Topics Related to Land Protection and Acquisition

The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, in collaboration with The Conservation Fund and 130 of Chatham, LLC, announced the completion of an acquisition that protects 238.14 acres of high-elevation land that has long been identified as critical acreage in Mount Mitchell State Park’s land protection plan.

A long-awaited acquisition of over 200 acres of land that includes the Historic Occoneechee Speedway to add to Eno River State Park has been finalized.

The North Carolina state parks system welcomed more than 20.1 million visitors in 2023 and ended the year with a total of 262,074 acres.

The Division awarded more than $3 million in grants for 13 projects for state trails.

The $17.4 million will fund nine capital improvements projects and six land acquisitions.

Final Acquisition for Bobs Creek State Natural Area complete; made possible by Foothills Conservancy.

Morrow Mountain State Parks grows by over 20% with land donation. The donation was over 1,000 acres. The donation is part of ALCOA Corporation’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing agreement.

The N.C. state parks system now includes 250,000 acres of land and water. Recent acquisitions, including 230 acres for Deep River State Trail and 300 acres for Salmon Creek State Natural Area, brought the system’s acreage up to the new total in late 2020.