The Blue Ridge Conservancy has secured 74 acres in Watauga County after working to protect the area from development for 30 years. 

The property is on the north and east sides of Howard Knob in Boone, North Carolina, expanding the protected property on Howard Knob by more than 140%, according to the BRC’s website.

“Land conservation projects have their own time schedule and happen when the time is right,” Eric Hiegl with the conservancy said in a news release.  

“Luckily for us the time to Save Howard Knob is now,” he said.

The organization bought the land from Monte Green, who purchased it in 1990. One tract of the land was used for his home, with the rest remaining untouched.

The effort for BRC to buy the land became a community fundraising project, with 110 people donating money in support of the “Save Howard Knob” movement in Boone.

Fundraising efforts continue to help the BRC create new amenities, hiking trails and rock climbing areas for the public. 

The organization plans to open the land to public access in 2026, but no date has been announced. 

The conservancy is a nonprofit organization based in western North Carolina that was founded in May 2010 when the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust and High Country Conservancy merged. 

The organization has since protected more than 23,000 acres of land across seven counties by working with private landowners and governments.

Before the latest deal to buy land around Howard Knob, the organization held a conservation easement for 46 acres of the mountain’s southern slope.  

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