Some of the roughest country in two states is well on its way toward being preserved along the North Carolina-South Carolina border high on the sides of Sassafras Mountain.
Known as the East Fork Tract of the French Broad River, the tract runs along the spine of the Blue Wall from the Watson-Cooper Heritage Trust in the east to the summit of Sassafras in the west; it is unarguably the largest remaining parcel of land on either side of the border that is not in some kind of preservation trust.
At 8,000 acres it is massive and largely unknown on this side of the border because there is no real access, except for a nine-mile section of the Foothills Trail that runs between Whiteoak Mountain and the Sassafras peak. The rest of the tract is a largely roadless wilderness.
Michael Cheek, chief forester for Western North Carolina, said the North Carolina Forest Service is in the process of bringing acreage into the state’s preserved forest lands around Whiteoak Mountain. The corridor that plays home to Foothills Trail is already part of the preserved East Fork lands.
The land has been coming under the care of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and NCFS since 2009 when several hundred acres of property were purchased from the late U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor. Problems with state funding early on delayed some transfers, said Kieran Roe, executive director of the mountain conservancy.
From GreenvilleOnline.com: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/2014/06/13/sc-nc-mountain-tract-halfway-toward-preservation/10412351/