Little Mountain and Lens Knob ~ 2,169 acres, Surry County

G & G Lumber Company.  Sale of Land.
 

These tracts were identified as high priority tracts of land for protection in the Mitchell River Watershed Plan due to over 40,000 linear feet of streams on the tracts.  In addition, the 1,716 acre Little Mountain Tract encompasses one of the highest peaks in the Watershed and the 453-acre Lens Knob Tract is adjacent to the previously protected Broadhead Tract. 

In 2002, G&G Lumber Company timbered more than 1,500 steeply sloping acres on these two tracts.  When using appropriate best management practices, forests can be harvested with minimal impact to water quality.  Although greater precautions could have been taken to protect the water quality during the timbering operation, minimal buffers were retained along the streams to provide some water quality protection.  At the conclusion of the timbering, the owners replanted the slopes with loblolly pines.  As these trees mature, they will once again act as anchors holding the slopes in place and will repair the visual devastation left by the timbering operations.

In 2003, PLC learned G&G Lumber Company was planning to subdivide these tracts into as many as 40 parcels and sell them at public auction.  Due to their size and the threat that development of these lands posed to the water quality of the Mitchell River Watershed, PLC entered into negotiations with the owners to acquire one or both of the properties.  In January 2004, PLC acquired both Little Mountain and Lens Knob for their appraised fair market values.  Subsequently, PLC transferred the Little Mountain Tract to the State under the management of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as the Mitchell River Game Land, Surry County’s first.   

Project funding provided by the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program and the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

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