supply for Dobson. The property is near the 3,400-acre Saddle Mountain Wilderness Area and Cumberland Knob National Recreation Area. It adjoins the Parkway corridor by connecting with a 201-acre property that was protected by CTNC in 2007 and donated to the National Park Service.

“This gift is a critical boost to our Parkway protection efforts,” CTNC Executive Director Reid Wilson said. “As government funding becomes scarcer due to the economic downturn, we depend upon the generosity of private individuals and businesses, such as The Cliffs, to help us protect the places we all love.”

CTNC purchased the 48.7-acre Roaring Fork Headwaters tract for $125,000 this summer from Mike Carson of Gainesville, Ga., who agreed to sell the property at a steep discount in order to assure it would be forever protected. The Cliffs’ gift will help make it possible for CTNC to transfer the property to the National Park Service.

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Blue Ridge Forever is a coalition campaign led by mountain land trusts and national conservation organizations to raise public awareness and financial resources to safeguard land and water in the Southern Blue Ridge for present and future generations. The coalition works in local communities to ensure that critical lands are protected for clean drinking water, recreation, wildlife habitats, tourism, and working farms. To learn more, visit www.blueridgeforever.info.

Blue Ridge Forever members: Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, High Country Conservancy, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, National Committee for the New River, Pacolet Area Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy National Advisors: The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy (NC Chapter), Trust for Public Land.

Conservation Trust for North Carolina assists, promotes and represents North Carolina’s 24 local land trusts, including its fellow members in Blue Ridge Forever. It also is dedicated to protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway’s natural and scenic corridor. CTNC has protected more than 30,000 acres in more than 40 locations along the Parkway.

The Cliffs Communities - Founded in 1989 by Jim Anthony, The Cliffs Communities offers a unique collection of eight communities within three distinct regions of The Carolina Preserve --- Asheville, Mountain-lake and Mountain --- while providing immediate enjoyment of all with only one membership. All communities are just minutes from each other. All are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of protected parklands at the southernmost edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And all provide access to two of the South’s most vibrant towns: Greenville, South Carolina, and Asheville, North Carolina. When you are a member of one Cliffs community, you are a Member of all eight. The Cliffs offers homesites from $200,000 to more than $3 million and custom homes from $700,000 to $5 million. To learn more about living at The Cliffs, call (877) 254-3371 or visit www.cliffscommunities.com.