By admin 
After 27 years of diplomacy, a doughnut hole of unprotected land along the Blue Ridge Parkway has finally been acquired by the Blue Ridge Conservancy in North Carolina.
Read more GOP election to succeed Lindsey Graham will be next month. Who might run?
The “critical” acre is near Linville, and is surrounded by 210 acres of previously preserved land on Grandmother Mountain – not to be confused with nearby Grandfather Mountain.
“Although it’s a small property, this acquisition represents the final piece in a larger puzzle,” according to Leila Jackson, Director of Communications for the Blue Ridge Conservancy
“The Conservation Fund purchased the surrounding acreage in 1998. The owner of the one-acre lot was not ready to sell at the time but did sign a right of first refusal with TCF. Roughly 27 years later, the landowner decided to sell, and the right of first refusal ensured TCF was notified. Blue Ridge Conservancy purchased the property on their behalf and is holding it for the time being.”
The “rugged” acre sits at 4,510 feet in elevation on the eastern slope of Grandmother Mountain, and is covered by mature forest, officials said.
Conservationists have been working for decades to keep development from popping up on mountaintops overlooking the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the purchase is part of that ongoing effort.
Read more Columbia Mexican restaurant sets an opening date for new Vista spot. Here’s when
Grandmother Mountain is located within the boundary of the Blue Ridge Parkway and is “highly visible” from the parkway’s famous Linn Cove Viaduct bridge, officials said.
The property owner involved in the deal was not identified, but it is someone “with deep family ties to Linville” who wanted the mountainside to be preserved, according to Conservation Fund Senior Real Estate Associate Michael Leonard.
The acre will eventually become part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, under the control of the National Park Service, officials said. The 469-mile parkway travels from North Carolina into Virginia, and is the “most visited” site in the National Park System. In 2025, the parkway had 16,533,753 visitors, the National Park Service says.
Linville is about a 110-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.
The Blue Ridge Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust that partners with landowners and local communities to “permanently protect natural resources with agricultural, cultural, recreational, ecological, and scenic value in northwest North Carolina.”
Read more Company expansion in Lexington County will bring $80M investment, new jobs