Thank You Macon Middle School Students

Our "Support the Land Trust not the Land Fill" project wouldn't have been ready for the kick-off date if it weren't for the help of Ms. Susan Steiner's class at Macon Middle School who worked diligently for 45 minutes, tagging the bags and adding the information page. Kate Parkerson with the LTLT staff gave a brief talk about the environmental impact of post-consumer single use bags while the students worked. Thank YOU!

Support the Land Trust not the Land Fill

For Earth Day We kicked off our "Support the Land Trust not the Land Fill" environmental health project with the sale of our re-usable shopping bags. They are selling well and we feel that the kick off event held at Main Street Coffee and Tea in Franklin has really had an impact in helping people to be more aware of post-consumer waste. You can buy the bag at the following locations:

Franklin: LTLT office, 88 E. Main Street; Collectable Cottage 76 E. Main St.; Main Street Coffee and Tea 26 E. Main St. ; Silver Threads Yarn Store 41 E. Main St.; Franklin Chamber of Commerce 425 Porter St.; FROG Quarters 573 E. Main St.; Spring Ridge Creamery 11856 Georgia Rd.

Bryson City / Nantahala Gorge: Endless River Adventures Nantahala Gorge; Smoky Mountain Jet Boats 22 Needmore Rd. (at junction of Hwy 74); Fryemont Inn 245 Fryemont St.;
The Artists’ House Too 32 Everett St.; Watershed Trading Company 291 Everett St.; Turkey Creek Campground Almond, NC (Hwy 28 North just off Hwy 74)
Robbinsville: Stecoah Valley Center Gallery 121 Schoolhouse Rd.; Yellow Branch Pottery and Cheese 136 Yellow Branch Circle; Wolf Creek Grocery Hwy 28; Fontana Village General Store
Fontana Village
Sylva : City Lights Bookstore 3 E. Jackson St.; Annie’s Naturally Bakery 506 West Main Street
Highlands / Cashiers: Highland Hiker 601 Main St. - Highlands 47 Hwy 107 South - Cashiers

LTLT is very grateful to United Community Banks www.ucbi.com and Endless River Adventures www.endlessriveradventurs.com for sponsoring this project.

Planning the Future of Your Farm

On Thursday, March 6, LTLT hosted a workshop designed to help farmers, landowners, and their families develop a framework for informed decision-making. We can all agree that a lot of farm wealth in western North Carolina is going to pass from its current owners to someone new over the next two decades. How much of that farm wealth—both field and forest—will remain open, in farm and forest production, depends on today’s decisions. Experience tells us that the better families deal with difficult transfer issues, the more farm and forest resources and wealth will be available for use by the next generation.

To assist in this educational effort, the North Carolina Farm Transition Network (NCFTN) has published an accompanying workbook. This workbook includes narrative materials on important planning issues, as well as worksheets to help begin putting thoughts in writing. It also guides the collection of information on goals and priorities, retirement planning, setting up and conducting family meetings, inventorying farm resources, and financial data on personal and farm business assets.

The first edition of this workbook is available for download at www.ncftn.org or by calling 919-732-7539. This 2008 program is supported by the Southern Region Risk Management Education Center.

Bluebird Box Success at Tessentee

LTLT has received a report on the Success of the Bluebird Box houses that were erected at Tessentee Farm.

This past September, James Rish and his father Larry went to check on and clean out the bluebird box houses that James had erected at Tessentee Farm as an Eagle Scout project in December, 2006. James was pleased to find that all of the ten houses had nests in them with multiple nests in seven.

LTLT's Tessentee Farm has been a magnet for birders the past few years, with a bird list of well over a hundred species. Thanks to James, bluebirds and other box-nesting species have a few new homes at the site.

Last Week at LTLT

On Monday, January 21, a hearty crew of volunteers and LTLT staff planted 191 white oak seedlings at Tessentee Farm. This white oak planting is part of LTLT's ongoing restoration project for locally available raw materials for Cherokee artisans. In addition to the white oak, LTLT has planted butternut trees and cultivated the rivercane stands. See related article http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/01_08/01_30_08/out_fr_preserving.html

On Wednesday, January 23, the 1880 farm house at Queen Branch was sold through an agreement with Preservation North Carolina. The new owners will be restoring the house with the intention of living there once the work is complete. Not only is it wonderful to know that this charming house will again be a home, but the land around the home will be held by LTLT in a conservation agreement.

New Link to LTLT

LTLT has finally joined the 21st Century with our very own "blog" or web log. Our intention is two fold. First we want to provide you with information or news from the LTLT office about what we've been doing for conservation in Western North Carolina. Please check in every now and then to see what we've been up to or sign up to have an e-mail sent to you whenever there's a new posting.

Second we want to hear from you - give us feedback about the work we're doing; your experiences out on the land; questions you have about what we do or how you can get involved; suggestions, etc.

We're excited about this new form of communication and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Kate