Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC)

Over the past fiscal year we completed 14 major conservation transactions discussed below which protected 8,812 acres of key mountain lands. This includes 8 fee simple purchases, 5 conservation easement purchases, and 1 assist transaction. The total value of the 14 transactions was $42.5 million. Landowner donation value was $1.9 million. The purchase price of the transactions was $39 million. At times the organization purchases land below appraised value in transactions that were not planned to be bargain purchases. In this tax year that difference totaled $0.2 million.

We continue to work toward our goals to Protect and Steward land, and to advance opportunities for access to land, in order to carry out SAHCs Vision and Mission. . Our Connecting People with Nature program connects people with land for outdoor recreation, health, fitness, well-being and learning. We led 75 outings for over 1,000 people to protected places - hiking over 260 miles of trails.

The $3.3 million purchase prices came in the form of private philanthropic contributions and federal and state grants. We are now working on more than 50 significant transactions, which we hope will protect another 8,000 acres in the next 12-18 months. One particular transaction included above was the 7,500 acre South Yellow Mountain Preserves. Its donated value was $36.7 million. Our Farmland Access Program supports local communities, local food production, and the long-term productive use of farmland. We work with different members of the farming community to ensure that our agricultural resources stay productive - providing local food from local farms.